Don Davis

Donald Davis (October 25, 1938 – June 5, 2014) was an American record producer, songwriter, and guitarist who combined a career in music with one in banking.

Biography Born in Detroit, he started playing music in the mid-1950s and after leaving Central High School formed his own jazz group, the Don Davis Trio, before becoming a session musician. He played guitar for many Detroit record labels, including Golden World and Ric-Tic, as well as on early Motown records such as the hits, "Money (That's What I Want)" by Barrett Strong and Mary Wells' "Bye Bye Baby".

He moved on to writing and producing records in Detroit and then joined Stax Records in Memphis, aiming to achieve a fusion of the Stax and Motown sounds. Davis also played guitar on the track, together with Steve Cropper.

Davis set up his own record production and music publishing companies, called Groovesville, which are still operating. In 1971, he bought one of Detroit's premier recording studios, United Sound, used by a host of musicians including George Clinton, Aretha Franklin, The Dramatics, The Dells, Carla Thomas, Michael Henderson, David Ruffin and Johnnie Taylor. He also used the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama to record the basic rhythm tracks on some of his productions.

In 1975, Davis started and headed the RCA-distributed Detroit-based record label, Tortoise International which included artists, First Fire, The Rockets, the 1978 comeback album by The Skyliners, as well as the 1978 Dan Schafer version of the 1960s re-make "Baby Now That I've Found You" which was re-released in 2012 on the CD Perhaps..the Very Best of Dan Schafer. In 1977, Davis produced the Billy Davis, Jr. and Marilyn McCoo hit, "You Don't Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show)".

Davis also established himself as a banker, founding the First Independence Bank, the only African American-owned and operated commercial bank in Michigan in 1970. He concentrated on his banking concern in later years, but continued to operate his music interests as well.

He lived in West Bloomfield Township, north of Detroit, and died after a short illness in June 2014, aged 75. He is survived by a wife and three children.