Music database
Musician
Thomas Maxwell Davis
born on 14/1/1916 in Independence, KS, United States
died on 18/9/1970 in Los Angeles, CA, United States
Alias Maxwell Davis
Maxwell Davis
Thomas Maxwell Davis, Jr. (January 14, 1916 – September 18, 1970),[1] known as Maxwell Davis, was an American R&B saxophonist, arranger and record producer.
Biography
Davis was born in Independence, Kansas, Kansas. In 1937, he moved to Los Angeles, California, playing saxophone in the Fletcher Henderson orchestra. After some years playing swing and jazz, he became more involved in the West Coast R&B scene in the mid-1940s, becoming a regular session player and arranger for the fast-growing independent record labels such as Aladdin.[2] He also recorded with the Jay McShann band, featuring the blues shouter Jimmy Witherspoon. By 1952, Davis had played on numerous R&B hits by Percy Mayfield, Peppermint Harris, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, T-Bone Walker, Amos Milburn, and others. He also arranged and played on Little Willie Littlefield's 1952 "K. C. Lovin'" for Federal Records.
In 1955, he joined Modern Records (and subsidiaries RPM, Crown and Kent) as musical director, bringing in most of the artists on Modern and Aladdin and producing most of their records. Although his success rate started to diminish thereafter,[2] he became regarded as an elder statesman and as "the father of West Coast R&B".
"Maxwell Davis is an unsung hero of early rhythm and blues," noted the songwriter and producer Mike Stoller. "He produced, in effect, all of the record sessions for Aladdin records, Modern records, all the local independent rhythm and blues companies in the early 1950s, late 1940s in Los Angeles."[3]
His final recording activity was in 1969, as the producer of the soul singer Z. Z. Hill.
Davis died in September 1970.
Discography
As sideman
- With B.B. King
- 1956: Singin' the Blues (Crown)
References
- ^ Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger Publishers. p. 353. ISBN 978-0313344237.
- ^ a b Bill Dahl. "Maxwell Davis | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
This article uses material from the article Maxwell Davis from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.