American music icon Mac Davis died in Nashville on Tuesday September 29, aged 78, following open heart surgery
Over a five-decade career, Davis made his mark as a songwriter, recording artist, film actor, Vegas headliner, Broadway music star, personality television and music editor
His classic songs include « In the Ghetto », « Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me », « Stop and Smell the Roses », « A Little Less Conversation », « I Believe in Music », « Something’s Burning « And » It’s hard to be humble «
Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Bruno Mars, Kenny Rogers, Glen Campbell, Avicii, Andy Williams, Conway Twitty, Tom Jones, Bobby Blue Bland, Tammy Wynette, Weezer and Merle Haggard are just a few of the many stars who have recorded Mac Davis songs
As an artist, Davis has released 20 albums and recorded over 40 singles He won five Gold Record Awards and two Platinum Selling Honors Between 1970 and 1990 he consistently sang the Top 10 hits in pop, country and adult-contemporary formats
He was inducted in 2006 into the National Songwriters Hall of Fame and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1998 He has been a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame since 2000 and is also a member of the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame He is one of the few songwriters to have been awarded a BMI Icon award
Davis was born Morris Mac Davis on January 21, 1942 in Lubbock, TX He was raised there by his strict religious father As soon as he graduated from Lubbock High at age 16, he moved to Atlanta, where his mother lived He attended Emory University and worked as a clerk in the state probation department
In Georgia he formed a rock’n’roll group called The Zots A series of solo singles for a variety of labels in 1962-65 came to naught These early efforts – « A Little Dutch Town ‘,’ Honey Love ‘,’ Hey Monkey ‘- have been reissued several times on low budget albums after he became a star of the hit production
Despite his early resignation as an artist, Mac Davis was determined to stay in the music industry He became a promotion man for Vee Jay Records and worked in the publishing division of Liberty Records. Liberty’s work brought him to Los Angeles He continued to record sporadically and was signed on as songwriter by Nancy Sinatra’s publishing company
In 1966-67, Davis’ songs were recorded by Campbell, Sinatra, Lou Rawls and Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs, among others His most notable copyrights during this period included « Hello LUNE Bye-Bye Birmingham « , » God knows I love you « and » Friend, lover, wife, wife «
In 1968 Presley recorded « A Little Less Conversation » Although a modest success at the time, the song became an international hit after the superstar’s death in 1977 It has now been recorded by over 30 other artists and is song from the songwriter’s most authorized TV soundtrack
Elvis Presley followed by recording Mac Davis’ songs « Memories », « In the Ghetto » and « Don’t Cry Daddy » in 1968-70 All of them became pop hits, and the last two sold for a million each
Parton covered « In the Ghetto » for the country’s market, and 170 other acts also recorded it « Don’t Cry Daddy » had over 30 other recordings, as did « Memories »
In 1969 OC Smith had R&B’s Top 10 hit with Mac Davis’ song « Daddy’s Little Man »
In 1970-71, Glen Campbell enjoyed country success with “Everything A Man Could Need,” while Kenny Rogers & The First Edition hit the pop charts with “Something’s Burning,” and Bobby Goldsboro a made both hit parades with Davis « Watch Scotty grow up »
Mac Davis signed with Columbia Records in 1970 His recording career took off with his self-written 1972 No. 1 pop hit « Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me » « This earned him a Grammy nomination. singing group Gallery had success with their « I Believe in Music » that same year, and this song was covered by over 60 other Davis titled their debut LP Song Painter, which became their nickname
The pop success continued in 1974-75 with « One Hell of a Woman », « Stop and Smell the Roses » and « Rock N Roll (I Gave You the Best Years of My Life) » « During this time, in the country charts, Campbell scored with his song « Oklahoma Sunday Morning » and Ray Price reached the top 10 with « Lonesomest Lonesome »
Davis was named Academy of Country Music Artist of the Year in 1974.His great personality, fair charm to people, and great pop hits led him to star in his NBC-TV variety series 1974-76 This was followed by many TV specials
He became a Las Vegas headliner with perennial residences at the MGM Grand around this time Davis also became a touring concert star
