R&B Great Tyrone Davis Is Dead

By Karen E. PrideSpecial to the NNPA from the Chicago Defender CHICAGO (NNPA) – Legendary rhythm and blues soul singer Tyrone Davis, who vaulted to fame with hits such as ”Can I Change My Mind” and ”Turn Back the Hands of Time,” died recently at a hospital in west suburban Hinsdale. He was 66. Surrounded by family and friends, Davis’ death comes four months after suffering a stroke, which doctors said was made worse by him being a diabetic. He had remained in the hospital since October until his release last week. ”He went so gently and peacefully,” his wife, Ann Davis, told the Chicago Defender. ”I want to thank all his fans who supported us, especially during these last months.” Considered the ”king of romantic Chicago Soul” – a survey on Billboard Magazine named him the 30th best R&B singer of all time – Davis’ smooth and versatile baritone voice could handle everything from pop to soul to funk and blues. Otis Clay, a fledgling gospel singer when he met Davis, said the two struck up a friendship that has lasted 44 years. Clay said, ”He was like a brother to me, and I don’t mean that in a loose sense.” Clay said that they had made a pact early on that whichever one of them made it big first, he would pull the other one up with him. ”He got his when he recorded ‘Can I Change My Mind’ in 1968,” said Clay. ”Mine came about a year earlier with a tune called ‘That’s How It Is,’ but people only remembered the line ‘slap some sense in me.”’ Davis’ 1968 hit showcased his lovelorn pleading to full effect and the song went all the way to number one on the R&B charts, and reached the pop Top Five as well. Over his four-decade career, Davis recorded 38 albums. His last ‘ ”The Legendary Hall of Fame” – was released in September. The singer’s stylish class made him especially popular with female soul fans during a lengthy hit-making run that lasted throughout the ’70s and ’80s. But Davis was a family man. He married Ann at St. John’s Church Community Baptist Church in Chicago 42 years ago, and the union produced five children. She said that one of the things she really enjoyed with her husband was their trips together. ”We went to Bellinzona, Switzerland, in 2002,” she said. ”We said that if we were 20 years younger, we would move to that place. We had wonderful vacations.” According to a news release, Davis was born May 4, 1938, in Greenville, Miss. He moved to Chicago in 1959, eventually working ”as a valet and chauffeur for bluesman Freddie King.”Chicago’s soul and blues scene was rich with a plethora singers, and Davis quickly became friends with the likes of Clay, Little Milton and Bobby ”Blue” Bland, performing in clubs on the city’s west and south sides. Davis hit the R&B Top 40 with steady regularity in the 1970s, including the Top Tens ”Could I Forget You,” ”I Had It All the Time,” ”Without You in My Life,” and ”There It Is.” In 1975, he scored his third number one R&B hit with ”Turning Point.” After his stroke, longtime friend Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd) organized a two-day tribute concert for Davis in November. ”I want to thank all the performers who came out for the concert,” she said. ”Jerry Butler, Buddy Guy, Denise LaSalle, Koko Taylor, Gene Chandler…all the people who came out to support him.”Ann Davis said that through the years she didn’t realize how many people her husband’s music touched. ”The fans all over the world have been so grand,” she said. ”Tyrone was just one of God’s gifts.”