If you think that's suggestive, wait till you get to the spoken-word breakdown, where Mac goes full Barry White as he moans, "Let me kiss away your tears/ I can taste it... can taste your lovely..." A little too real for '73 audiences, perhaps, as the song missed the Hot 100 altogether, but an impressive display of virility and versatility all the same. May cause some wincing at Davis' use of the hard N-word when he's scornfully quoting Lucas, but the song is undeniably potent, both for its vicious portrayal and dismissal of Southern white ignorance, and its thick, harmonica-led lurch, which lands "Lucas" practically in Dr. John territory. Written with longtime friend Parton, “White Limozeen” served as the title track for Parton’s 1989 album and explored her rags-to-riches tale. It went on to be featured in the movie Live a Little, Love a Little, which Elvis starred in. Mac Davis covered She's Steppin' Out, If You Add All the Love in the World, Every Woman, Rock n' Roll (I Gave You the Best Years of My Life) and other songs. The Biz premium subscriber content has moved to Billboard.com/business. He enjoyed success in almost every facet of show business, from the late sixties to the present. A more logical team-up than it initially appears, particularly while Avicii was in the throes of his stomp-folk phase of hitmaking. About Our Ads Some of his earliest honors included the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year Award in 1974 and the inaugural People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Singer in 1975. This trenchant social commentary still stands out more than 50 years later for its bold stand on racial inequality and inner-city poverty, and became Presley’s song most associated with Davis, reaching No. Toggle navigation. And long after his stardom waned as a singer, Davis' pen game remained prolific, right up to the 2010s, when he was still getting co-writes with rock, pop and EDM stars. In this quiz, spot the artist who put Romeo into a song lyric. "I said, 'Nope.'" Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Stagecoach. Co-written with Strange specifically for Presley’s ’68 Comeback Special, this nostalgic, wistful ballad of romantic days gone by became Davis’s first major hit as a songwriter, reaching the Hot 100's top 40. Terms of Use Wrote Elvis' "In the Ghetto" and "Little Less Conversation". Davis is survived by his wife Lise and his three children: Joel Scott, Noah Claire, and Cody Luke. KT Tunstall's "Suddenly I See" was inspired by Robert Mapplethorpe's photograph of Patti Smith on the cover of her album Horses. A little too biting for single release, one of Mac Davis' most memorable '70s songs came with this Stop and Smell the Roses deep cut, a swampy excoriation of the "born-to-be-a-bum" title character. by Davis wrote the song based on memories he had of his Texas childhood, and realizing the different treatment his Black friend received based on the part of town he lived in. FACEBOOK A little too biting for single release, one of Mac Davis' most memorable '70s songs came with this Stop and Smell the Roses deep cut, a swampy excoriation of the "born-to-be-a-bum" title character. “They had asked for a song about looking back over the years, and oddly enough, I had to write it in one night,” Davis told Billboard in 2015. Unsurprisingly, Davis received numerous accolades during his rich and busy career, which has spanned nearly half a century. Bernie Taupin, who wrote the lyrics, was married to Rene's sister, Toni. A guy Jewel fell for when she was 16 inspired her hit "Foolish Games.". Several of Elvis Presley‘s greatest songs were written or co-written by Mac Davis. Complete song listing of Mac Davis on OLDIES.com Mac Davis ~ Songs List | OLDIES.com COVID-19: Because of processes designed to ensure the safety of our employees, you may experience a delay in the shipping of your order. The song remains popular today, having just provided the namesake and inspiration for a vintage restaurant/lounge atop Nashville’s new Graduate Hotel. Mac Davis established himself as an all-around entertainer: songwriter, countrypolitan-style singer, film and stage actor, TV and radio personality and performer. We've [recorded] it, but my son's name is Danny," Davis told the Tennesseean in 2014. Mac Davis, "It's Hard to Be Humble" (1980). In this case, substitute Nashville with Los Angeles, and the story hews closely to Parton’s experience leaving her small town to pursue big dreams, while never abandoning her soul. Smith, Freddie Hart, Ray Price and Lou Rawls. 9/30/2020 Maybe a little too frisky at times, as the chorus demands of "Hold your mouth and open up your heart and baby, satisfy me" have aged fairly poorly -- but the rest of the song is still electric enough that it became a hit a second time around in 2002, when a much-synced Junkie XL remix returned it to the Hot 100. Hard to Be Humble: The Best of Mac Davis: Mac Davis: Primary Artist, Composer : 2013 : Candi/Young Hearts Run Free: Candi Staton: Composer : 2013 : A Little More Action Please: The Anthology 1970-1985: Mac Davis: Primary Artist, Composer Presented chronologically, and encompassing both his own recordings and his writing credits for other artists, here are Billboard's picks for Mac Davis' 15 finest songs, with a playlist of all of them at the bottom. Bobby Goldsboro, "Watching Scotty Grow" (1970). James Brown's "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" was the first Hot 100 hit with the word "sex" in the title. The song Memories was written by Billy Strange and Mac Davis and was first recorded and released by Elvis Presley in 1968. Davis' influence has extended well beyond music. , That's what music is about,” he told Billboard. In 2015, Davis was named a BMI Icon at the organization's 63rd Annual Country Awards. He's even left his mark on the Broadway stage, spending almost two and a half years playing the title role in Will Rogers Follies, both in New York City and on the national tour, eliciting high praise from theater critics and fans. ", The renown rock singer talks about "The House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood. Davis frequently told the story that the idea for the song came after producer Rick Hall, unhappy with the material Davis was providing in the studio, told him to write a song with a “hook.”, Mac Davis, "Kiss It and Make It Better" (1973). Mac Davis perorms onstage during day two of Stagecoach Country Music Festival at The Empire Polo Club on April 25, 2015 in Indio, California. The smell of love is in the air, and its flames are burning brighter and brighter in this smoldering 1970 hit for Rogers and his then-backing band. Original title intact, the song reached No. Copyright Songwriters Hall of Fame © 2020. © 2019 Billboard. Mac Davis, "Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me" (1972), “Baby,” a catchy song about waving off a woman’s affection before she gets too attached, likely wouldn’t fly in 2020 with such lyrics as “don’t start clinging to me girl ‘cause I can’t breathe’ and ‘I’ll just use you then I’ll set you free,” but it hit all the right notes in 1972 as Davis took the song straight to No. EMAIL ME. 11 on the Hot 100 in February 1971. All Rights Reserved. Andrew Unterberger But that repertoire of hits as a recording artist only scratches the surface of Davis' multi-platform contributions to '70s and '80s pop culture.