Remembering Tyrone Davis

Tyrone Davis (Tyrone D. Branch) was born on 4 May 1938, although some sources state 3 Oct 1937 (apparently from death records) but 4 May seems to be the general consensus. He died on this day (9 Feb) in 2005 aged 66/67. He had  a stroke in Sep 2004 and was in a coma from which he never recovered and died from pneumonia according to his manager of 36 years Leo Graham.

In a career spanning five decades he released over 30 albums and around 75 singles, 21 reaching R&B Top 20 with 14 of those Top 10, three being #1 hits ("Can I Change My Mind" (1968 #5 Hot 100), "Turn Back the Hands of Time" (1970 #3 Hot 100), and the last "Turning Point" (1975) which didn't cross over to the Hot 100).

Davis was born near Greenville, MS, raised in Saginaw, MI, moving to Chicago in 1959. He got a job as bluesman Freddie King's valet/chauffeur. At nights he began singing in clubs and was spotted by blues singer/pianist Harold Burrage. Burrage wrote and produced his first single ("Suffer" / "Try Me") which was released on 4 Brothers in 1965, as well as writing three of his next four sides for the label. Burrage died on heart failure at Davis' home in 1966. His early singles, three for 4 Brothers and one for Sack, were billed as a variation of Tyrone The Wonder Boy. His first using the name Tyrone Davis was for ABC in 1968, although the Sack single had Tyrone Davis (The Wonder Boy).

In 1968 he signed to Carl Davis' new Dakar label (Wiki states that he changed his name to Davis after Carl Davis which is stretching it given that he'd already released two singles on Sack and ABC with the name). He hit the ground running with his first single for the label "Can I Change My Mind" in June 1968 which was his first hit and went to #1 R&B and #5 Hot 100. It was an accidental hit as the intended official A side was "A Woman Needs To Be Loved" and it became a hit after a radio DJ flipped it over and started playing the B side and it spent three weeks on top of the chart. 

The follow-up, "Is It Something You've Got", reached #5 R&B / #34 Hot 100, but it would be another five singles before he charted again with the biggest hit of his career "Turn Back The Hands Of Time" which was his second R&B #1 and peaked at #3 on the Hot 100. He achieved a total of twenty three R&B Top 40 hits whilst at Dakar between 1968-76, including another R&B #1 with "Turning Point" in 1975. Most were produced by Willie Henderson.

When Dakar folded in 1976 he joined Columbia, again hitting gold dust with his first release for the label "Give It Up (Turn It Loose)" which reached #2 R&B / #38 Hot 100. He achieved a dozen R&B entries with Columbia, "In The Mood" and "This I Swear" being the biggest hits both reaching #6 R&B but neither crossed over into the Hot 100. By 1982 he had moved to Highrise where he released just two singles "Are You Serious" doing the business peaking at #2 R&B and #57 Hot 100. After two more R&B hits for Ocean Front and four for Future in the 80s, he moved to Ichiban in the 90s releasing eight singles but had no further chart success. A final single was released for Malaco in 1997.

