Tyrone Davis

The king of romantic Chicago soul, Tyrone Davis possessed a warm, aching vulnerability paired with stylish class that endeared him to legions of female soul fans across an extended hitmaking stretch through the entire 1970s. Although he excelled as a versatile baritone capable of navigating pop-soul, funk, and bluesy chitlin-circuit R&B, smooth soul remained his signature mode. After his breakthrough in the late sixties, Davis maintained a steady recording pace that continued well into the new millennium, long after the R&B hits ceased in the early eighties.

Born in Greenville, Mississippi, Davis passed the bulk of his early years in Saginaw, Michigan, before relocating to Chicago in 1959. There he secured employment as valet and chauffeur to bluesman Freddie King. He formed friendships with Bobby “Blue” Bland, Little Milton, and Otis Clay, among others, while launching his own singing career in West and South Side clubs. Under the guidance of singer and pianist Harold Burrage, Davis honed his skills and earned his recording debut in 1965 on the Four Brothers label. Credited as Tyrone the Wonder Boy, his initial single “Suffer” was written and produced by Burrage, who repeated those roles on the follow-up “Good Company.” Following Burrage’s death in late 1966 and one additional single, Davis issued one-offs on Sack and ABC before signing with Carl Davis’ newly founded Dakar imprint in 1968. A Texas DJ’s decision to flip the debut release brought the B-side “Can I Change My Mind” to prominence, showcasing Davis’ lovelorn pleading and propelling the track to number one on the R&B charts while reaching the pop Top Five.

Working again with producer and arranger Willie Henderson, who had shaped “Can I Change My Mind,” Davis sustained his momentum through a series of orchestrated singles that refined his smoother approach and helped steer Chicago soul into the new decade. “Is It Something You’ve Got” climbed to the R&B Top Five in 1969, succeeded in 1970 by the sublime “Turn Back the Hands of Time,” his second R&B number one and highest pop placement at number three. The accompanying album of the same title stands among the era’s finest soul LPs and yielded two further R&B Top Ten hits, “I’ll Be Right Here” and “Let Me Back In.” Davis maintained consistent R&B Top 40 presence in subsequent years, notching additional Top Ten entries with “Could I Forget You,” “I Had It All the Time,” “Without You in My Life,” and “There It Is.” His third R&B chart-topper arrived in 1975 with “Turning Point,” after which he departed Dakar for Columbia the next year.

Columbia emphasized Davis’ ballad mastery with even more expansive orchestral backings, while permitting occasional nods to prevailing dance styles, as heard on the 1976 debut single “Give It Up (Turn It Loose),” a number two R&B success. Subsequent hits included “This I Swear” (1977), “Get On Up (Disco)” (1978), and the slinky ballad “In the Mood” (1979). After completing his final Columbia album in 1981, Davis moved to Highrise and promptly scored his last Top Five R&B single, “Are You Serious,” in 1982. Brief affiliations with Ocean-Front and Prelude preceded a longer tenure with Future during the latter half of the eighties. He spent the first half of the nineties on the retro-soul label Ichiban, releasing several albums, then joined Southern soul imprint Malaco in 1996 for a prolific run that extended into the new millennium. Davis continued issuing new recordings every year or two and maintained an active touring schedule on the soul and blues circuit. In October 2004 he suffered a stroke and remained hospitalized until his death in February 2005.