DON DAVIS & THE DRAMATICS.THE GUITAR PLAYER ON MONEY. HE WAS THE FOUNDER OF FIRST INDEPENDENCE BANK💰
Donald Davis (October 25, 1938 – June 5, 2014) was an American record producer, songwriter and guitarist who combined a career in music with one in banking.[1]
Don Davis
Birth nameDonald DavisBornOctober 25, 1938
Detroit, Michigan, USDiedJune 5, 2014 (aged 75)
West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, USOccupation(s)Record producer, songwriter, guitarist, banking executiveYears activeMid-1950s–1980s
BiographyEdit
Born in Detroit, he started playing music in the mid-1950s and after leaving Central High School formed his own jazz group, the Don Davis Trio, before becoming a session musician.[2] He played guitar for many Detroit record labels, including Golden World and Ric-Tic, as well as on early Motown records such as the hits, "Money (That's What I Want)" by Barrett Strong and Mary Wells' "Bye Bye Baby".[3]
He moved on to writing and producing records in Detroit and then joined Stax Records in Memphis, aiming to achieve a fusion of the Stax and Motown sounds.[2] He achieved his first major success as a songwriter and producer in 1968 with Johnnie Taylor’s hit "Who's Making Love", which reached no.1 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart and no.5 on the Billboard Hot 100.[4][5] Davis also played guitar on the track, together with Steve Cropper.[2] He worked with Taylor on many of his hits in the 1970s, including the 1971 R&B no.1 hit "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone", which Davis co-wrote.[2] Later, in 1976, he also co-wrote and produced Taylor's "Disco Lady", which spent four weeks at no.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and six weeks on the Billboard R&B chart in the US. It was the first single to be certified platinum by the RIAA.[6]
RCA/Tortoise International 1977, executive producer-Don Davis
Davis set up his own record production and music publishing companies, called Groovesville,[7][8] which are still operating. In 1971, he bought one of Detroit's premier recording studios, United Sound,[9][10] used by a host of musicians including George Clinton, Aretha Franklin, The Dramatics, The Dells, Carla Thomas, Michael Henderson, David Ruffin and Johnnie Taylor.[3][11] He also used the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama to record the basic rhythm tracks on some of his productions.[12]
In 1975, Davis started and headed the RCA-distributed Detroit-based record label, Tortoise International[13] which included artists, First Fire, The Rockets, the 1978 comeback album by The Skyliners, as well as the 1978 Dan Schafer version of the 1960s re-make "Baby Now That I've Found You" which was re-released in 2012 on the CD Perhaps..the Very Best of Dan Schafer.[14] In 1977, Davis produced the Billy Davis, Jr. and Marilyn McCoo hit, "You Don't Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show)".[15]
Davis also established himself as a banker, founding the First Independence Bank, the only African American-owned and operated commercial bank in Michigan in 1970.[3] He concentrated on his banking concern in later years, but continued to operate his music interests as well.
He lived in West Bloomfield Township, north of Detroit, and died after a short illness in June 2014, aged 75.
The Dramatics
The Dramatics are an American soul music vocal group, formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1964. They are best known for their 1970s hit songs "In the Rain" and "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get", both of which were Top 10 Pop hits,[1] as well as their later 1993 collaboration "Doggy Dogg World" with Snoop Dogg, a top 20 hit on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40.
The Dramatics
OriginDetroit, Michigan, U.S.Genres
R&B
pop
soul
Years active1964–presentLabels
Volt
ABC
Members
L.J. Reynolds
Winzell Kelly
Leon Franklin
Donald Albert
Levell Thompson
Ricky Littleton
Past members
Ron Banks
Larry "Squirrel" Demps
Willie Ford
William "Wee Gee" Howard
Elbert Wilkins
Lenny Mayes
Barrington "Bo" Henderson
Michael Brock
Larry Reed
Roderick Davis
Craig Jones
Steven Boyd
Harley K. Brown
Robert Ellington
James "JB" Mack Brown
Paul Hill
Websitehttps://staxrecords.com/artist/the-dr...
CareerEdit
The Dramatics, founded by Ron Banks (May 10, 1951 – March 4, 2010),[2][3] Larry Demps, Rod Davis, Elbert Wilkins and Larry Reed, originally formed in 1964.[4][5][6] They were originally known as the Sensations, but changed their billing to the Dramatics in 1965.[7] Their first release in 1965 entitled "Bingo" was recorded for Wingate, a division of Golden World Records in Detroit, Michigan. By 1967, Motown had absorbed the entire Golden World Records operation. The Dramatics then moved to another local Detroit label, Sport Records, where they garnered their first minor hit single, "All Because of You".[7] After becoming a victim in the July 1967 Algiers Motel incident, including the police killing of the group's valet Fred Temple, Reed and Davis eventually left the group, and were replaced by William Wee Gee Howard and Willie Ford (July 10, 1950 – May 28, 2019)[8] in 1969.[9]
The Dramatics signed with Stax Records of Memphis, Tennessee in 1968.