Melvin Davis - His Greatest Recordings (2004) Hayley/Rock Mill + Mini Booklet - Rare Soul (FLAC)

Melvin Lincoln Davis was born in 1942 in Georgia. His family moved northward to Detroit when he was 3, often returning to his grandparents’ 300-acre farm in Milledgeville,Georgia. It was there where he first heard Little Richard. On the other side of the farm, out in the woods, was a juke joint called Shady Rest, Little Richard used to come and perform and Davis used to sit on his back porch and just listen to him scream and listen to the Upsetters play. It was way down through the woods, across this valley, but the music would come floating right across. That was his first experience with hearing live music, other than just one instrument like the piano always played in his home, a whole band just playing this incredibly new music down the road. It was an incredible atmosphere for young mevin to take in. The intense prayer and inspired acappella voices of his family’s Baptist church seeped into Davis’ young mind, as did the gospel groups at the Church potluck dinners that brought in acts such as the original Soul Stirrers, featuring Sam Cooke. At the age of 17, Davis joined the Navy and in his spare time began teaching himself to play the piano and guitar and started writing songs. When he returned home to Detroit, it was music that moved him and so he pursued it. Drawing upon this well of creativity, Davis set out to write a song a day following his discharge. He waxed the soulfully punk-edged single “I Don’t Want You”/”About Love” for the local Jack Pot label.. Uniquely Detroit, it sounded like a garage band coming face-to-face with an R&B singer. Davis never scored the crossover hit that would have made him a star, but few artists on Detroit's soul music scene had a more impressive résumé. a Singer, songwriter, drummer, and bandleader who worked with everyone from Smokey Robinson and David Ruffin to Wayne Kramer, Lyman Woodard and Dennis Coffey. He became a legend with his many Northern Soul classics that were cherished in the UK & around the world. he recordered on local detroit labels, Ke-Ke,Fortune,Wheel City,Groovesville, as well as mala,invictus,fat City and his own Rock Mill label. This comprehensive collection showcases his incredible talent as singer, writer, producer and musician from his earliest recordings in the 1960s until the present day. The mega rare “Find a quiet place”, crowd pleaser “I must love you” and his version of “Chains of love” are all here plus previously unreleased Davis compositions for other artists like “I’m the one who loves you” and “I need my baby”. The Mala and Invictus recordings are here too, and feature his tenure as lead singer of the 8th Day on the hits “You’ve got to crawl”, “Eeny meeny miny mo” and the beautiful “You made me over”. Davis’ own Rock Mill label contributes six songs in total, including his own version of “Thinking of you”,  available for the first time with this release, and the sublime “Double or nothing”. 19 tracks of top quality soul, spanning the decades and telling it like it is! WOW! what an album and what an artist..Another Detroit legend for you to cherish!

AMM 

                                                 Review Courtesy Of Pedro With Thanks!

                                                                     The Tasters!