Tyrone Davis (born Tyrone D. Fettson or Tyrone D. Branch, October 3, 1937 – February 9, 2005) (although many sources have his date of birth as May 4, 1938), was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer with a long list of

hit record A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

s over more than 20 years. Davis had three number 1 hits on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

: " Can I Change My Mind" (1968), " Turn Back the Hands of Time" (1970), and " Turning Point" (1975).

Biography

Tyrone Fettson was born in

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, ninth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, and the largest city by population in the Mississippi Delta region. It is the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, Was ...

, United States, to Willie Branch and Ora Lee Jones. Some sources give his date of birth as May 4, 1938, but researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc state that his funeral notice gives the October 1937 date. He moved with his father to Saginaw,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, before moving to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1959. Working as a valet/chauffeur for

singer

Freddie King Freddie King (born Fred Christian; September 3, 1934December 28, 1976), also billed as Freddy King, was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King a ...

, he started singing in local

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Club (magazine), ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands a ...

where he was discovered by record executive/musician Harold Burrage. His early records for small

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

s in the city, billed as "Tyrone the Wonder Boy", failed to register. Successful Chicago

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Carl Davis signed him in 1968 to a new label,

Dakar Records Dakar Records (1967-1976) was a record label started by Carl Davis (record producer), Carl Davis in 1967, while employed at Brunswick Records. The label was initially distributed by Atlantic Records subsidiary Cotillion Records, and was based in Chi ...

, that he was starting as part of a distribution deal with

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, and suggested that Tyrone change his name, which he did by borrowing Carl's last name. His first release, "A Woman Needs to Be Loved" was flipped when the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

started to get

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

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 shot up the listings and spent three weeks on the top of the ''

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

, while climbing to number 5 in the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

. 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 number 1 in the R&B chart and went up to number 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 The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

in May 1970. 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

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" (number 2), "This I Swear" (number 6), and "In the Mood" (number 6). Dubbed the "king of romantic Chicago soul" by MTV, Davis' perceived vulnerability and class endeared him to female soul fans through the 1970s. 1982 brought a change of label to the newly established independent, Highrise and another major hit, "Are You Serious" (number 3 R&B, number 57 pop), again produced by Leo Graham, and written by

L.V. Johnson L.V. Johnson (December 25, 1946 – November 22, 1994) was an Americans, American Chicago blues and soul-blues guitarist, singing, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his renditions of "Don't Cha Mess with My Money, My Honey or My Wo ...

. When Highrise closed the following year, Davis switched to a tiny

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

label, Ocean Front, which lacked promotional muscle to get behind arguably one of his best performances, "Let Me Be Your Pacifier." In 1991, Davis switched to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

label, Ichiban Records, recording three albums including the song "Mom's Apple Pie." In 1994, Davis went to Bellmark/Life Records for one album. 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. He also performed on a PBS special on 1970s soul music in 2004, singing "Turn Back the Hands of Time." A

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

in September 2004 ended his career and, following complications, he died in a Chicago

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

on February 9, 2005, at the age of 67.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

The complete Tyrone Davis discography at Soul Express
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Tyrone 1937 births 2005 deaths American soul musicians Atlantic Records artists American rhythm and blues singers Songwriters from Mississippi Singers from Mississippi Musicians from Greenville, Mississippi Malaco Records artists Singers from Chicago African-American male songwriters 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American songwriters