Funeral Services for Mr. Tyrone Davis was held Thursday Feb. 17th. @ The Living Word Church, corner of Desplaines & Roosevelt in Chicago, IL

Tyrone Davis homecoming

by Leslie Jones McCloud
February 18, 2005

Monitors in the foyer of Living Word Christian Center on Thursday in Forrest Park were broadcasting a video anthology of Tyrone Davis’ music and his life. Strains of Davis’ music greeted guests upon entering the mostly glass, mall-like structure.

Family, well wishers and friends appeared upbeat while listening to Davis’ signature song, Turning Point. A quick glance around at those in line to sign the guest book at the funeral revealed smiles.

Many of them said hearing Davis’ music took them back to the days when they were either performing with him or just hanging out. Former singer turned evangelist Bishop Joe Simon said Davis was his friend. They performed together throughout the years. “We toured together for years all through the 60s. When he first came out with Turn Back the Hands of Time. He appeared on my show in Columbus, Ohio. I’m here to pay my respects,” he said.

Singing legend Willie Clayton said he has a “lifetime of memories,” to share.

“Tyrone is a really good friend of mine. His last CD was on my record label. It was the last thing he recorded. I’m here not only to pay my respects but because he was a good friend,” he said.

Many of Davis’ peers took the moments before the wake to catch up with each other and rekindle old memories. The service – filled with many famous faces from the entertainment industry – was a mixture of the sacred and the secular as Davis was said to have taken many aspects of “the church” with him into the studio.

The funeral wasn’t a very somber event, but was a celebration of his life. Songs like, Can I Change My Mind, boomed through the church’s professional sound system. It, combined with the television equipment and lights, added to the excitement – nearly transforming the service into a Hollywood awards show.

However, a tight reign on the media and plenty of security stopped the funeral short of rounding the corner towards Hollywood’s red carpet. Approximately 3,000 filled the sanctuary.

Some of those present at the church were the singing trio, Ray Goodman and Brown, Cook County Commissioner Jerry Butler, Marshall Thompson of the Chi-Lites, Gene Chandler, Jean Davis Cook, Bishop Don Juan and many others.

Again and again, Davis’ signature music was mentioned as an inspiration to both clergy and fans. The ministers who spoke during the funeral suggested to the audience that if they turn their lives to God they wouldn’t have to worry about singing If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time.

Before singing a hymn, performer Otis Clay shared humorous snippets of his time spent with Davis.

“You can rest assured wherever he is he won’t be there long because they’ll put him out,” Clay said. The audience tittered in seeming agreement.

Bespeckled in his signature blue-tinted monocles, Ramone Wade, a.k.a. Ramonski Luv of V103/WVAZ-FM, called to the podium a group of radio personalities that included Joe Soto, Jim Raggs, Kirby Carmichael and Richard Steele – along with many other on-air personalities. Wade said they are the ones who help turn a recording artist into a much-loved star.

“If it wasn’t for us putting it out there, you wouldn’t know what they had,” he said.

Recounting a time when he met Davis early in his career, Wade told the audience that after they were introduced, Davis started calling him “Pete.” Wade said he thought that meant he was finally a part of the in-crowd.

“Later, they told me that he called everyone Pete,” he said. He encouraged the audience to sit back, close their eyes and remember the good times they had with Davis’.

Bishop Don Juan sang a hymn and told the audience that since he had not gotten to spend time with Davis recently, he had begun to “play his records all week.” He said Davis told him he was proud of him when he found that he’d given his life to Christ.

Many of the guests at the funeral were life-long members of the show business industry and had prominent name recognition. Some had to be pointed out.

“Tyrone and I go back a long, long way. I’m an entertainer also, so I couldn’t not attend,” Delores Scott said, remembering that she and Davis performed together many times.

When asked what she thought of Davis’ music being broadcast inside the church, she said, “Even though this is a Christian environment, that is who and what Tyrone was.”

“There’s nothing wrong with our music. Many people have the wrong attitude about it,” she said.

Davis’ widow Ann, along with other members of his immediate family, dressed in cream-colored outfits and sat in the front row. One relative had to be carried out of the vestibule, appearing to be overcome with grief.

