Jimmy Davis

James Edward Davis (1915 – 1997) was an American songwriter, composer, singer, pianist and actor. He co-wrote the song "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)".

Davis was born in Madison, Georgia. He and his family moved to Gary, Illinois, and then to Englewood, New Jersey, where he completed his high school education. Being musically gifted, he was accepted into the Juilliard School in New York to study piano and composition, his fees being paid by a benefactress.

In the late 1930s he wrote the song "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" with Ram Ramirez but could not initially place it, until he offered it to Billie Holiday in 1942. Because of the 1942–44 musicians' strike Holiday didn't record the song until October 1944, and although at first only a minor hit Mélodie en sous-sol (Any Number Can Win) (1962, as Sam), and Je t'aime moi non plus (1976, as Moïse).

Davis died in Paris in 1997. After a funeral service at the American Church in Paris, his ashes were interred in a cemetery in Auvergne.

François Grosjean has written a 66-page biography of Jimmy Davis that can be downloaded from his website: https://www.francoisgrosjean.ch/In_Search_of_Jimmy_Davis.pdf

Discography "Frimousse" ("Musetto") (, Domenico Modugno) c/w "Si j'avais une amie" c/w "Tout d'une pièce" c/w "Tango picasso" (1956, La Voix de son Maître, 7 EGF 241, 45 rpm EP) "Tango Picasso" c/w "Tout d'une pièce" with the Orchestra (1957, La voix de son maître, 7 GF 396) "Frimousse" c/w "Si j'avais une amie" with the Jo Moutet Orchestra (1957, La voix de son maître, 7 GF 397) "Je cherche une belle" (, Lee David) c/w "Si par bonheur" c/w "C'est beau" c/w "Miam, miam, miam" with the Jo Moutet Orchestra (La Voix de son Maître / Pathe-Marconi, 7 EGF 268, 45 rpm EP) Jimmy "Loverman" Davis Chante Jimmy "Loverman" Davis (1954, TCV 40, 10-inch album) "Loverman", "J'ai de la veine", "Blue Valley", "C'est beau", "Why a Good Girl Is Hard to Find", "Un dia sin ti", "Amour est venu sous mon toit", "Darling You Are So Delicious", "Un p'tit coup de chapeau", "Sugar, Sugar Lady"

Songs "Amour est venu sous mon toit" (Davis, H. Lemarchand) "Blue Valley" (Davis, E. D. Russell Daville) "C'est beau" (Davis, Pierre Delanoë), also performed by Lucienne Delyle "Cailloux" (Davis, Simone Gaffie, Raymond Lavigne) "Darling You're So Delicious" (Davis, Walter Bishop) "I Feel Love" (Davis, Saka) "I'll Believe the Gypsy" (Davis) "J'ai de la veine" ("I'm the Luckiest Fool") (Davis, Max François), also performed by , Yves Montand "Let's Knock Ourselves Out" (Davis, Juan Tizol) "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" (Davis, Ramirez) (James Sherman is often co-credited) "Miam, miam, miam" (Davis, Lemarchand) "Nous t'acclamons seigneur" (Davis, Maurice Boubert), performed by Les Capresses "Shake Baby Shake" (Davis, Gaffie) "Si j'avais une amie" (Davis, François) "Si par bonheur" (Davis, Saka), performed by "Sugar, Sugar Lady" (Davis) "Tonight's My Night" (Davis, Allen Julian Orange, Robert S Wilson), performed by Roscoe Shelton "Tango Picasso" (Davis, Nicolas Bataille, A. Viala) "The Blues Jumped Out and Got Me" (Davis, Jack Hoffman), performed by Bill Coleman, Benny Goodman "Tout d'une pièce" ("De una vez") (Davis, , Francisco Ribe) "Trinque, trinque (À la tienne)" (Davis, ), performed by Maurice Chevalier, , Camille Sauvage "Un dia sin ti" (Davis, Segura) "Un p'tit coup de chapeau" (Davis, ) "Viens chez moi" (Davis, Jacques Hourdeaux) "You're the Greatest Love" (Davis, Jo Bouillon, Pierre Guillermin), performed by Josephine Baker "Why Is a Good Girl So Hard to Find" (Davis), also performed (as "Why Is a Good Man So Hard to Find") by Colette Magny