Album Discography

Year	Title	Label #Cat.No
1969	Can I Change My Mind	Dakar #SD 9005
1970	Turn Back the Hands of Time	Dakar #SD 9027
1972	I Had It All the Time	Dakar #DK 76904
1973	Without You in My Life	Dakar #DK 76901
1973	It's All in the Game	Dakar #DK 76909
1974	Home Wrecker	Dakar #DK 76915
1976	Turning Point!	Dakar #DK 76918
1976	Love and Touch	Columbia #PC 34268
1977	Let's Be Closer Together	Columbia #PC 34654
1978	I Can't Go On This Way	Columbia #JC 35304
1979	In the Mood with Tyrone Davis	Columbia #JC 35723
1979	Can't You Tell It's Me	Columbia #JC 36230
1980	I Just Can't Keep on Going	Columbia #JC 36598
1981	Everything in Place	Columbia #FC 37366
1982	Tyrone Davis	Highrise #HR 103AE
1983	Something Good	Ocean Front #OF 101
1985	Sexy Thing	Future #FR 1001
1987	Man Of Stone (In Love Again)	Future #FR 1002
1988	Flashin' Back	Future #FR 1003
1990	Come on Over	Future #FR 1004
1991	I'll Always Love You	Ichiban #ICH 1103
1992	Something's Mighty Wrong	Ichiban #ICH 1135
1994	You Stay on My Mind	Life #LR 78002
1994	For the Good Times	Ichiban #ICH 1170-2
1996	Simply	Malaco #MCD 7483
1997	Pleasing You	Malaco #MCD 7487
1999	Call Tyrone	Malaco #MCD 7496
2000	Relaxin' with Tyrone	Malaco #MCD 7505
2002	Love Line	Malaco #MCD 7514
2003	Come to Daddy	Future #FRCD 1005
2004	The Legendary Hall Of Famer	Endzone #EZR 2066-2