Davis had been hospitalized for about four months prior to his death on Feb. 9, at the age of 66, after suffering from a stroke.

THE BOOGIE REPORT

Good Bye Tyrone

Thousands of fans and music industry celebrities braved Chicago's 20 degree weather to honor the man known as "The Windy City Wonder Boy", Tyrone Davis. Services ,which were webcast over the internet were held at the palatial Living Word Christian Center. Greetings were given by Pastor Darryl Barnett Living Word Christian Center. Scripture was rendered by Rev. Marshall Hatch New Pilgrim Baptist Church Rev. Ira J. Acree Greater St. John Holiness M.B. Church conducted a Prayer of Encouragement. Rev Jessie Jackson was slated to speak but a prior engagement call him away. most notable moments were the stirring solo by Otis Clay who shook the sanctuary as he fought back emotion doing a rendition of When The Gates Swing Open and a solo "You Are My Hero" by Jean Davis Cook. there were numerous remarks from people who knew and loved Tyrone Broadcaster Purvis 'The Bluesman Spann told the gather humorous stories about dealing with Tyrone as a concert promoter Rev Willie Branch"Tyrones Father"addresed the crowd with his personal insight into the kindness and generosity of Tyrone, and comforted the gathering by stating that death is just a transition from one life to another. Other notables speaking and recognized were Bishop Don "Magic 'Juan, Millie Jackson, Marshall Thompson, Jerry Butler, Sir Charles Jones, Marvin Sease, Little Milton, Garland Green, Blue Lovett, Ray, Goodman and Brown and many others. The Eulogy was delivered by Elder Marcus Beckham of The New St. John CMB Church afterwhich the services were dismissed Tyrones Burial was Private for Immediate family only.

Below Photos of some of the notables who attended

Marshall Thompson of The Chi-lites

Gene Chandler

R&B Great Tyrone Davis Is Dead

Legendary rhythm and blues soul singer Tyrone Davis, who vaulted to fame with hits such as "Can I Change My Mind" and "Turn Back the Hands of Time," died Wednesday afternoon at a hospital in west suburban Hinsdale. He was 66.

Surrounded by family and friends, Davis' death comes four months after suffering a stroke, which doctors said was made worse by him being a diabetic. He had remained in the hospital since October until his release last week.

"He went so gently and peacefully," his wife, Ann Davis, told the Chicago Defender. "I want to thank all his fans who supported us, especially during these last months."

Considered the "king of romantic Chicago Soul" - a survey on Billboard Magazine named him the 30th best R&B singer of all time - Davis' smooth and versatile baritone voice could handle everything from pop to soul to funk and blues.

Otis Clay, a fledgling gospel singer when he met Davis, said the two struck up a friendship that has lasted 44 years.

"He was like a brother to me, and I don't mean that in a loose sense," Clay told the Defender.
Clay said that they had made a pact early on that whichever one of them made it big first, he would pull the other one up with him.

"He got his when he recorded 'Can I Change My Mind' in 1968," said Clay. "Mine came about a year earlier with a tune called 'That's How It Is,' but people only remembered the line 'slap some sense in me.'"

Davis' 1968 hit showcased his lovelorn pleading to full effect and the song went all the way to number one on the R&B charts, and reached the pop Top Five as well.

Over his four-decade career, Davis recorded 38 albums. His last ' "The Legendary Hall of Fame" - was released in September.

The singer's stylish class made him especially popular with female soul fans during a lengthy hit-making run that lasted throughout the '70s and '80s.

He married Ann at St. John's Church Community Baptist Church in Chicago 42 years ago, and the union produced five children.

She said that one of the things she really enjoyed with her husband was their trips together.
"We went to Bellinzona, Switzerland, in 2002," she said. "We said that if we were 20 years younger we would move to that place. We had wonderful vacations."

According to a news release, Davis was born May 4, 1938, in Greenville, Miss. He moved to Chicago in 1959, eventually working "as a valet and chauffeur for bluesman Freddie King."

