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Alun Davies (guitarist)
Encyclopedia
Alun Davies is a Welsh
guitar
ist, studio musician, recording artist, and composer
who rose to fame primarily with his supporting guitar work and backing vocals
as accompanist for English
musician
Cat Stevens
, from early 1970 to 1977. When Stevens, now named Yusuf Islam, returned to music in 2005, Davies started working with him again.
Prior to his association with Stevens, Davies co-wrote, sang and performed on two albums: in 1963, with Jon Mark, (known then as Jon Michael Burchell) and in 1968, as a part of a band with Mark and three others called Sweet Thursday
, when folk-rock
music was still in its infancy. When their label declared bankruptcy
, Davies was invited to join Mark in another musical venture, but declined, instead finding work as a session musician
with Cat Stevens, who was attempting to change his sound and advance in the music world (though he did later join Mark-Almond).
Davies' experience, similar tastes in the emerging folk-rock genre
, and capabilities with guitar and voice placed him in a pivotal role in Stevens' career, resulting in hit songs and a string of RIAA platinum certified breakthrough albums. Two such albums, Tea for the Tillerman
and Teaser and the Firecat
, propelled Stevens to stardom and a stellar musical career, and solidified a friendship between the two men. Davies, who recorded a solo album after a few years of backing Stevens found comparatively little commercial success on his own, particularly after several years of sitting in Stevens' charismatic shadow. He continued to tour with him and recorded on all but one of his albums, until Stevens' retirement from the pop scene and conversion to Islam
in 1977. Since that time, many "box sets", compilations, and "best hits" albums have been assembled for sale with Davies' guitar work and vocals on each album.
In late 2005, when Stevens (now known as Yusuf Islam) returned again to write and perform, he did so with the amicable support of his friend and long-time right hand man Davies, although nearly three decades had passed, and the two men had followed extremely different paths during the interim. Davies continues to perform with Yusuf to the present day, in addition to pursuing other musical projects.
music on a ukulele
and then a "very cheap" acoustic guitar. Eventually he advanced, and met up with former schoolfriend Michael Burchell, who later assumed the stage name
of Jon Mark. The two young men composed and performed songs together, and by 1963, just two years out of school, had been signed by Decca Records
. They recorded their first album, Relax Your Mind, in one day with American producer Shel Talmy
, who had worked with bands that include The Who
, Chad and Jeremy
, The Kinks
, Manfred Mann
, and Ralph McTell
. The two set about busking
in Europe and located an agent who found them a position performing on a Cunard Line
ship, sailing sixteen times across the Atlantic. After a time, the two had enough of sailing. Davies was content playing as a session musician
for Fontana Records
, touring with some musicians of note including Spencer Davis
and Marianne Faithfull
. Davies was additionally recruited as a record producer for a folk album from Jeremy Taylor
, with whom Davies guested on two songs.
as Keyboardist, bass guitar
ist Harvey Burns, and drummer
Brian Odgers, under the name Sweet Thursday
. The eponymous album that resulted
was released, but never had a chance with the public. Their American record label
, Tetragrammaton Records
, abruptly declared bankruptcy
(by legend, the same day the album was released), and the musicians never had the opportunity to perform their new material on stage or promote the album.
Davies returned to session work in the music industry. For a time, Davies played in folk clubs
, one being the "hub" of folk music in London, the Cecil Sharp House
. He also gave guitar lessons to support himself. "I began concentrating more on my guitar playing. I then found there was a lot of session work available for a fingerstyle acoustic player", he said to Beat Instrumental Magazine. He continued to write new material of his own, with hopes of a solo album in the future.
