Mac Davis
Singer and songwriter BORN JANUARY 21, 1942 - DIED SEPTEMBER 29, 2020, AGED 78
ELVIS Presley, Glen Campbell and Kenny Rogers are just a few artists who had hits written by Mac Davis, a memorable country singer in his own right.
One of his popular songs, I Believe In Music, came to him at a party thrown by Lulu and her then husband, Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees.
When some guests asked if he was into the occult, he said: “No man, I believe in music.” With that he borrowed Gibb’s guitar and wrote the song on the spot.
Perhaps his best song for Elvis Presley was In The Ghetto, which echoed the poverty he saw while growing up in Lubbock, Texas, mostly under the watchful eye of his religious builder father Thomas.
Another of his songs for Presley, A Little Less Conversation, featured in the film Live A Little, Love A Little, and a remixed version would later top the UK charts in 2002.
Don’t Cry Daddy was also
given an emotional rendition by Elvis but, despite the success of their collaboration, the men were not good friends, with Davis regarding the star as a perpetual teenager.
After Davis’s No. 1 hit with Baby Don’t Get Hooked On Me in 1972, American TV producers realised he was a heart- throb and gave him his own air time.
He even had his own television show, which led to parts in films such as North Dallas Forty and The Sting II.
His second wife, Sarah Barg, went on to marry Glen Campbell, who enjoyed singing several of Davis’s songs, including Stop And Smell The Roses.
Davis died in Nashville following heart surgery.
He is survived by his third wife, Lise Kristen Gerard, with whom he had two children.