Thank you for shining a light on the great Paul Davis. My mother Ilene Berns signed Paul to my father\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Bang Records label shortly after his death in 1967, presiding over a decade of hits that included \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ride \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcEm Cowboy,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sweet Life\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I Go Crazy,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which once held the record for the longest chart run on the Billboard Hot 100. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cool Night\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u015365 Love Affair\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 were his last releases as a pop artist, after which he moved to Nashville and wrote a number of country hits for the likes of Tanya Tucker and Dan Seals. Paul was a true father figure to my siblings and I, and a musical genius the world knows little about.<\/p>\n
Born in Meridian, Mississippi in 1948, Paul had a regional hit with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mississippi River\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in 1969 that caught my mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attention. She had inherited a label with no artists, as Van Morrison and Neil Diamond left Bang immediately after my father\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death, and brought Paul up to New York City to record my dad’s first hit, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A Little Bit of Soap,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d using the same studio musicians that my father worked with during his epic 7-year run. Too broke to pay Paul a signing bonus, she gave him my dad\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s convertible Jaguar XKE. Not long afterward, we moved south to Atlanta where my mother relocated Bang Records, built the legendary WEB IV Studios, and brought Paul to Georgia. The rest is history. Paul Davis would become one of the greatest singer-songwriters of his time.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Paul\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s legacy is also among the most obscure of that era. Due to a fear of flying, he never properly toured. And a deep shyness kept him out of the public spotlight. Paul’s sudden death a day after his 60th birthday put stop to his extraordinary musical output. But to those in the know, Paul Davis\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 expansive body of work is as rich and diverse as any of his peers. And like my father, who has been left out of the Song Hall, Paul Davis deserves to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
Brett Berns<\/p>\n
Director<\/p>\n
BANG! The Bert Berns Story<\/p>\n
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Thank you for remembering the genius that was Paul Davis.<\/p>\n
“I Go Crazy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ride \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcem Cowboy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, \u00e2\u20ac\u015365 Love Affair\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cool Night\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6..lot of hits there.<\/p>\n
I had the pleasure of working \u00e2\u20ac\u015365 Love Affair\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6IF my memory is correct, it was originally \u00e2\u20ac\u015355 Love Affair\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6..Clive got him to change it to 65.<\/p>\n
Mike Bone<\/p>\n
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So great to remember Paul Davis.<\/p>\n
Paul was an incredibly generous and kind person. At the time in the late 70s and early 80s Atlanta was struggling to find its mark in the music recording business, but Paul and engineer\/producer Ed Seay at Web IV Studios we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re making a real go of it.<\/p>\n
Web was just a few doors down from the studio I worked at, and it was a real treat to be able to ring the bell and be let, no matter what time of night it was.<\/p>\n
Later on I worked on some songs with his backing band. Paul came in to do some backing vocals and the vibe was just so incredibly pure, peaceful and REAL!<\/p>\n
He passed away too early in 2008, but his influence was so perfect.<\/p>\n
Will\u00c2\u00a0Eggleston<\/p>\n
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Paul was a quiet and shy guy. He is gone before his time.<\/p>\n
We sat in his Atlanta basement studio with Ed Seay, his friend and producer, and marveled at their artistry.<\/p>\n
Thanks for this, Bob.<\/p>\n
Jon\u00c2\u00a0Sinton<\/p>\n
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Here here Bob! I’ve been a songwriter\/working musician for 40 years and there is something about
\n‘Cool Night’ that has always pulled me in…Like when it’s 3:30 pm and your driving and you just have to have a Big Mac..you pull into the Mac drive through in your own guilty pleasure world, sit in the parking lot savouring every bite. \u00c2\u00a0I never bought the record..I don’t know anyone who did, but that song never gets switched when it comes on the radio…It has a secret sauce in it that is irresistible. \u00c2\u00a0Most of my musician friends agree. \u00c2\u00a0Simple soft rock genius.
\nThanks for the piece
\nGeoff Gibbons
\nVancouver BC<\/p>\n
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Today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s message really struck me. In 1981, I was an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153air personality\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on an Indiana radio station (they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like the term \u00e2\u20ac\u0153disc jockey\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as all the music was on carts). I was thunderstruck by a woman I met at an event and we married just ten weeks later. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cool Night\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was in heavy rotation then. I worked my air shift on Friday and every listener knew I was getting married that night. As I came out of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cool Night,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I called my soon-to-be wife on the air to tell her the weather forecast for our honeymoon the next few days in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, I had \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cool Night\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on so loud over the studio speakers, she didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hear me say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going on the air\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and when I told her what the weather was going to be, she responded\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6live on air\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009dHoney, how much time are you planning to spend outside, anyway?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I heard about that \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and lines like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccool\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 were your nights in Tennessee?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d — for the first year of our marriage!<\/p>\n
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Life changes. Paul Davis is gone, as you mentioned. My wife passed from cancer 25 years after our wedding. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I Go Crazy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is a Paul Davis song that helped get me through that.<\/p>\n
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We will all deal with loss. You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t \u00e2\u20ac\u0153get over\u00e2\u20ac\u009d it\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6you will \u00e2\u20ac\u0153go crazy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from time to time\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6but you have to move forward. And music will help you do just that.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Scott McKain<\/p>\n
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Wow. What a flashback, Bob.<\/p>\n
My parents would go out to dinner on Saturday nights, leaving kid me with a babysitter and a night of junk tv\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n
(CHiPs, Love Boat, Fantasy Island)\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n
Except \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Solid Gold,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which gave a suburban, budding musician in the making a listen to the current pop hits, and a peek at the coolest new keyboard gear.<\/p>\n
(\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Who cared if they were lip-synching? Did you see that Prophet-5?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I would say in protest to my friends).<\/p>\n
I remember this video like it was yesterday. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a great song. And he died way too soon.<\/p>\n