Singer-Songwriter Stephen Allen Davis Dies

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Award-winning Nashville songwriter Stephen Allen Davis has passed away at age 73.

During his career, Davis won more than a dozen BMI Awards for writing such hits as “Only a Lonely Heart Knows” (Barbara Mandrell), “Sleepin’ With the Radio On” (Charly McClain), “One of a Kind” (Tammy Wynette), “Beautiful Woman” (Charlie Rich), “Hello Mexico” (Johnny Duncan), “Amy’s Back in Austin” (Little Texas) and “North of the Border” (Johnny Rodriguez). “Stand Beside Me,” recorded by Jo Dee Messina, was a three-week No. 1 hit in 1999.

Davis was also a performer on Music City’s pop-rock nightclub scene for 30+ years. He recorded for RCA, Epic, PolyGram, Apple, Barclay and other labels in both the U.S. and Europe.

Born in 1949, Stephen Allen Davis was a Nashville native. He was the nephew of Country Music Hall of Fame members Harold Bradley and Owen Bradley. But after seeing The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan TV show in 1964, Davis became enthralled with pop sounds. He began playing in area rock bands as a teenager.

Harold Bradley introduced him to Norro Wilson, who signed the youngster to Al Gallico Music. Davis wrote his first hit when he was only 17. It was “Take Time to Know Her,” which became an R&B smash for Percy Sledge in 1968. The song was subsequently recorded by David Allan Coe, Joe Stampley, O.C. Smith and others.

The works of Stephen Allen Davis were also recorded by such pop and soul stylists as Diana Ross, Joe Cocker, Meatloaf, Tom Jones, John Hiatt, The DiVinyls, Engelbert Humperdinck, Memphis Slim, Johnny Mathis and Glenn Shorrock of the Little River Band. But his greatest successes as a songwriter were with country artists, eight of which are listed above.

In addition, McEntire scored with his “Just a Little Love” (1984). Ty Herndon had a hit with Davis’ “No Mercy” (2000). Mandrell returned to the songwriter’s catalog for “There’s No Love in Tennessee” (1985), as did Rodriguez for “I Want You Tonight” (1981) and “He’s Not Entitled to Your Love” (1982). Stampley had a top-10 hit with Davis’s “Put Your Clothes Back On” (1979).

McClain, whom Davis co-produced, recorded the chart-topping “Radio Heart” (1985), plus a number of other Davis songs, including “With Just One Look in Your Eyes,” “When It’s Down to Me and You” (with Wayne Massey) and “So This Is Love.”

Stephen Allen Davis songs were also sung by such country stars as Johnny Paycheck, Kenny Rogers, Easton Corbin, Trace Adkins, Mac Davis, Eddie Rabbitt, Alabama, Neal McCoy, B.J. Thomas, George Jones, Faith Hill, Lonestar, Tanya Tucker, Lacy J. Dalton and Charlie Daniels. More than 400 of his songs have been recorded. Many were credited as being by “Steve Davis.”

As a performer, he rocked such Music City nightspots as Douglas Corner, The Sutler, The Bluebird Cafe and The Goldrush. He also sang in showcase venues in New York and Los Angeles. Overseas, he released albums in England, Sweden and South Africa.

In 1995, Stephen Allen Davis released his first U.S. solo CD, The Light Pink Album. In 2011, he starred in the PBS-TV concert special, The Desert Sessions. In addition to songs, he also wrote a novel and three screenplays.

Stephen Allen Davis was diagnosed with an undisclosed illness in 2021 and died on Tuesday evening, Dec. 26, in Nashville. Funeral arrangements are unknown.

Robert K Oermann
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