. He was considered a perfect complement to Stevens' new, folk-rock based approach to music, and the combination clicked. Initially hired as a session musician
on the album Mona Bone Jakon
, Davies' more experienced guitar "finger-work" and backing vocals
assisted Stevens to achieve his new sound. He had a hit single
from the album with the song "Lady D'Arbanville
", a madrigal
-sounding song written about Stevens' girlfriend at the time, which ultimately reached #8 on the pop charts in the United Kingdom
, and is credited as the first Cat Stevens song to gain attention in the United States. The song and the album laid the groundwork for Stevens' most productive albums to come. Davies had developed a love for the emerging folk-rock sound, as had Stevens. After they completed Mona Bone Jakon
, within six weeks' time had already begun to work on Tea for the Tillerman
. At this point, Jon Mark re-appeared, offering Davies a place in the emerging Mark-Almond
band, but Davies chose to remain with Stevens, saying he was "getting a buzz off Stevens' work."
, upon hearing that they'd be opening for Steve Winwood
's band, Traffic
, at the Fillmore East
. However, the concert was a hit, and had three standing ovation
s, bolstering both the confidence of the band and the sales of Stevens' albums. Working alongside Stevens, Davies was a thoroughly essential partner in catapulting Stevens into world-fame. Within a short time, Davies was regarded by astute fans as a perfectionist, arriving before Stevens at each concert to personally check out both the sound and instruments after the sound checks, and practicing the material until he was satisfied that the audience would receive the best concert available. Such finishing touches kept him the most essential member of Stevens' artistic team.
Tea for the Tillerman
and Teaser and the Firecat
both were platinum
albums in the United States
, and each produced top charting singles. Lauded as Stevens' right-hand man, Davies put off his dreams of solo albums because he insisted that Stevens' work was more essential, and he remained loyal to him, saying he would eventually find time for his own project.
In 1972, Davies' at last found the time and opportunity to launch his own solo album. Daydo was released in 1972, containing songs written or co-written by Davies, and supported by Stevens on piano
with other members of Cat Stevens' band, including drummer
Gerry Conway. "Daydo" was Davies' nickname until age 18. The album was produced by Stevens and Paul Samwell-Smith
. The solo effort received mixed reviews.
, Buddhism
, I-Ching, and more. Stevens' mother was a Swedish
Baptist
, and father, a Greek Cypriot who was Greek Orthodox, and Stevens himself had been schooled in a Catholic
school. Thus, Davies said in an interview that covered Cat Stevens' career on the Vh1
's series, Behind the Music
, that he thought he was merely going through another phase right up until the last month or so.
Ronnie Lane
who was an old friend and former member of the English bands
, The Faces and the Small Faces. Together, the two co-wrote and recorded the opening track for Lane's upcoming album, See Me, as well as "One Step", and another tune, "She's Leaving", in 1979.
Davies also currently performs with the group Good Men in the Jungle with his former bandmate from their Cat Stevens days, drummer
Gerry Conway. Conway, also formerly of Jethro Tull
, plays most often with Fairport Convention
). Others in this band include Davies' daughter
, Becky Moncurr.
. With the intention of releasing the material as soon as possible, Davies bemoaned the fact that he had so little time to debut his own work, but stated that he had no regrets. The LP
at last was released in the summer of 1972. An editorial
appears on the sleeve of the LP from Jon Mark, of Sweet Thursday and the Mark-Almond Band.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist, studio musician, recording artist, and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
who rose to fame primarily with his supporting guitar work and backing vocals
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
as accompanist for English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....
, from early 1970 to 1977. When Stevens, now named Yusuf Islam, returned to music in 2005, Davies started working with him again.
Prior to his association with Stevens, Davies co-wrote, sang and performed on two albums: in 1963, with Jon Mark, (known then as Jon Michael Burchell) and in 1968, as a part of a band with Mark and three others called Sweet Thursday
Sweet Thursday (band)
Sweet Thursday was a short-lived late-1960s English rock band.The group included famed session keyboard player Nicky Hopkins, who had worked with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, and many others; folk guitarist, singer, and past session man Alun Davies ; and singer, guitarist, composer...
