Mac Davis

Mac Davis
Davis performing at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame Concert in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Morris Mac Davis
Born	(1942-01-21)January 21, 1942 Lubbock, Texas, U.S.
Died	September 29, 2020(2020-09-29) (aged 78) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Country, pop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, actor
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1962–2020
Labels	Columbia, Casablanca, MCA
Burial place	City of Lubbock Cemetery, Lubbock, Texas, U.S.

Morris Mac Davis

Davis was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas as the son of Edith Irene (Lankford) and T. J. Davis, a building contractor.^[7]

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.^[3][4][5]

Davis became famous as a songwriter and got his start as an employee of Nancy Sinatra's company, Boots Enterprises, Inc. Davis was with Boots for several years in the late 1960s. During his time there, he played on many of Sinatra's recordings, and she worked him into her stage shows. Boots Enterprises also acted as Davis's publishing company, publishing songs such as "In the Ghetto", "Friend, Lover, Woman, Wife", "Home", and "Memories", which were recorded by Elvis Presley, Nancy Sinatra, B. J. Thomas and many others. 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 songwriter Mack David.^[9] Davis left Boots Enterprises in 1970 to sign with Columbia Records, taking all of his songs with him.^[3][4][5]

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). Presley also recorded Davis's "In the Ghetto" in sessions in Memphis. Mac Davis eventually recorded the tune after Presley's version became a success, and was released in a Ronco In Concert compilation in 1975. Presley continued to record more of Davis's material, such as "Memories", "Don't Cry Daddy", and "Clean Up Your Own Backyard".

During the 1970s, many of his songs "crossed over", successfully scoring on both the country and popular music charts, including "Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me"[2] (a number one Grammy-nominated success), "One Hell of a Woman" (pop no. 11), and "Stop and Smell the Roses" (a no. 9 pop hit).^[2] Also, during the 1970s and 1980s, he was very active as an actor, appearing in several movies, including 1979's North Dallas Forty, as well as hosting a successful variety show.[3][4][5] In 2010, Davis co-wrote the song "Time Flies" with Rivers Cuomo which appeared on Weezer's Hurley album. In 2013 he was part of the Los Angeles writing and producing team that created the hit "Young Girls" for Bruno Mars.^[10] Davis also wrote and collaborated with the Swedish D.J. and music producer Avicii, penning the song "Addicted to You" for Avicii's debut studio album True. They performed the song "Black and Blue" together at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami in 2013.

Davis soon decided to pursue a career of his own as a recording artist. After several years of writing songs for other artists, he was signed by Clive Davis for Columbia, later topping the Country and Pop charts with the song "Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me" in 1972. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America in September 1972 Recording Industry Association of America in September 1972.^[11]

In 1974, Davis was awarded the

In 1980, Davis hosted an episode of The Muppet Show.^[15] He performed "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me", "It's Hard To Be Humble", and "I Believe in Music".^{[citation needed]}

Davis also starred in the 1981 comedy film Cheaper To Keep Her, playing a divorced detective who worked for a neurotic feminist attorney.

In 1983, he appeared in The Sting II, as Jake Hooker, a younger relative of Johnny Hooker, portrayed by Robert Redford in The Sting.^[3][4][5]

In November 1991, Davis checked into the Betty Ford Clinic, marking the beginning of his commitment to sobriety. Exactly four months later, he performed as Will Rogers in the Broadway production of The Will Rogers Follies at the Palace Theater, noting that it was his first-ever sober performance. Following each show, Davis shared his journey to sobriety and urged anyone battling addiction to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. He continued to play Will Rogers for over a year during the show's national tour.^[16]

In 1998, Davis starred in the sports comedy Possums, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. Davis served as the balladeer for the 2000 telefilm

In 2001, Davis played a fellow karaoke competitor to Jon Gries's Sunny Holiday in the Polish brothers' film Jackpot. In the film, a dispute began between Sunny's manager, played by Garrett Morris, and Davis's character about what song he should sing. The manager suggested Davis's "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me", which Davis's character claimed just was not him.^{[citation needed]}

From 2001 to 2003, Davis voiced the character of Barber Bingo on two episodes of the animated TV series Oswald; "Henry Needs A Haircut" and "The Naughty Cat".^{[citation needed]}

Between 1999 and 2006, Davis provided the character voices of Sheriff Buford (two episodes) and a talk radio host named "Sports Jock" (three episodes), on the animated series King of the Hill.^{[citation needed]}

Davis also guest-starred briefly in the 8 Simple Rules episode "Let's Keep Going: Part 2" in April 2004.^{[citation needed]}

He had a recurring role as Rodney Carrington's father-in-law in the sitcom Rodney.^{[citation needed]}

In 2000, Davis hosted Labor of Love, a live FM radio show for KZLA Los Angeles.

At 21, he married Fran Cook from Georgia. Their son, Joel Scott, (the `Scotty' from Watching Scotty Grow) was born a year later; Davis shifted from playing in rock bands to learning the music business while working in Liberty Records' publishing division.^[2] The Liberty job got him to Los Angeles and made it easier to "pitch his own tunes" to record producers. Davis commented, "One day Fran decided to do her own thing and she wanted me to do mine." They divorced and she went back to Atlanta.^{[citation needed]}

Davis next met Sarah Barg, then 16 and living in his apartment building with her mother. Two years later, they were married. "We talked about having a family, but I was waiting for her to grow up," he says. She left him in 1976 for Glen Campbell, with whom she then had one child, Dillon. She also left Campbell shortly after Dillon's birth.

In 1979, Davis started to date a young nurse, Lise Gerard.^{[3][4][5][17]} They married in 1983 when she was 25, and they had two children, Noah Claire and Cody Luke.^[18] They remained married until Davis' death at age 78 on September 29, 2020, following heart surgery.^{[3][4][5] [19][20]}

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Bibliography

• Wolff, Kurt. The Rough Guide to Country Music. Penguin Publishing.
  ISBN 978-1858285344

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mac Davis.

• Mac Davis discography at Discogs
• Nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com
• Songwritershalloffame.org
• Interview with Mac Davis
• Mac Davis at
  AllMusic
• Mac Davis at
  IMDb