Davis’ rhapsody
like decca records, he turned down The Beatles when the Fab Four was starting out, but life has been nothing but sweet for conductor Carl davis ever since.
CONDUCTOR Carl Davis’ list of accomplishments run the gamut of good old-fashioned classical compositions to elaborate interpretations of music by The Beatles and Swedish pop quartet Abba. And in between, he has carved a name for himself as the leading music-maker for silent movies, particularly those by comedians Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd.
In fact, Criterion Collection’s latest Bluray remaster of Lloyd’s classic Safety Last features Davis’ music. “At least three or four of the new movies will feature my music. At the moment I’m working on The Freshman. I’ve also done Speedy and
The Kid Brother,” said Davis recently, when he was back to present Abba Goes Symphonic and The Story
Of British Musicals at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP) early last month.
Davis’ penchant for silent movie comedies is hardly surprising. He was born in 1936 in New York City. Even if “talkies” were already around, his movie diet would have still comprised the world of Buster Keaton, Lloyd and Chaplin – he’s actually worked on music for movies by all three comedians.
And even before he was born, his musical inclinations were evident. “My mother used to go to a lot of concerts and she said she used to have reactions,” he revealed. “Apparently, I didn’t like high sopranos. My mother assured me it was a pre-birth experience,” he said in jest.
Music was practically a birthright and after excelling at piano at an early age, Davis began his journey of self-discovery. “I started studying piano at seven, but I was playing well before that. And I learned very quickly and became a pianist.”
The love of the instrument led to the intrigue of composition. As unlikely as it seems for someone to be composing at such a young age, Davis corroborates his theory by relating a story about a recently-discovered eightyear-year-old girl in London who is a prolific composer.
“If you ask me, I think she’s frightening. Worse still when I was told she was a fan of mine,” he quipped.
Growing up a youngster in 1940s New York provided Davis with a cultural and artistic playground like no other. “There was so much that was avail- able … theatre, dance, museums, and enormous concerts of all kinds. I was attracted to it all and wanted to be part of that world.”
The piano provided him with the tool to connect with that world and Davis credits that inner child’s curiosity in all of us which drives our inspiration. It was his unbridled appreciation for music which took him to great heights.
Posting himself as a pianist, he played for dance, singers, chamber music, opera … everything he could get his hands on. And then came that fateful day when as an 18-year-old, he saw sheets of blank manuscript paper while at a music store in Philadelphia in the mid1950s. Suddenly, he had an epiphany. “I just wanted to fill the page,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
So, he decided to get an education, but he needed to have something to gain entry into college. Unconventionally, he rounded up some of his touring musician friends (whom he travelled with on a bus while scoring his music) and upon the recommendation of his clarinetist, headed to a little rock n’ roll studio in Nashville, Tennessee.
“I had some pieces ready. I had three songs … a suite for clarinets and bassoon. We did it as a live take, no edits or added tracks, and it was cut straight to the record, as how they did it in the old days,” he reminisced.
Having also cut his teeth on jazz aided him in being a highly versatile musician, which is how he’s come to be associated with interpretations of the music of the Fab Four, Abba and Bond themes, even. In fact, he played Adele’s Skyfall during his recent show at DFP.
The draw of the British culture and music scene proved too much to resist and he relocated to the other side of the Atlantic and landed in London in 1960. “I have always loved the dry humour of the British,” he confessed.
But London was a shambles post World War II. “It was only 15 years after the war, so the destruction from bombing was still obvious. Soft coal was still being used for heating, so it was very smoggy. But I loved the greyness. London was completely different to New York,” he fondly recalled his early years there.
And it was in 1963 that he was offered a proposal to work with four mop tops from Liverpool. Davis also worked closely with writers’ agents and was friends with the most powerful one at that time.
The agent informed him that the up and rising group wanted a biography written on them. “They only had two songs at that point, so I told her not to touch the offer because they were just a pop group,” he intimated, bursting into laughter. “Decca and I stand together on that one,” he continued cheekily, alluding to that legendary tale of missed opportunity when Britain’s Decca Records turned down the chance to sign The Beatles, before the Fab Four signed with EMI.
Davis eventually got into the group’s music, just a mere two years later. “I was sitting in the tub having a bath and the radio was on, and suddenly, A Hard Day’s Night came on, and it was fantastic. It just had an energy and I splashed away in the water,” intimated the American, who married British actress Jean Boht in 1970 and has two daughters.
But he has at least crossed paths with one Beatle … Sir Paul McCartney. The two worked on
Liverpool Oratorio (McCartney’s first stab at classical music), which premiered in 1991 in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
So, what was it like to work with Macca?
“As a collaborator, he was marvellous.” Davis’ abrupt description of his collaborator is telling and when prodded further to describe Sir Paul as a person, the conductor simply responded, “I can’t be drawn into that,” and then grinned knowingly.
There is little that’s conventional about Davis. He confesses to enjoy working with a drummer and rock guitars. “In fact, I always put the drummer in front, so everyone can follow him while I dance around,” he joked … or not.
At a sprightly 76 years of age, he is a picture of health and is armed with a razor sharp sense of humour. Subscribing to the adage that an idle mind is dangerous, Davis keeps himself constantly occupied, even helping his daughter Hannah with the film score to her movies
Mothers And Daughters (2004) and The Understudy (2008), the latter of which features Davis and his wife as a couple. “Yes, that’s the one where I kill my wife,” he deadpanned comically.
And if that doesn’t typify what he’s about, little else will.