, when folk-rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
music was still in its infancy. When their label declared bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
, Davies was invited to join Mark in another musical venture, but declined, instead finding work as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
with Cat Stevens, who was attempting to change his sound and advance in the music world (though he did later join Mark-Almond).
Davies' experience, similar tastes in the emerging folk-rock genre
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
, and capabilities with guitar and voice placed him in a pivotal role in Stevens' career, resulting in hit songs and a string of RIAA platinum certified breakthrough albums. Two such albums, Tea for the Tillerman
Tea for the Tillerman
Tea for the Tillerman is an album by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. This album, Stevens' second during 1970, includes many of Stevens' best-known songs including "Where Do the Children Play?", "Hard Headed Woman", "Wild World", "Sad Lisa", "Into White" and "Father and Son"...
and Teaser and the Firecat
Teaser and the Firecat
Teaser and the Firecat is an album released by Cat Stevens in 1971. It contains 10 songs including hits such as "Morning Has Broken," "Moonshadow," and "Peace Train." It is also the title of a children's book written and illustrated by Stevens...
, propelled Stevens to stardom and a stellar musical career, and solidified a friendship between the two men. Davies, who recorded a solo album after a few years of backing Stevens found comparatively little commercial success on his own, particularly after several years of sitting in Stevens' charismatic shadow. He continued to tour with him and recorded on all but one of his albums, until Stevens' retirement from the pop scene and conversion to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in 1977. Since that time, many "box sets", compilations, and "best hits" albums have been assembled for sale with Davies' guitar work and vocals on each album.
In late 2005, when Stevens (now known as Yusuf Islam) returned again to write and perform, he did so with the amicable support of his friend and long-time right hand man Davies, although nearly three decades had passed, and the two men had followed extremely different paths during the interim. Davies continues to perform with Yusuf to the present day, in addition to pursuing other musical projects.
Early musical career
Alun Davies began his musical career playing skiffleSkiffle
Skiffle is a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, roots and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, it became popular again in the UK in the 1950s, where it was mainly...
music on a ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
and then a "very cheap" acoustic guitar. Eventually he advanced, and met up with former schoolfriend Michael Burchell, who later assumed the stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
of Jon Mark. The two young men composed and performed songs together, and by 1963, just two years out of school, had been signed by Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
. They recorded their first album, Relax Your Mind, in one day with American producer Shel Talmy
Shel Talmy
Shel Talmy is an American record producer, songwriter, arranger best known for his work in London with The Who and The Kinks in the 1960s, with a role in many other English bands including Cat Stevens and Pentangle...
, who had worked with bands that include The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, Chad and Jeremy
Chad and Jeremy
Chad & Jeremy are an English singing folk rock duo originating in the 1960s, comprising eyeglasses-wearing Chad Stuart , and Jeremy Clyde...
, The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
, Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann was a British beat, rhythm and blues and pop band of the 1960s, named after their South African keyboardist, Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band...
, and Ralph McTell
Ralph McTell
Ralph McTell is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s....
. The two set about busking
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
in Europe and located an agent who found them a position performing on a Cunard Line
Cunard Line
Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...
ship, sailing sixteen times across the Atlantic. After a time, the two had enough of sailing. Davies was content playing as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
for Fontana Records
Fontana Records
Fontana Records is a record label which was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records; when Philips restructured its music operations it dropped Fontana in favor of Vertigo Records. In the seventies PolyGram acquired the dormant label....
, touring with some musicians of note including Spencer Davis
Spencer Davis
Spencer David Nelson Davis is a British musician and multi-instrumentalist, and the founder of the 1960s rock band, the Spencer Davis Group.-Early life:...
and Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
. Davies was additionally recruited as a record producer for a folk album from Jeremy Taylor
Jeremy Taylor (singer)
Jeremy Taylor is an English folk singer and songwriter who has spent much of his life in South Africa, originally as a teacher of English in southern Johannesburg, but since 1994 has lived in Wales and in France. Part stand-up comedian, part singer, Taylor has used his talents to confront the...