Chicago's blues soul and blues scene was rich with a plethora singers, and Davis quickly became friends with the likes of Clay, Little Milton and Bobby "Blue" Bland, performing in clubs on the city's west and south sides.

Davis hit the R&B Top 40 with steady regularity in the 1970s, including the Top Tens "Could I Forget You," "I Had It All the Time," "Without You in My Life," and "There It Is."
In 1975, he scored his third number one R&B hit with "Turning Point."

After his stroke, longtime friend Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd) organized a two-day tribute concert for Davis in November.

"I want to thank all the performers who came out for the concert," she said. "Jerry Butler, Buddy Guy, Denise LaSalle, Koko Taylor, Gene Chandler…all the people who came out to support him."

Ann Davis said that through the years she didn't realize how many people her husband's music touched.

"The fans all over the world have been so grand," she said. "Tyrone was just one of God's gifts."

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I played can I change my mind 3 time an hour, that song had so much drive, it just came on so strong that you just wanted to hear it start over and over again.

I met Tyrone the first time he came here for a concert at the Mosque and he and I became friends right out the box. Back then he called everybody Pete, if he called you Pete, you were all right with him.

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Kirby I love your page.

Here is something I wrote for myself and my firends.

The Regent of Regret.

That's how I think of Tyrone Davis. Most of his best songs (and best
known songs) were about regret, the anguish of realizing the mistakes
that have been made and the desperate desire to change the past. "Turn
Back the Hands of Time", "Can I Change My Mind", "I Keep Comin
Back", ...and the ultimate "Let Me Back In." "Let Me Back In" isn't the
ultimate because it is his best, but because the story line is the most
pitiful. Tyrone has left his woman for another, who promptly dumps him
because her interest was all about hurting the other woman. Once she
has Tyrone, she's accomplished her goal. It is over and poor Tyrone
has gone from being the object of two women's desires to being being
all alone. Hat in hand, he begs outside the door, "Let me back in."
And Tyrone is honest. He doesn't try to bullshit that he's had a
change heart because his love is so strong. He tells the whole story.
Maybe he's through with lies, but you've got to wonder how effective it
could be to ask your ex-lover to take you back because your new lover
won't have you. But listen to Tyrone's voice and the whole production
and you think that maybe he's got a chance. Just maybe.

The regret theme is usually in the context of romance, but it resonates
wider. As we get older our disappointments and regrets start to pile
up. In sleepless and waking moments we ask ourselves "how did my life
turn out this way?". More and more we get haunted by the thought
that "I should have done that instead," or "I shouldn't have done
that." This isn't about teenage heartbreak. Tyrone captures
the same sense as Fitzgerald (Gatsby) and Faulkner (Absalom, Absalom)
that the past is our cross to bear and the same obsession with
remaking that past. The scale is different, but the feelings are the
same. Regret.

It isn't just the songs (Tyrone didn't write them), but his
voice, phrasing and production/arrangements. His voice was supple,
never forced. No macho swagger, no arrogance but some degree of
confidence (after all he wouldn't be asking for a second chance if he
didn't think he deserved it). Still, it is his vulnerability that
dominates. And unlike other's classic songs in a similar vein (Otis
Redding's "Mr Pitiful" or "Pain in My Heart," and Bobby Bland's "I'm
Not Ashamed" for example), there is little sense that Tyrone's problems
and pain are heroic. Tyrone is an everyman, the feelings are part of
the human condition, nothing special but very real. His vocal effects
are understated. There is the little growl, like Conway Twitty but
more casual. There is the falsetto jump, like Roy Orbison but much,
much less dramatic. Even his pronunciation -- the Mississippi via
Chicago accent -- is humble. Little things like "peoples" instead
of "people" in "Can I Change My Mind" are a constant reminder of what
the singer and his audience share. Interestingly, the rest of the
sound of his records set off his singing with contrasts. If Tyrone is
hurting, the beat bounces along with an almost happy boogaloo feel. If
he's humble, the horns are brassy, shimmering. If he's alone, the
background vocalists suggest a community. If he's understated, the
strings are a little over the top.It works.

