Chip Davis

Last updated
Chip Davis
Birth nameLouis F. Davis Jr.
Born (1947-09-05) September 5, 1947 (age 76)
Hamler, Ohio, United States
Genres Rock, classical
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s) Piano, bassoon, percussion

Louis F. "Chip" Davis Jr. (born September 5, 1947) is the founder and leader of the music group Mannheim Steamroller. [1] Davis composed the music for several C. W. McCall albums, including the hit 1975 song "Convoy". He has also written and made other albums, such as Day Parts, and has written several books.

Contents

Early life

Louis F. Davis was born in Hamler, Ohio. [2] His family later moved to Portland, Ohio, and, when Davis was 11, to Sylvania. He began piano lessons at age 4 and had composed his first piece of music at age 6. He graduated from Sylvania High School and went on to graduate from the University of Michigan School of Music, specializing in bassoon and percussion and playing the University of Michigan Symphony Band. Davis's parents both attended the university, and his father played clarinet in the band. [3]

Career

After touring with the Norman Luboff Choir, he took a job with Omaha, Nebraska, advertising agency Bozell & Jacobs, Inc. writing jingles. These included spots for a local company, Metz Bakery, featuring the fictional trucker C. W. McCall. [4] The spots were co-written with the advertising writer William Fries, who became the voice of McCall. [4] The spots were so popular that Davis and Fries were persuaded to begin writing non-advertising songs featuring McCall. The song "Convoy" reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of January 10, 1976, [5] using CB slang during the CB/trucker fad. The duo released five albums between 1974 and 1979. Davis was named SESAC Country Music Writer of the Year in 1976. [6]

Davis founded Mannheim Steamroller with Jackson Berkey in 1974 [7] to showcase his interest in fusing modern popular and classical techniques. The first album, Fresh Aire , was completed shortly after. It was turned down by major record labels, so Davis founded American Gramaphone to release it. American Gramaphone has been the label for all subsequent Mannheim Steamroller releases. Eight Fresh Aire albums were released, concluding with Fresh Aire 8 in 2000.

Mannheim Steamroller released Mannheim Steamroller Christmas in 1984; Davis is credited with revolutionizing the "traditional" sounds of Christmas. The group's subsequent Christmas music albums have sold tens of millions of copies and become among the most popular recordings in that genre. [8] His annual Mannheim Steamroller Christmas concert tour, utilizing two cover bands that tour simultaneously, has continued for over 25 years across the US. Davis was awarded his 19th gold record in 2010. The Recording Industry Association of America has also awarded Davis four multi-platinum and eight platinum records. Davis also hosts a once-a-year, 24-hour Christmas music and story radio program called An American Christmas. The program is produced by WestStar Multimedia and broadcast on December 24–25 over hundreds of radio stations.

Discography

As Chip Davis

As Mannheim Steamroller

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William Dale Fries Jr. was an American commercial artist who won several Clio Awards for his advertising campaigns. He was also a musician and is best known for his character C. W. McCall, a truck-driving country singer that he originally created for a series of bread commercials. Fries performed as McCall in a series of outlaw albums and songs in the 1970s, in collaboration with co-worker Chip Davis who also founded Mannheim Steamroller.

Mannheim Steamroller is an American neoclassical new-age music ensemble founded and directed by percussionist/composer Chip Davis in 1974. The group is known primarily for its Fresh Aire series of albums, which blend classical music with elements of new age and rock, and for its modern recordings of Christmas music. The group has sold 28 million albums in the U.S. alone.

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"Convoy" is a 1975 novelty song performed by C. W. McCall that became a number-one song on both the country and pop charts in the US and is listed 98th among Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time. Written by McCall and Chip Davis, the song spent six weeks at number one on the country charts and one week at number one on the pop charts. The song went to number one in Canada as well, hitting the top of the RPM Top Singles Chart on January 24, 1976. "Convoy" also peaked at number two in the UK. The song capitalized on the fad for citizens band (CB) radio. The song was the inspiration for the 1978 Sam Peckinpah film Convoy, for which McCall rerecorded the song to fit the film's storyline.

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<i>Fresh Aire III</i> 1979 studio album by Mannheim Steamroller

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<i>Fresh Aire VI</i> 1986 studio album by Mannheim Steamroller

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References

  1. ↑ Ankeny, Jason. "Biography: Chip Davis". Allmusic . Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  2. ↑ "About Chip". 24 October 2013.
  3. ↑ Capos, Claudia (16 November 2017). "From Moog to Mannheim". Michigan Today. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  4. 1 2 Citron, Peter (June 7, 1974). "Bread, Record Record Records". The Omaha World-Herald Newspaper. Omaha, NE, USA. p. 49.
  5. ↑ Note - Week of January 10, 1976. "billboard - The Hot 100". billboard.com. Retrieved March 7, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ Wolgamott, L. Kent (December 18, 2018). "Mannheim Steamroller, biggest Christmas artist ever: Chip Davis talks before Lincoln shows". The Lincoln Journal Star Newspaper. Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  7. ↑ Manna, Sal (August 21, 1999). "Mannheim Steamroller, 25 Years of Fresh Aire, A Billboard Tribute". Google Books. pp. M1–M16.
  8. ↑ "Mannheim Steamroller Archives: 25 Facts".
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