, with whom Davies guested on two songs.
Sweet Thursday
Davies and Mark reunited in 1968, forming a band with Nicky HopkinsNicky Hopkins
Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins was an English pianist and organist.He recorded and performed on noted British and American popular music recordings of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a session musician....
as Keyboardist, bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
ist Harvey Burns, and drummer
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Brian Odgers, under the name Sweet Thursday
Sweet Thursday (band)
Sweet Thursday was a short-lived late-1960s English rock band.The group included famed session keyboard player Nicky Hopkins, who had worked with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, and many others; folk guitarist, singer, and past session man Alun Davies ; and singer, guitarist, composer...
. The eponymous album that resulted
Sweet Thursday (album)
Sweet Thursday is the self-titled debut, and only, album by the late 1960s British rock band Sweet Thursday. Its chance of success was cut short by the almost-immediate failure of the record label.-History:...
was released, but never had a chance with the public. Their American record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, Tetragrammaton Records
Tetragrammaton Records
Tetragrammaton Records was an American record label, founded by artist manager Roy Silver, Bruce Post Campbell, Marvin Deane, and comedian Bill Cosby in the late 1960s. The name references a term for the un-nameable name of God....
, abruptly declared bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
(by legend, the same day the album was released), and the musicians never had the opportunity to perform their new material on stage or promote the album.
Davies returned to session work in the music industry. For a time, Davies played in folk clubs
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, one being the "hub" of folk music in London, the Cecil Sharp House
English Folk Dance and Song Society
The English Folk Dance and Song Society was formed in 1932 when two organisations merged: the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dance Society. The EFDSS, a member-based organisation, was incorporated as a Company limited by guarantee in 1935 and became a Registered Charity The English Folk...
. He also gave guitar lessons to support himself. "I began concentrating more on my guitar playing. I then found there was a lot of session work available for a fingerstyle acoustic player", he said to Beat Instrumental Magazine. He continued to write new material of his own, with hopes of a solo album in the future.
With Cat Stevens
Davies was first recruited to work with Cat Stevens in early 1970, by Stevens' producer, Paul Samwell-SmithPaul Samwell-Smith
Paul Samwell-Smith is best known as a founding member and bassist of the 1960s English band, The Yardbirds, a group that spawned such noteworthy musicians as Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page...
. He was considered a perfect complement to Stevens' new, folk-rock based approach to music, and the combination clicked. Initially hired as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
on the album Mona Bone Jakon
Mona Bone Jakon
Mona Bone Jakon is the third album released by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. The album was released In July, 1970 on the Island Records label in the United Kingdom, and A&M record label in the United States and Canada...
, Davies' more experienced guitar "finger-work" and backing vocals
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
assisted Stevens to achieve his new sound. He had a hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
from the album with the song "Lady D'Arbanville
Lady D'Arbanville
"Lady D'Arbanville" is a song written and recorded by Cat Stevens, and released in April, 1970. He was already a successful songwriter, and this was his first single released upon signing a contract with Island Records, with the encouragement of his new producer, Paul Samwell-Smith, fostering a...
", a madrigal
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
-sounding song written about Stevens' girlfriend at the time, which ultimately reached #8 on the pop charts in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and is credited as the first Cat Stevens song to gain attention in the United States. The song and the album laid the groundwork for Stevens' most productive albums to come. Davies had developed a love for the emerging folk-rock sound, as had Stevens. After they completed Mona Bone Jakon
Mona Bone Jakon
Mona Bone Jakon is the third album released by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. The album was released In July, 1970 on the Island Records label in the United Kingdom, and A&M record label in the United States and Canada...
