Mac Davis

At the height of his popularity during the mid-1970s, Mac Davis ranked among the nation’s leading entertainers, a countrypolitan vocalist and performer who built a substantial following across both music and film. He first entered the industry through behind-the-scenes roles as a label executive and composer before stepping forward as a recording artist whose smooth timbre, affable presence, and modest yet assured style propelled his rise. Among the standout releases from his most successful decade were the 1972 album Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me and 1974’s Stop and Smell the Roses, while the 2000 compilation The Best of Mac Davis gathered numerous chart-topping singles alongside his own renditions of songs he had written for others.

Scott Davis entered the world on January 21, 1942, in Lubbock, Texas—the same city that produced Buddy Holly—and began singing with local rock bands during his teenage years. Relocating to Georgia, he secured his initial industry position in 1962 as the Atlanta-based regional manager for Chicago’s Vee-Jay Records. Three years later he joined Liberty Records, and in 1967 he transferred to Los Angeles to oversee the publishing division Metric Music, where he managed daily operations while also penning material that found its way to Glen Campbell, Bobby Goldsboro, Lou Rawls, and Kenny Rogers & the First Edition.

Elvis Presley cut Davis’ composition “A Little Less Conversation” in 1968, after which the King repeatedly sought additional songs from him. Presley followed a Top 40 placement with “Memories” by reaching the Top Five in 1969 with “In the Ghetto,” drawn from the landmark From Elvis in Memphis LP. Davis further contributed by arranging music for Presley’s debut television special, then secured his own recording contract in 1970. His first charting single that year, “Whoever Finds This, I Love You,” appeared on the debut album Song Painter.

Davis achieved a number one pop single in 1972 with “Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me,” which also climbed to the country Top 20. Crossover momentum persisted through the decade as 1974’s “Stop and Smell the Roses,” 1975’s “Burnin' Thing,” and 1976’s “Forever Lovers” each registered with audiences on both sides of the format divide. From 1974 to 1976 he hosted an NBC musical variety series, later supplemented by a series of television specials; in 1979 he made his feature-film debut in North Dallas Forty alongside Nick Nolte.

Early-1980s success brought another run of hits: the title track from his 1980 album It’s Hard to Be Humble launched four consecutive country Top Ten entries that peaked with “Hooked on Music,” his strongest country single to date. That same year he appeared in the television film Cheaper to Keep Her. A supporting part opposite Jackie Gleason and Karl Malden in the poorly received 1983 release The Sting II markedly curtailed his momentum in theatrical features, although he maintained a presence in smaller productions and made-for-television movies through the 2010s. His final Top Ten country entry arrived in 1985 with “I Never Made Love ('Til I Made Love with You).”

Davis returned to songwriting prominence in 1990 by co-authoring Dolly Parton’s hit “White Limozeen,” and that year he also assumed the lead role in the Broadway production The Will Rogers Follies. His next studio album, Will Write Songs for Food—the first in nearly ten years—surfaced in 1994. Mac Davis passed away on September 29, 2020, at age 78 following complications after heart surgery.