Jan Davis supplied the piercing shouts that punctuate Dick Dale’s “Misirlou,” one of the central tracks in Pulp Fiction. As a sought-after session player, he routinely received calls whenever producers needed either a driving electric guitar line or his distinctive, over-the-top vocals. His arranging and songwriting skills secured an invitation to join B. Bumble & the Stingers, the studio collective known for recasting classical repertoire in a rock-and-roll format. A&M Records offered Davis a contract and issued his instrumental “Fugitive” as a single in 1964. Although the Ventures’ cover version became a major success, none of Davis’s subsequent singles reached the charts.
He soon adopted acoustic guitar and shifted toward lighter pop and easy-listening material. Drawing on flamenco influences, he recorded the Latin-tinged instrumental “Hot Sauce,” which reached the Top Ten of Billboard’s adult-contemporary chart. The accompanying Hot Sauce album, however, failed to attract listeners, prompting another stylistic pivot. Arranger Rene Joseph Hall, a longtime colleague from the B. Bumble days, contacted Davis with an offer to perform solo guitar accompanied by orchestra. Davis accepted and toured, interpreting Hall’s charts with various pops orchestras. Stone Tiger Records captured one such performance on California’s coast and issued the recording as Concert by the Sea in 2000. The same label also released the solo sets Diversified Genres and I Loved You Too Much, plus Rock ’N Flamenco, recorded with his new ensemble the Spain Gang. In 2004 the reissue imprint Sundazed compiled Boss Guitar: The Best of Jan Davis, gathering his 1960s sides, among them the original “Fugitive.”
