Billie Davis | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Carol Hedges |
| Born | 22 December 1945 Woking, Surrey, England |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1960s |
| Labels | Decca |
| Website | Official Billie Davis website |
Carol Hedges (born 22 December 1945) [1] who was known professionally as Billie Davis, is an English singer who had hits in the 1960s, and is best remembered for the UK hit version of the song, "Tell Him" (1963) and "I Want You to Be My Baby" (1968).
She was born in Woking, Surrey, England. [1] Davis' performing name was suggested by the impresario, Robert Stigwood, and was derived from those of blues singer Billie Holiday and the entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. [2] In her teens, Hedges was an engineering secretary before she started her recording career.
After winning a talent contest in which she was backed by Cliff Bennett's band, the Rebel Rousers, she cut some early demo records with the Tornados for record producer Joe Meek. [3] However, her first commercial success, under Stigwood's guidance, was "Will I What", released in August 1962, [4] on which she performed as a foil to Mike Sarne, rather as Wendy Richard had done on Sarne's chart-topping disc, "Come Outside". This reached number 18 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1962. [5]
In February 1963 Davis had her biggest success with a cover version of The Exciters' "Tell Him". Written by Bert Russell (also known as Bert Berns), this song was covered in the sixties by a number of artists, including Helen Shapiro and Alma Cogan, and was successfully revived in the late 1990s by Vonda Shepard, for the American Fox television program, Ally McBeal . Davis' recording reached number ten in the UK chart, and was followed by "He's The One", which crept into the Top 40 in May 1963. [6]
In 1963, the year in which popular music was transformed by the rise of The Beatles, Davis left Decca records owing to financial disagreements. In September of that year she suffered a broken jaw when a chauffeur-driven limousine [7] in which she and Jet Harris, former bass guitarist of the Shadows, were returning from a concert in Worcester, [8] crashed in the West Midlands. Harris received head injuries that seriously affected his already troubled career. [9] The reporting in the press of a relationship with Harris, an unhappily married man, [10] earned Davis, still only 17, some unwelcome publicity at a difficult time and may have been one of the factors which held back her career.[ citation needed ] In an interview included in the liner notes of the 2007 compilation CD Whatcha Gonna Do? (RPM 326), Davis acknowledged the scandal, but also placed blame for the "lost momentum" on being unable to record for four months due to having her jaw wired shut after the accident. [11]
Davis was an early proponent of many of the fashion styles for which the 1960s are remembered: bobbed hair, long boots of the kind popularised by Honor Blackman in early episodes of The Avengers , and leather mini-skirts. She was said to have beaten the latter for "percussive effect" when recording. [12] The biographer of the "supergroup" Cream described her as "astonishingly photogenic". [8]
In 1966, Davis paired with Keith Powell (Keith Powell and the Valets) as "Keith (Powell) and Billie (Davis)" under the Piccadilly record label. They released three singles including "Swingin' Tight", which while popular did not make the chart and the short lived pairing was dissolved. In the late 1960s, Davis returned to Decca, with former Ready Steady Go! presenter Michael Aldred as her producer. Recordings included Chip Taylor's "Angel of the Morning", in 1967, on which she was backed by, amongst others, Kiki Dee and P. P. Arnold. Arnold later recorded the song herself and had the bigger hit in 1968. Davis' final chart entry was a Northern soul version of Jon Hendricks' "I Want You to Be My Baby", originally recorded by Louis Jordan in 1952, which reached number 33 in October 1968, [6] although sales were affected by an industrial dispute at the manufacturing plant. [13]
Davis left Decca in April 1971 after a stay of eight years. [14] She continued to record into the 1980s and was popular, in particular, with audiences in the Spanish-speaking world. [15] Her cover of Burt Bacharach's "The Last One to Be Loved" appeared on the compilation album Trains & Boats & Covers (1999). [3] A retrospective collection of her recordings for Decca was released in 2005. [16]
In 2006, she was re-united with Jet Harris for a series for concerts.
 | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(April 2021) |
Billie has lived in North London for most of her life and career. Billie had two children: her son born in 1972, was a DJ, who died in 2014. Her daughter, born 1982, is an artist, designer and milliner.
Bertrand Russell Berns, also known as Bert Russell and (occasionally) Russell Byrd, was an American songwriter and record producer of the 1960s. His songwriting credits include "Twist and Shout", "Piece of My Heart", "Here Comes the Night", "Hang on Sloopy", "Cry to Me" and "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love", and his productions include "Baby, Please Don't Go", "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Under the Boardwalk".
