# Spencer Davis

Spencer Davis (born Spencer David Nelson Davies; 17 July 1939 – 19 October 2020) was a Welsh musician. He founded the Spencer Davis Group, a band that had several hits in the 1960s including "Keep On Running", "Gimme Some Lovin'", and "I'm a Man", all sung by Steve Winwood. Davis subsequently enjoyed success as an A&R executive with Island Records.

## Early life

Davis was born in Swansea, South-West Wales, on 17 July 1939. His father was a paratrooper during World War II. While his father was away, his uncle Herman was a musical influence on Davis, teaching him how to play the harmonica at age six. While growing up in Swansea, Davis lived through The Blitz: "The bombed city centre was my playground. I watched the town being absolutely destroyed." Davis's mother continued to live in the West Cross area of Swansea until her death. He began learning to play harmonica and accordion at the age of six. He attended Dynevor Schoolin Swansea and became proficient speaking a few languages. He moved to London when he was 16 and began working in the civil service as a clerical officer at the Post Office Savings Bank in Hammersmith and then for HM Customs and Excise. However, he went back to his old school to study for A-levels in languages, becoming head boy in 1959. In 1960, he moved to Birmingham, to read German at the University of Birmingham. In music circles, Davis was later known as "Professor".

## Early music career

His early musical influences were skiffle, jazz, and blues. Musical artists who influenced Davis include Big Bill Broonzy, Huddy Ledbetter, Buddy Holly, Davey Graham, John Martyn, Alexis Korner, and Long John Baldry. By the time he was 16, Davis was hooked on the guitar and the American rhythm and blues music making its way across the Atlantic. With few opportunities to hear R&B in South Wales, Davis attended as many local gigs as practical.
When Davis moved to Birmingham as a student, he often performed on stage after his teaching day. While in Birmingham, he formed a musical and personal relationship with Christine Perfect who was later a member of Fleetwood Mac.

## The Spencer Davis Group

In 1963, Davis went to the Golden Eagle pub in Birmingham to see the Muff Wood Jazz band, a traditional jazz band featuring Muff Winwood and his younger brother, Steve Winwood. Davis persuaded them to join him and drummer Pete York as the Rhythm and Blues Quartet. Davis performed on guitar, vocals and harmonica, Steve Winwood on guitar, organ and vocals, Muff Winwood on bass and Pete York on drums. Reportedly, they adopted the name the Spencer Davis Group because Davis was the only band member who agreed to press interviews, allowing the other band members to sleep longer.
The group's live reputation attracted the attention of Island Records founder Chris Blackwell who signed the group to its first contract and became their manager. The group had No. 1 hits in the UK with consecutive single releases in 1966 ("Keep On Running" and "Somebody Help Me"). Steve Winwood sang lead vocals on all the Spencer Davis Group's hits up to "I'm a Man" in 1967.
The Spencer Davis Group continued after Winwood left to form Traffic in April 1967. The group recorded two more albums before splitting up in 1969. Another version of the group with Davis and York appeared in 1973 and disbanded in late 1974. Various incarnations of the band toured in later years under Davis's direction.

## Solo career

After the group broke up, Davis moved to California and recorded an acoustic album with Peter Jameson, It's Been So Long, for Mediarts in mid-1971. He followed it with a solo album, Mousetrap, for United Artists, produced by and featuring Sneaky Pete Kleinow. Neither album sold well. Soon after, he moved back to the UK, formed a new Spencer Davis Group and signed with Vertigo Records. In addition, Davis was an executive at Island Records in the mid-1970s. As a promoter for Island Records, Davis worked with Bob Marley, Robert Palmer, and Eddie and the Hot Rods as well as promoting the solo career of former Spencer Davis Group member Steve Winwood.
In 1993, Davis formed the supergroup the Class Rock All-Stars. He left the group in 1995 to form World Classic Rockers with former Eagles bassist Randy Meisner, ex Toto singer Bobby Kimball, and ex Moody Blues and Wings guitarist Denny Laine.

