Joe Davis (music publisher)
Medford Joseph "Joe" Davis ( born October 6, 1896 in New York City; † September 3, 1978 in Louisville (Kentucky) ) was an American music producer, publisher and promoter in the field of jazz, rhythm and blues and pop music.
Life and work
Joe Davis began his career in the New York music industry in the late 1910s, first as a songwriter and singer who recorded for Columbia Records. Mid-1920s, he began, under its management a number of blues and pop singers accommodate with various labels, during which he drove forward Man his own career as Joe Davis, The Melody. He founded in 1919 by George F. Briegel ( 1890-1968 ) the music publishing Triangle Music Publishing Co..
As a publisher, he worked from 1929 with pianist Thomas Waller, who on Davis ' initiative should call Fats Waller soon. Joe Davis is a driving force in the career Waller; he brought him to lay Also on singing. Waller temporarily employed by Davis and then Davis ' name was about as author of Waller songs Alligator Crawl (1927 ) and Our Love Was Meant To Be, and Andy Razaf title Alexander's Back in Town and after I've Spent My Best years on You. Contractual agreements between Davis and Andy Razaf resulted in Razaf 1927 no royalties of his authored with Paul Denniker Hits S'posin ' received. As a publisher, Davis collaborated among others with Paul Denniker, Porter Grainger ( Wylie Avenue Blues, 1927), Howard Johnson (Florida Flo ), Chris Smith, Alex Hill, Spencer Williams, Carson Robison, JC Johnson, and Claude Hopkins .. In the 1930s were Davis to the Triangle -imprint and replaced it with Joe Davis, Inc. in 1939, he sold the company and moved its operations to the production of records.
In May 1942, he founded his first record label Beacon Records. First publication was Indiana Blues by Jerry Wayne with the orchestra of Van Alexander. On the label appeared 1943/44, music by Billy Murray / Monroe Silver ( Casey and Cohen in the Army 1943), Irving Kaufman with Orchestra Buddy Clark and local vocal ensembles such as The Red Caps.
To 1944, he bought into the Gennett Records record label and tried to reactivate it with shots, inter alia, of Savannah Churchill, the State Street Ramblers Jimmy Blythe, Thomas A. Dorsey (as Georgia Tom) and Bradley Kincaid. In 1944, he wanted to let the master of the bankrupt label Varsity Records 1939 pressing on vinyl, with jazz recordings by Harry James, Frank Trumbauer, Vincent Lopez and Sammy Kaye. Davis had little shellac allocation, with which he could press plates. There he learned that the ten-year contract by Decca for marketing the Gennett label expired. A part of the Schelleck - ration of Decca was bound to Bennett, who had but in 1934 the production of records set. Joe Davis, the master had for publication, Bennett borrowed money and so received the majority of Gennetts shellac allocation. This allowed him as Gennett - Contractors to build a catalog of the masters of the Varsity labels and new recordings, but only recently with success. However, the Internal Revenue Service did not accept this approach. Davis then entrusted the marketing of the master to the new MGM label.
In 1944 he founded the Joe Davis Record Company with the sublabel Beacon, Celebrity and (Joe) Davis Records. In 1945, his company was located at the 331 West 49th Street, with a branch in Richmond ( Virginia). There was the Gennett family company Starr Piano Company, which has been producing records for Decca and has now reactivated for the pressing of the Davis - productions in the short term. On his labels appeared jukebox music, mostly popular pop, jazz, rhythm & blues, gospel and Latin music, including Una Mae Carlisle ( I'm a Good, Good Woman 1945), Coleman Hawkins ( On the Bean 1945) and the vocal ensemble Five Red Caps ( Just for You ). Joe Davis Carlisle had taken over after the expiry of their contract with Bluebird Records, it turned out as a songwriter and organized a session with profiled Jazz musicians such as Ray Nance, Budd Johnson and Shadow Wilson ( Tain't Yours).
Among the publications of Davis was also an album by Otis Blackwell and a compilation titled World Famous rhythm and blues groups. In the 1950s, appeared on Davis Records swing and jazz recordings, inter alia, by Frank Signorelli, Erskine Butterfield, Lee Castle and Eddie Miller, also under Joe Davis Records or Blues by Walter Thomas, Champion Jack Dupree and Gabriel Brown.
He worked in the postwar years, a time when MGM Records and founded ( not to be confused with Buddy Holly's backing band in the spring of 1953, the label Jay- Dee, in which he brought out the first publication, a recording of the vocal group The Crickets with the lead singer ( Grover ) Dean Barlowe The Crickets ). This was followed by records from doo-wop ensembles such as The Blenders ( Do not Play Around With Love 1953) and The Mellows with the lead singer Lillian Leach. Success title Mellows under Joe Davis were How Sentimental Can I Be in August 1954, Smoke from Your Cigarette in January 1955, and as a greatest hit I Still Care, published in April 1955. In 1956, he took the group on The Chestnuts ( Love Is True).
1954 Davis reactivated his Beacon label for the release of R & B records. It appeared more recordings of vocal groups Dean Barlow & The Crickets and The Deep River Boys. In 1961 he took on Beacon inter alia also music of jazz pianist Elmo Hope on, but mainly popular entertainment music. In his later years he led his company Beacon and Celebrity was more than music publishers and promoters of jazz and blues musicians.