Clodagh Rodgers is a retired singer and actress from Northern Ireland, best known for her hit singles including "Come Back and Shake Me", "Goodnight Midnight", and "Jack in the Box".
Anthony Newley was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. He achieved success as a performer in such diverse fields as rock and roll and stage and screen acting. As a recording artist, his recordings reached the Top 40 chart on a dozen occasions between 1959 and 1962, including two number one hits. With songwriting partner Leslie Bricusse, he wrote "Feeling Good", which was covered by Nina Simone and other artists, as well as the lyrics for the title song of the 1964 film Goldfinger. Bricusse and Newley received an Academy Award nomination for the film score of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971).
The Applejacks were an English beat group of the 1960s. They were the first "Brumbeat" group to reach the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart, and were unusual for having a female bass guitarist, Megan Davies.
Chris Farlowe is an English rock, blues and soul singer. He is best known for his hit single "Out of Time" written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, which rose to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1966, and his association with bands Atomic Rooster, the Thunderbirds and Colosseum. Outside his music career, Farlowe collects war memorabilia.
Sheldon Talmy is an American record producer, songwriter and arranger, best known for his work in the UK in the 1960s with the Who, the Kinks and many others.
Carter-Lewis and the Southerners were an early-1960s rock band, formed by the Birmingham-born musicians Ken Lewis and John Carter.
Daniel Joseph Anthony Meehan, professionally known as Tony Meehan, was a founder member of the British group the Drifters, with Jet Harris, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, which would evolve into the Shadows. He played drums on early Cliff Richard and the Shadows hits and on early Shadows instrumentals.
Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretation of lyrics.
Heinz Burt was a German-British rock and roll bassist and singer, who performed under the stage name Heinz. He was also known as a member of instrumental group the Tornados.
"Tell Him", originally "Tell Her", is a 1962 song that was written and composed by Bert Berns, who, when he did so, used the pen name of Bert Russell, and which was popularized through its recording by the Exciters. The song was recorded as "Tell Her" by Dean Parrish in 1966, and Kenny Loggins in 1989. Billboard named the Exciters version at No. 95 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time. According to Jason Ankeny at AllMusic, the Exciters' version of "Tell Him" "...boasted an intensity that signified a sea change in the presentation and perception of femininity in popular music, paving the way for such tough, sexy acts as the Shangri-Las and the Ronettes."
Glenda Collins is an English pop music singer, primarily active in the 1960s.
The Rockin' Berries are a beat group from Birmingham, England, who had several hit records in the UK in the 1960s. A version of the group, emphasising comedy routines as well as music, continues to perform to the present day.
Small Faces were an English British Beat band formed in 1965 by Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston. Heavily influenced by American rhythm and blues, they later evolved into a psychedelic act before disbanding in 1969.
Alan Charles Klein is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He wrote the soundtrack for the stage play and film, What a Crazy World (1963). In 1964, he released his only solo album, Well at Least It's British, that was re-released in 2008 by RPM Records.
The discography of American country artist Jan Howard contains 17 studio albums, seven compilation albums, 51 singles, one box set, two other charted songs and 12 additional album appearances. Originally a demo singer, she signed a recording contract with Challenge Records in 1958. In 1960, Howard collaborated with Wynn Stewart on the single "Wrong Company". The same year, she had her first major hit with "The One You Slip Around With". The single reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot C&W Sides chart.
The Montanas were an English 1960s and 1970s pop rock band from Wolverhampton, England. Though they never found significant success in their home country, they had one moderate hit in the United States.
"I Want You to Be My Baby" is a jump blues song written by Jon Hendricks for Louis Jordan whose recording, made on May 28, 1953, was released that autumn.
Beryl Marsden is a British R&B and pop singer, who first came to notice on the Liverpool club scene of the early 1960s. She recorded a number of "powerful and soulful", but unsuccessful, records, and has been described as "undeservedly neglected".
The singles discography of Wanda Jackson, an American recording artist, consists of 81 singles, nine international singles, one other charted song, and three music videos. In 1954 at age 16, she signed as a country artist with Decca Records. Her debut single was a duet recording with Billy Gray which reached the eighth spot on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, also in 1954. Refusing to tour until completing high school, Jackson's further singles for Decca failed gaining success. She signed with Capitol Records in 1956 and began incorporating rock and roll into her musical style. Jackson's first Capitol single exemplified this format and became a national top-20 country hit. Follow-up rock singles between 1957 and 1959 failed gaining enough attention to become hits including, "Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad", "Fujiyama Mama", and "Honey Bop". In 1960 however, the rock and roll-themed, "Let's Have a Party", became Jackson's first Billboard top-40 pop hit after it was picked up by an Iowa disc jockey.
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