Singles Discography

Year	Title	Label #Cat.No
	Tyrone (The Wonder Boy)
1965	Suffer / Try Me	4 Brothers #447
	Tyrone 'Wonder Boy'
1966	If You Don't Need Me / Good Company	4 Brothers #450
	Tyrone (The Wonder Boy)
1967	Please Consider Me / You Made Me Suffer	Four Brothers 4#53
	Tyrone Davis (The Wonder Boy)
1967	I Tried It Over (And Over Again) / I'm Running A Losing Race	Sack #4359
	Tyrone Davis
	ABC
1967	What If A Man / Bet You I Win	ABC #11030
	Dakar
1968	A Woman Needs To Be Loved / Can I Change My Mind	Dakar #1452
1968	A Woman Needs To Be Loved / Can I Change My Mind	Dakar #602
1969	Is It Something You've Got / Undying Love	Dakar #605
1969	All The Waiting Is Not In Vain / Need Your Lovin' Every Day	Dakar #609
1969	I'm Confessin' / I Wanna Be Good Company	Hit Sound #888
1969	If It's Love That You're After / While I'm Not Around	Dakar #611
1969	You Can't Keep A Good Man Down / If I Didn't Love You	Dakar #615
1970	Turn Back The Hands Of Time / I Keep Coming Back 1970	Dakar #616
1970	I'll Be Right Here / Just Because Of You	Dakar #618
1970	Let Me Back In / Love Bones	Dakar #621
1971	Could I Forget You / Just My Way Of Loving You	Dakar #623
1971	One Way Ticket / We Got A Love No One Can Deny	Dakar #624
1971	You Keep Me Holding On / We Got A Love No One Can Deny	Dakar #626
1972	I Had It All The Time / You Wouldn't Believe	Dakar #4501
1972	Was I Just A Fool / After All This Time	Dakar #4507
1972	Come And Get This Ring / After All This Time	Dakar #4510
1972	Was It Just A Feeling / If You Had A Change Of Mind	Dakar #4513
1973	Without You In My Life / How Could I Forget You	Dakar #4519
1973	There It Is / You Wouldn't Believe	Dakar #4523
1973	Wrapped Up In Your Warm And Tender          Love / True Love Is Hard To Find	Dakar #4526
1974	I Wish It Was Me / You Don't Have To Beg Me To Stay	Dakar #4529
1974	What Goes Up (Must Come Down) / There's Got To Be An Answer	Dakar #4532
1974	Happiness Is Being With You / Where Lovers Meet	Dakar 4#536
1974	I Can't Make It Without You / You Wouldn't Believe	Dakar #4538
1975	Homewreckers / This Time	Dakar #4541
1975	A Woman Needs To Be Loved / Just Because Of You	Dakar #4545
1975	Turning Point / Don't Let It Be Too Late	Dakar #4550
1976	It's So Good (To Be Home With You) / I Can't Bump	Dakar #4553
1976	Saving My Love For You / I Cant Bump (Part 2)	Dakar #4558
1976	Ever Lovin' Girl / Forever	Dakar #4561
1977	Where Lovers Meet (At The Dark End Of The Street) / It's All In The Game	Dakar #4563
	Columbia
1976	Give It Up (Turn It Loose) / You're Too Much	Columbia #10388
1976	Close To You / Wrong Doers	Columbia #10457
1977	This I Swear / Givin' Myself To You	Columbia #10528
1977	All You Got / This I Swear	Columbia #10540
1977	All You Got / I Got Carried Away	Columbia #10604
1978	Get On Up (Disco) / It's You, It's You	Columbia #10684
1978	Can't Help But Say / Bunky	Columbia #10773
1979	In The Mood / I Can't Wait	Columbia #10904
1979	Ain't Nothing I Can Do / All The Love I Need	Columbia #11035
1979	Be With Me / Love You Forever	Columbia #11128
1980	Can't You Tell It's Me / I Don't Think You Heard Me	Columbia #11199
1980	Heart Failure / Keep On Dancin'	Columbia #11246
1980	How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) / I Can't Wait	Columbia #11344
1980	I Just Can't Keep On Goin' / We Don't Need No Music	Columbia #11415
1981	Just My Luck / Let's Be Close Together	Columbia #02269
1981	Leave Well Enough Alone / I Won't Let Go	Columbia #02634
	Highrise
1982	Are You Serious / Overdue	Highrise #2005 / Hi C-Lo #2005
1983	A Little Bit Of Loving (Goes A Long Way) /  Where Did We Lose	Highrise #2009 / Hi C-Lo #2009
	Ocean Front
1983	I Found Myself When I Lost You / (Instrumental)	Ocean Front #2001
1984	Let Me Be Your Pacifier / Turning Point	Ocean Front #2004
	Prelude
1985	Sexy Thing / Save Me	Prelude #8090
1985	Forever / Satisfy You Before I Satisfy Me	Prelude #8092
	Future
1987	Sexy Thing / Save Me	Future #101
1987	I'm In Love Again / Serious Love	Future #102
1988	Do You Feel It / (Instrumental)	Future #103
1988	It's A Miracle / Wrong Doers	Future #104
1988	Flashin' Back (Dance Mix) / Flashin' Back (LP Version)	Future #204
1990	Come On Over Here / One In A Million	Future #107
	Ichiban
1991	I'll Always Love You / Can I Change My Mind	Ichiban #226
1991	Mom's Apple Pie / Do You Still Love Me	Ichiban #237
1991	Talk To You / Prove My Love	Ichiban #243
1992	Somethings Mighty Wrong / Let Me Love You	Ichiban #255
1992	Running In And Out Of My Life / I've Gotta Get Over You	Ichiban #261
1992	Don't Make Me Choose / Ain't Gonna Get It	Ichiban #273
1993	It's A Miracle / Do You Feel It	Ichiban #285
1993	I Found Myself When I Found You / Something About You	Ichiban #292
	Dance Mania
1996	Here It Cums / Bring It On // Get Smokey / Animator	Dance Mania #Dm-146
	Malaco
1997	Delicious / Temporary Lovin	Malaco #MAL 2330

Whilst we've highlighted his biggest hits, we soul lovers aren't concerned with chart positions and his catalogue of music is outstanding and most of it available on Spotify. So trying to narrow it down to a digestible playlist was difficult. We initially had a playlist of almost 80 tracks so we've stripped out all the hits into a separate Hits Playlist to leave the non-hit singles, best B sides and album tracks below. He had 43 R&B hits and the playlist has 40 of them as "A Little Bit of Loving (Goes a Long Way)", "I Found Myself When I Lost You" and "Let Me Be Your Pacifier" are not available on Spotify, so we've linked to them on YouTube in Discography above (as well as to his early singles before he was with Dakar).. 

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