## Later life

Davis retained an affinity for Germany. He had studied German and played in clubs in Berlin early in his career. He watched both the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and with his son, its fall in 1989.
Davis was a supporter and honorary member of the Wales nationalist party, Plaid Cymru. From the mid-1970s onwards, Davis lived in Avalon on Catalina Island, a small island off the coast of Southern California. During the summer of 2012, the Catalina Island Museum hosted an exhibition called "Gimme Some Lovin': The Spencer Davis Group", to celebrate Davis's musical career. To complement the museum show, the museum also hosted a symposium on "The British Invasion", where Davis was joined on a panel by, among others, Micky Dolenz of the Monkees and a July Fourth concert featuring Davis singing his hits with a backing band named 'The Catalina All Stars'.

## Personal life

He had three children and divorced in the late 1970s.

## Death

Davis died from pneumonia in Los Angeles on 19 October 2020 at the age of 81.

## Discography
### With The Spencer Davis Group
#### Studio albums

| Year | Title | Details |
| 1965 | Their First LP | Released: June 1965 Label: Fontana |
| 1966 | The Second Album | Released: 7 January 1966 Label: Fontana |
| 1966 | Autumn '66 | Released: 26 August 1966 Label: Fontana |
| 1968 | With Their New Face On | Released: April 1968 Label: United Artists |
| 1973 | Gluggo | Released: 1973 Label: Vertigo |
| 1974 | Living in a Back Street | Released: February 1974 Label: Vertigo |
| 1986 | Vibrate | Released: 1986 Label: Victoria Only released in Spain |
| 1998 | Funky | Released: 1998 Label: Angel Air Originally planned for release in 1969 by CBS Records in the UK as Letters From Edith but withdrawn; released in the US by Date Records, a sub-label of Columbia Records, in 1970 as Funky but quickly withdrawn due to the dissolution of the label |

#### EPs

| Year | Title | Details |
| 1965 | You Put the Hurt on Me | Released: August 1965 Label: Fontana |
| 1965 | Every Little Bit Hurts | Released: October 1965 Label: Fontana |
| 1966 | Sittin' and Thinkin' | Released: May 1966 Label: Fontana |
| 1978 | Spencer Davis Group | Released: May 1978 Label: Island Compilation EP |
| 2017 | Rambling Rose | Released: 22 April 2017 Label: Rhythm & Blues Record Store Day release |

#### Singles

| Year | Single |
| 1964 | "Dimples" |
| 1964 | "I Can't Stand It" |
| 1965 | "Every Little Bit Hurts" |
| 1965 | "Strong Love" |
| 1965 | "Keep On Running" |
| 1966 | "Somebody Help Me" |
| 1966 | "This Hammer" (Norway and Sweden-only release) |
| 1966 | "Sittin' and Thinkin'" (Netherlands-only release) |
| 1966 | "When I Come Home" |
| 1966 | "Together 'Til the End of Time" (Norway-only release) |
| 1966 | "Take This Hurt Off Me" (Norway-only release) |
| 1966 | "Georgia on My Mind" (Netherlands-only release) |
| 1966 | "Gimme Some Lovin'" |
| 1966 | "Det war in Schöneberg" (Germany-only release) |
| 1966 | "High Time Baby" (Norway-only release) |
| 1967 | "I'm a Man" |
| 1967 | "Time Seller" |
| 1967 | "It's Gonna Work Out Fine" (New Zealand-only release) |
| 1967 | "When a Man Loves a Woman" (Italy-only release) |
| 1967 | "Mr. Second Class" |
| 1968 | "After Tea" |
| 1968 | "Looking Back" (US, Canada and Germany-only release) |
| 1968 | "(Aquarius) Der Wassermann" (Germany and Netherlands-only release) |
| 1968 | "Short Change" |
| 1971 | "Magpie" (as 'The Murgatroyd Band') |
| 1973 | "Don't You Let It Bring You Down" (US and Canada-only release) |
| 1973 | "Catch You on the Rebop" |
| 1973 | "Mr. Operator" |
| 1973 | "Livin' in a Back Street" |
| 1974 | "Another Day" (Spain-only release) |