A Hole in the Sock of (Dave Davies)

A Hole in the Sock of Dave Davies refers to an unreleased album of solo material by Dave Davies, lead guitarist and co-founder of British rock band The Kinks. Apparently the album was, at least for a time, intended to be released under the name Lincoln County, however, numerous names have been applied to it, including The Album That Never Was.

In July 1967, Dave Davies readied his first solo single, credited entirely under his name (although co-written by his brother and fellow Kinks member Ray Davies), entitled "Death of a Clown". In the past, as a member of The Kinks, Dave Davies had only released his own compositions on B-sides and as part of larger LPs. The Kinks' record label sensed potential sales in a solo release from the overlooked Davies, and issued "Death of a Clown" as his debut. Although credited to Davies, it was technically a Kinks recording, as his backing band was, in fact, The Kinks.

Upon release, "Death of a Clown" unexpectedly rose to number two on the UK Singles Chart. Wanting to profit off the new buzz that was suddenly surrounding Davies, a solo LP was scheduled for release some time in 1968 or 1969.

A follow-up single, "Susannah's Still Alive", was released in November 1967. However, it only reached number 20 on Melody Maker. The release of the solo album was held back, and it was decided to wait and see how another single would fare. As anticipation grew for the release of the new LP, fans nicknamed it A Hole in the Sock Of. The name was based on a remark Ray Davies had made to a reporter during an interview about the title of Dave's forthcoming solo album and was, although meant ironically, taken serious. The title was a send up possibly to the Beatles ambitious "A Day in the Life" or Traffic's "Hole In My Shoe".

"Lincoln County" was chosen as the next single but failed to chart. With subsequent singles meeting the same result, a combination of Davies' own disinterest in continuing and Pye's decision to stop killed off any hopes of an album.

In a 1999 interview, Davies stated that:

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