The Texas native has always maintained a presence on the country charts In 1976, Davis had his first national top 20 hit, « Forever Lovers »
In 1979 Mac Davis starred in his first film, North Dallas Forty This was followed by roles in Cheaper to Keep It (1981) and The Sting II (1983) Since then he has appeared in more than ‘a dozen TV movies, notably as a narrator for The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood (2000)
Because he was a successful country musician at MOON, Dolly Parton sought his advice on his career He introduced it to his managers, easing his transition from country headliner to pop culture superstar
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Davis signed with Casablanca / PolyGram Records in 1979 This coincided with his emergence as a chart-topping country star His country hits include “It’s Hard to Be Humble” (1980), “Let’s Keeo It That Way ”(1980, written by Curly Putman & Rafe Van Hoy),“ Texas in My Rear View Mirror ”(1980),“ Hooked on Music ”(1981),“ You’re My Bestest Friend ”(1982) and“ I Never Made Love (‘Til I Made It With You) ”(1985, written by Bob McDill)
His prominence in the country charts led Mac Davis to co-host the CMA Awards Show with Barbara Mandrell in 1980, 1981 and 1982
Davis and Parton co-wrote her 1990 hit « White Limozeen », as well as several other songs she recorded in the 1990s
His other writing partners over the years included Doc Severinsen, Billy Strange, Walt Aldridge, Mark James, Barbara Wyrick and Delaney Bramlett He and Shel Silverstein collaborated on Bobby Bare’s 1980 hit « Tequila Sheila » But the majority of his best-known songs were written solo
In 1992-93 Davis starred on Broadway in The Will Rogers Follies and toured with the musical
Former Elvis Presley, « A Little Less Conversation, » written by Davis, rose to prominence in 2002-03 when it became a ubiquitous Nike commercial, appeared on the soundtrack of the hit film Ocean’s Eleven and was remixed to become an international No 1 hit
In 2010 Davis collaborated with Rivers Cuomo of alternative rock band Weezer Their song « Time Flies » appeared on the band’s album Hurley In 2013, Davis was co-writer with Swedish electronic dance artist Avicii on the million international sellers « Addicted to You » The following year he reappeared in the pop charts as co-author of Bruno Mars’ aria « Young Girls »
Mac Davis has appeared in TV hits such as Murder She Wrote, The Muppets, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, The Client, Webster, Oswald (voiceover), Johnny Bravo, King of the Hill (voice more), Rodney, Freaks and Geeks and Fargo
His last appearance as an actor was to portray a preacher in « JJ Sneed » from Dolly Parton’s 2019 Netflix Heartstrings mini-movie series
For the past few years, Mac Davis and his family split their time between Tennessee and California After undergoing heart bypass surgery at Vanderbilt Hospital, he suffered a heart attack there on Monday, September 28
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Reba McEntire is on the cover of MusicRow Magazine’s 2020 MusicRow Awards issue, which highlights the nominees for this year’s MusicRow Awards This year’s winners will be announced virtually across multiple MusicRow platforms on Tuesday August 18, 2020 main sponsor of the MusicRow Awards 2020 is City National Bank […]
September 25Carrie Underwood / My Gift / Capitol NashvilleSkip Ewing / Wyoming / Write! RecordsTerri Clark / It’s Christmas… Cheers! / Mercury NashvilleJustin Moore / Live at the Ryman / The Valory Music CoGranger Smith / Country Things, Vol 1 / BBR Music GroupTexas Hill / Texas HillFilmore / State I’m In / Curb Records
Oct 2Brent Cobb / Keep ‘Em On They Toes / Ol’ Buddy RecordsDolly Parton / A Holly Dolly Christmas / Butterfly RecordsDawes / Good Luck With Whatever / Rounder RecordsJon Pardi / Heartache Medication (Deluxe Version) / Capitol NashvilleSam Bartells / Let’s GoRascal Flatts / Twenty Years of Rascal Flatts The Greatest Hits / Big Machine / Disney Music Group / Lyric Street Records
October 16Steep Canyon Rangers / Arm In Arm / Yep Roc RecordsTrace Adkins / Ain’t That Kind of Cowboy / Verge RecordsTanya Tucker / Live from the Troubadour / FantasyElizabeth LaPrelle, Dan Gellert, The Tillers, etc/ The Mountain Minor Motion Picture Soundtrack / Alt452 RecordsJamie O’Neal / Sometimes / BFD / Audium
Oct 23 Luke Combs / What You See Isn’t Always What You Get (Deluxe) / River House Artists / Columbia NashvilleSteve Azar / My Mississippi ReunionMaddie & Tae / We Need Christmas / Mercury NashvilleKari Jobe / The Blessing / Capitol CMG
Mac Davis, singer-songwriter mac davis
News from around the world – UNITED STATES – BREAKING: « Song Painter » Mac Davis dies at 78
