Mac davis hits
Other artists who recorded his material included Vikki Carr, O.C. 1 Adult Contemporary success for Goldsboro in 1971. Bobby Goldsboro also recorded some of Davis's songs, including " Watching Scotty Grow", which became a No. The song became a success for Presley and he continued to record more of Davis's material, such as "Memories", "Don't Cry Daddy", and "Clean Up Your Own Backyard". It was later released on a campy Rhino Records Golden Throats compilation in 1991.
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Mac Davis, the only white man in the room at the time, eventually told Bowen, "I don't know whether to thank ya, or to kill ya." Mac Davis eventually recorded the tune after Presley's version became a success, and was released in a Ronco In Concert compilation in 1975. but Mac Davis, guitar in hand, played the song in a studio, with onlookers such as Jesse Jackson and other members of the black activist community. According to record producer Jimmy Bowen, "Ghetto" was originally pitched to Sammy Davis, Jr. Presley recorded "In the Ghetto" in sessions in Memphis. One of the songs he wrote in 1968, called " A Little Less Conversation", was recorded by Elvis Presley (and became a posthumous success for Presley years later). Davis left Boots Enterprises in 1970 to sign with Columbia Records, taking all of his songs with him. During a short timespan Davis used the pseudonym "Scott Davis" for songwriting purposes (borrowing from the given name of his son) to avoid confusion with renowned songwriter Mack David. Boots Enterprises also acted as Davis's publishing company, publishing songs such as "In the Ghetto", "Friend, Lover, Woman, Wife", "Home", "It's Such a Lonely Time of Year", and " Memories", which were recorded by Elvis Presley, Nancy Sinatra, B. During his time there, he played on many of Sinatra's recordings, and she worked him into her stage shows.
Davis was with Boots for several years in the late 1960s. Highway 84) in Davis's hometown of Lubbock.ĭavis became famous as a songwriter and got his start as an employee of Nancy Sinatra's company, Boots Enterprises, Inc. Mac Davis Lane intersects Avenue Q ( U.S. Davis also worked for the Vee Jay record company (home to such R&B stars as Gene Chandler, Jerry Butler, and Dee Clark) as a regional manager, and later became a regional manager for Liberty Records. Once Davis was settled in Atlanta, he organized a rock and roll group called the Zots, and made two singles for OEK Records, managed and promoted by OEK owner Oscar Kilgo. I joined Golden Gloves, but didn't do good even in my division." Davis graduated at 16 from Lubbock High School and, looking to escape his hometown, moved to Atlanta where his mother lived. "I was 5 feet, 9 inches, and weighed 125 pounds. Oh, man, I got beat up so much while I was growing up in Lubbock," Davis said in a March 2, 2008, interview with the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal newspaper. "In those days, it was all about football, rodeo, and fistfights. Davis described his father, who was divorced from Davis' mother, as "very religious, very strict, and very stubborn." Though Davis was physically small, he had a penchant for getting into fistfights. He spent his childhood years with his sister Linda, living and working at the former College Courts, an efficiency apartment complex owned by his father. His work in that capacity for Liberty Records eventually landed him in Los Angeles and in the orbit of Nancy Sinatra, who then hired him to write songs for her and her company.Davis was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas, the son of Edith Irene (Lankford) and T. It was there, around the age of 20, that Davis began performing in bands and writing songs while working as a "promotions man" for record labels, trying to secure radio play for their releases. At 16, upon graduating from high school, Davis left Lubbock to join his mother, Edith, in Atlanta. In all, he released 19 albums over 25 years, beginning with 1970's Song Painter and ending with 1994's Will Write Songs For Food.ĭavis was born in Texas on Jan.
He was an inductee to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and was a recipient of the BMI Icon Award. He was 78.ĭavis' songwriting work was recorded by dozens of artists, including Nancy Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Reba McEntire, Tom Jones, Kenny Rogers, Merle Haggard and more.
His death was confirmed by his manager, Jim Morey. Mac Davis, a songwriter and performer who began a decades-long ascent in music and entertainment in the early 1960s, died Tuesday in Nashville following heart surgery.