CBES FOR SIXTIES STARS

Veteran musicians Eric Clapton and Ray Davies of THE KINKS have both received CBEs in the New Year's Honours list.

Eric Clapton's career as guitarist covering 40 years saw him at the forefront of the UK's blues boom in the '60s while a member of The Yardbirds. He then formed the first 'supergroup' Cream with bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker in 1966. He went on to have a massively successful solo career throughout the '70s, 80s' and '90s but the records have never reached the innovative peak of Cream or the records of the early '70s.

Ray Davies formed The Kinks with his brother Dave. The band has had a huge influence on everyone from Paul Weller to Blur with their unsurpassed blending of observation and Englishness that peaked with 'Waterloo Sunset'. They are even credited with the invention of heavy metal with the heavy riffing of 'All Day And All Of The Night' and 'You Really Got Me'.