Houston Davis (born William Houston Davis; December 15, 1914 – November 15, 1987) was an American composer, arranger, teacher of music, dance band drummer, and later in his career, a justice of the peace in Hinds County, Mississippi.[1][2]

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Career

Growing up and early career

As a child, Davis was born and raised in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. His father, Edward Samuel Davis (1874–1952) was a barber. Davis played snare drum in a community marching band in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. His father played bass horn.[3] Davis went on to study music at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma (his photo is in the university's 1935 yearbook). During college, Davis also led his own dance band. Northeastern's music faculty included Henri S. Minsky (1908–1980), a violinist who was director of bands.

Around 1936, Davis began playing drums with the Wally Stoefler Orchestra,[4] and stayed with the group until about 1940. Stoefler's press releases often singled out Davis as "that famous Oklahoma drummer."[5] At some point in his career, he then taught high school music and band.

Davis moved to Mississippi in 1942. In the latter 1950s, he wrote a number of political songs, but, was mostly composer and arranger for hire, as was advertised in a brochure published around 1960:

Houston Davis: successful composer of political songs, jingles, parodies.

— Houston Davis brochure [6]

Songwriting career

Davis wrote campaign songs for Mississippi Governors Ross Barnett and Paul Johnson. He composed "Go, Mississippi", which, in 1962, became the official state song for Mississippi. He also composed country songs, such as "I'm Broke", "Girls Don't Wear Dresses Anymore", and "Crop Duster".

Non-music career

• In 1972, Davis was elected justice of the peace in Hinds County, Mississippi.
• Davis ran as an independent for mayor of Jackson,[7] losing to Russell Carlos Davis (1922–1993), a Democrat, in the June 5, 1973, general election. Russell Davis was mayor of Jackson from 1969 to 1977.
• He wrote fiction for a national magazine.[1]

National recognition

• July 15, 1933: Ripley's Believe It or Not!, Davis received recognition for having held a drum roll in 1938 for 6 hours, 30 minutes, 20 seconds. The former record had been set by a member of Sousa's band.
• Davis was admitted to ASCAP in 1965.

Selected works

Sheet music

Brief biographies of song collaborators

• Tom L. Spengler, Jr., in 1957, was manager of Godwin Adv. Agency, Jackson, Mississippi
• Sammy Graham led a band in Mississippi
• Diamond Record Co., Inc., was an affiliate of Trumpet Records. Diamond was formed as Diamond Record Co., Inc., in 1950 when a white woman named Lillian McMurry and her husband Willard purchased a hardware store on Farish Street in Jackson, MS., then a location on the boundary between the city's white and black business and entertainment districts.

Elmore James, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Milton, and James Waller — all of these musical powerhouses furthered their recording careers at a little record company-label on once-thriving Farish Street, the historic black district of Jackson, Mississippi. These blues, gospel, and R&B all-stars are featured in Trumpet Records-Diamonds.

Disambiguation

• Not to be confused with the New York company, Diamond Records, owned in 1947 by Irving Gwirtz.
• Not to be confused with the New York company, Diamond Records, founded in 1961 by former Roulette Records executive Joe Kolsky.

Selected discography

Delta Recording Corp. recorded the original version of "Go, Mississippi" at its studio in Jackson, Mississippi, at 1653 Raymond Road. The label, which had an office in New York City in the early 1950s at 236 West 55th Street (Midtown Manhattan), was founded by Jim Bulleit (né James Albert Bulleit; 1908–1988) and Jimmie Ammons (né James Douglas Ammons; 1919–2001).[8][9] Ammons's main occupation was that of a machinist in Jackson, Mississippi. Delta was noted for its custom recording work, which included recording weddings, church choirs, and college choirs. Delta also produced recordings for the foreign language department of Ole Miss. Delta also produced many jingles for numerous radio stations. Delta recorded radio stations all over Mississippi for ASCAP. When Mississippi was searching for a state song, Delta Recording Studio reportedly recorded all the state university bands in search of the song that would truly be representative of the state.[10][11][12]

Original recording

References

Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series, Music, Library of Congress, Copyright Office

General inline citations