Don Davis | |
---|---|
Birth name | Donald Davis |
Born | Detroit, Michigan, US | October 25, 1938
Died | June 5, 2014 West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, US | (aged 75)
Occupation(s) | Record producer, songwriter, guitarist, banking executive |
Years active | Mid-1950s–1980s |
Donald Davis (October 25, 1938 – June 5, 2014) was an American record producer, songwriter and guitarist who combined a career in music with one in banking. [1]
Born in Detroit, he started playing music in the mid-1950s and after leaving Central High School formed his own jazz group, the Don Davis Trio, before becoming a session musician. [2] He played guitar for many Detroit record labels, including Golden World and Ric-Tic, as well as on early Motown records such as the hits, " Money (That's What I Want)" by Barrett Strong and Mary Wells' " Bye Bye Baby". [3]
He moved on to writing and producing records in Detroit and then joined Stax Records in Memphis, aiming to achieve a fusion of the Stax and Motown sounds. [2] He achieved his first major success as a songwriter and producer in 1968 with Johnnie Taylor’s hit " Who's Making Love", which reached no.1 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart and no.5 on the Billboard Hot 100. [4] [5] Davis also played guitar on the track, together with Steve Cropper. [2] He worked with Taylor on many of his hits in the 1970s, including the 1971 R&B no.1 hit " Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone", which Davis co-wrote. [2] Later, in 1976, he also co-wrote and produced Taylor's " Disco Lady", which spent four weeks at no.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and six weeks on the Billboard R&B chart in the US. It was the first single to be certified platinum by the RIAA. [6]
Davis set up his own record production and music publishing companies, called Groovesville, [7] [8] which are still operating. In 1971, he bought one of Detroit's premier recording studios, United Sound, [9] [10] used by a host of musicians including George Clinton, Aretha Franklin, The Dramatics, The Dells, Carla Thomas, Michael Henderson, David Ruffin and Johnnie Taylor. [3] [11] He also used the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama to record the basic rhythm tracks on some of his productions. [12]
In 1975, Davis started and headed the RCA-distributed Detroit-based record label, Tortoise International [13] which included artists, First Fire, The Rockets, the 1978 comeback album by The Skyliners, as well as the 1978 Dan Schafer version of the 1960s re-make " Baby Now That I've Found You" which was re-released in 2012 on the CD Perhaps..the Very Best of Dan Schafer. [14] In 1977, Davis produced the Billy Davis, Jr. and Marilyn McCoo hit, " You Don't Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show)". [15]
Davis also established himself as a banker, founding the First Independence Bank, the only African American-owned and operated commercial bank in Michigan in 1970. [3] He concentrated on his banking concern in later years, but continued to operate his music interests as well.
He lived in West Bloomfield Township, north of Detroit, and died after a short illness in June 2014, aged 75. He is survived by a wife and three children. [3]