Tyrone Davis

Tyrone Davis (4 May 1938 — 9 February 2005) was a leading soul singer with a distinctive style, recording a long list of hit records over a period of more than 30 years. He was born in a rural community twenty miles outside of Greenville, Mississippi in 1938 to Willie Branch and Ora Lee Jones. He spent most of his formative years in Saginaw, Michigan, but moved to Chicago in 1959.

Working as a valet/chaffeur for blues singer Freddie King, he started singing in local clubs where he was discovered by record executive/musician Harold Burrage. His early records for small labels in the city failed to register. Successful Chicago producer Carl Davis (no relation) signed him in 1968 to a new label, Dakar that he was starting as part of a distribution deal with Atlantic Records. His first release, the bluesy "A Woman Needs To Be Loved" was flipped when the b-side started to get radio attention. The song, "Can I Change My Mind" featured a change of vocal style for Davis with a softer, more pleading approach and tone. The record now shot up the listings and spent three weeks on the top of Billboard's R&B chart while climbing to #5 in the Hot 100. His biggest hit came in 1970 when "Turn Back The Hands Of Time" also reached #1 in the R&B chart and went up to #3 in the pop chart.

Davis released about 25 singles during his seven years with Dakar, most of them big R&B sellers produced by Willie Henderson. He finally returned to the top spot with "Turning Point" in 1975. Soon afterwards, Davis switched to the major Columbia record label and recorded seven albums over the next five years with producer Leo Graham and arranger James Mack who had collaborated with him for "Turning Point". Major hits with Columbia included "Give It Up" (#2), "This I Swear" (#6), and "In The Mood" (#6).

1982 brought a change of label to the newly-established independent, Highrise and another major hit, "Are You Serious" (#3 R&B,#57 pop), again produced by Leo Graham. When Highrise closed the following year, Davis switched to a tiny Los Angeles label Ocean Front which lacked promotional muscle to get behind some excellent tracks including arguably one of his best performances, "Let Me Be Your Pacifier". Davis' days as a major chart act were over but he continued to be a popular live attraction and finally signed in 1996 with Malaco Records, the southern-based blues label recording him on a number of albums.

A stroke in October 2004 curtailed his career and, following complications, he died in a Chicago hospital in 2005. He left a widow, Ann, to whom he had been married for over 40 years, and several children and grandchildren.

His younger sister, Jean Davis, was a member of the group, Facts of Life.

* [http://www.soulexpress.net/tyronedavis_discography.htm The complete Tyrone Davis discography at Soul Express]