Tyrone Davis (May 4, 1938* – February 9, 2005), born Tyrone Fettson, was a leading American soul singer with a distinctive style, recording a long list of hit records over a period of more than 20 years.
Tyrone Fettson was born in a rural community twenty miles
outside of Greenville, Mississippi to Willie Branch and Ora Lee Jones. He moved
with his father to Saginaw, Michigan, before relocating to Chicago in 1959.
Working as a valet/chauffeur 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 record labels in
the city, billed as "Tyrone the Wonder Boy", failed to register.
But Smith was also Carl’s limo driver, and that evening when
he drove his boss home he sneaked the tape into his house and put it on while
Carl was upstairs. Suddenly the producer burst into the room asking who was
singing the song. Carl called Tyrone the next morning and asked him to come to
his office. He agreed to record Tyrone but insisted that he couldn’t put it out
on Brunswick for eight to nine months. However, he did have a small label of
his own, Dakar Records, through which he could release the recording.
Tyrone acquiesced and the single was released but didn’t
catch fire. By chance, Houston DJ Wild Child began playing the B-side Can I
Change My Mind and to everyone’s surprise is was a smash hit that reached No. 1
on Billboard’s R&B chart in late 1968 while climbing to #5 in the Hot 100.
It sold over one million and received gold disc recognition.
His biggest hit
came in early 1970 when "Turn Back the Hands of Time" also reached #1
in the R&B chart and went up to #3 in the Hot 100 pop chart. Written by
Jack Daniels and Bonnie Thompson, this disc also sold over one million copies,
and received a gold disc awarded by the Recording Industry Association of
America in May 1970.
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, and written by L.V. Johnson.
When Highrise closed the following year, Davis switched to a tiny Los Angeles
label Ocean Front which lacked promotional muscle to get behind 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. Over his four-decade career, Davis recorded 38 albums. Throughout his career Davis remained a hugely popular live act and was credited as having one of the finest show bands in the blues.
A stroke in September 2004 curtailed his career and
following complications arising from pneumonia, he died in a Chicago hospital
in February 2005 at the age of 66. This was noted in his Living Blues obituary:
“Aside from his purely musical gifts, Davis was deeply respected for his
professionalism and dedication to his craft. He worked hard to create a sound
that would be identified as distinctively his own, and constantly surrounded
himself with the finest writers, arrangers and musicians available.”
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.
(Edited mainly from Wikipedia & Malaco.com)
*Most sources give his date of birth as May 4, 1938, but
researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc state that his funeral notice gives
October 1937.