Perhaps it is also a contrast that makes "Turning Point" my favorite
Tyrone Davis song. Where the other hits are about wrong choices and
regrets, "Turning Point" is a celebration of a right choice, of a
mature love that saved him. It works in part because of what went
before. You are rooting for Tyrone, you've been through the failures
with him, shared the bad choices and their consequences. In "Turning
Point" you get to join him in looking back at the late nights and wild
times of searching for happiness and in celebrating the unexpected
domestic bliss he's found.

More likely "Turning Point" is my favorite because it is the first
Tyrone Davis song I remember hearing. It was on the jukebox at a
coffee shop I hung out at in high school. Iris's. Most of the
regulars at Iris's were at least thirty years older than me, Black and
confirmed alcoholics. But Iris's had a great jukebox and we bonded
across chasms of age, race and drugs of choice. There was some
standard stuff like Aretha or B.B. King. There were also a lot of
records I'd never heard, like Jimmy Witherspoon singing "Love is A Five
Letter Word, (Simply M-O-N-E-Y)" and Albert King's "Nobody Wants to
Lose" with the line " I know I'm an alcoholic, some times I regret it,
especially when the liquor store won't give me no credit" that could
have been written by or for Doeskin, Mr. Lyle, Ronnie and the other
regulars at Iris's. And there was "Turning Point." J-5 if my memory
serves me right. I played it everyday, at least once. Often Ronnie
would do a little shuffle dance to the song, especially when he was
feeling no pain. When I got my own jukebox years later "Turning Point"
was one of the first records I put on. It stayed on for years and only
came off when I put on "Can I change My Mind" because a friend who I'd
turned on to Tyrone had a bad case of romantic regrets. "Turning
Point" is going back on and "Can I Change My Mind" is staying.

I think "Can I Change My Mind" was the second Tyrone song I heard.
Back then Tyrone Davis' records were hard to come by for a white boy.
I used to haunt thrift stores buying 45s and that's the only way I got
any Tyrone Davis music for years. No store I went into had his LPs,
so it was singles, which was cool because they are great singles.
Finally I found (in a thrift store) the Turning Point LP. It was a
revelation, mostly because the fade on "Turning Point" had an extra ten
or so seconds. I'd always loved the fade and now there was more to
love. As I got older and my explorations for records expanded, it was
still tough to find Tyrone Davis records. I heard rumors of the Dakar
Masters being destroyed and legal hassles with the catalog. All I knew
is they were tough to find. Years later I worked in a number of used
record stores and picked up a bunch of Tyrone LPs, great covers, lots
of undiscovered gems and a deeper appreciation for his art. Still
later came CDs and the excellent Rhino comp (I see on Amazon that there
is now a variety of Tyrone Davis on CD, but the Rhino comp looks to be
the best). To my amazement, the version of "Turning Point" on the
Rhino CD had an even longer fade, much longer. Another gift. That
version became my favorite, there was just more to dig. Lately I've
changed my mind ("can I...?). I'm back to the single. In all the fades
he's doing a stream of consciousness thing about what would have
happened to him if he hadn't found love, "if the sweet thang hadn't
come along" -- "I might have been insane, out of my mind...", "I might
of been down in skid row...". On the single the last clear line is "I
might of been a locked up." There is a simplicity and finality to
that that seems right.

Although for his sake, for the sake of his family and for the sake of
all those who would dig his music if they heard it, I wish Tyrone Davis
had reached a wider audience and become a bigger star, but there is
also something right about his level of achievement. It fits with his
music and his persona that he never got the big break, that his
crossovers were one shots. He's the Regent of Regret, not even the
Prince of Pain, much less the Hegemon of Heartbreak. Tyrone didn't
belong on the pedestal, he was one of us. Helping us through our
trials and tribulations by singing about his. Reminding us that we
aren't alone, that others also look back in confusion and
consternation. And the beat and the music always said to keep moving
forward and that sometimes, whatever you are feeling it is a good idea
to just dance.

Thomas J. Mertz
Department of History
University of Wisconsin-Madison
tjmertz@wisc.edu
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