, within six weeks' time had already begun to work on Tea for the Tillerman
Tea for the Tillerman
Tea for the Tillerman is an album by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. This album, Stevens' second during 1970, includes many of Stevens' best-known songs including "Where Do the Children Play?", "Hard Headed Woman", "Wild World", "Sad Lisa", "Into White" and "Father and Son"...
. At this point, Jon Mark re-appeared, offering Davies a place in the emerging Mark-Almond
Mark-Almond
Mark–Almond were an English band of the late 1960s and early 1970s, who worked in the territory between rock and jazz.In 1970 Jon Mark and Johnny Almond formed Mark-Almond...
band, but Davies chose to remain with Stevens, saying he was "getting a buzz off Stevens' work."
Wooing the American audience
As his accompanist on Stevens' first tour of the United States, Davies said that the two experienced some stage frightStage fright
Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, whether actually or potentially . In the context of public speaking, this fear is termed glossophobia, one of the most common...
, upon hearing that they'd be opening for Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
's band, Traffic
Traffic (band)
Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...
, at the Fillmore East
Fillmore East
The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. It was open from 1968 to 1971, and featured some of the biggest acts in rock music at the time...
. However, the concert was a hit, and had three standing ovation
Standing ovation
A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim...
s, bolstering both the confidence of the band and the sales of Stevens' albums. Working alongside Stevens, Davies was a thoroughly essential partner in catapulting Stevens into world-fame. Within a short time, Davies was regarded by astute fans as a perfectionist, arriving before Stevens at each concert to personally check out both the sound and instruments after the sound checks, and practicing the material until he was satisfied that the audience would receive the best concert available. Such finishing touches kept him the most essential member of Stevens' artistic team.
Tea for the Tillerman
Tea for the Tillerman
Tea for the Tillerman is an album by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. This album, Stevens' second during 1970, includes many of Stevens' best-known songs including "Where Do the Children Play?", "Hard Headed Woman", "Wild World", "Sad Lisa", "Into White" and "Father and Son"...
and Teaser and the Firecat
Teaser and the Firecat
Teaser and the Firecat is an album released by Cat Stevens in 1971. It contains 10 songs including hits such as "Morning Has Broken," "Moonshadow," and "Peace Train." It is also the title of a children's book written and illustrated by Stevens...
both were platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
albums in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and each produced top charting singles. Lauded as Stevens' right-hand man, Davies put off his dreams of solo albums because he insisted that Stevens' work was more essential, and he remained loyal to him, saying he would eventually find time for his own project.
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
with other members of Cat Stevens' band, including drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Gerry Conway. "Daydo" was Davies' nickname until age 18. The album was produced by Stevens and Paul Samwell-Smith
Paul Samwell-Smith
Paul Samwell-Smith is best known as a founding member and bassist of the 1960s English band, The Yardbirds, a group that spawned such noteworthy musicians as Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page...
. The solo effort received mixed reviews.
Reaction to Stevens' conversion
After Cat Stevens left the pop music business, for what was anticipated to be the remainder of his life, Davies confessed feeling quite sad. He stated that after being so fortunate to have attached himself to a "major talent" for so long that there was a period of time that he mourned, as did quite a few others. The musicians in Stevens' band were an unusually positive assemblage of dedicated professionals who became fast friends. Davies commented that he hadn't seen this major change in Stevens' life coming, since Stevens' search for spiritual fulfillment had led him to experiment with all kinds of religions, including NumerologyNumerology
Numerology is any study of the purported mystical relationship between a count or measurement and life. It has many systems and traditions and beliefs...
, Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, I-Ching, and more. Stevens' mother was a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
, and father, a Greek Cypriot who was Greek Orthodox, and Stevens himself had been schooled in a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
school. Thus, Davies said in an interview that covered Cat Stevens' career on the Vh1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's series, Behind the Music
Behind the Music
Behind the Music is a television series on VH1. It originally ran from 1997 to 2006, before it was stopped and only aired new episodes sporadically. The series places its generality on documentation of musical artists or groups who are interviewed and profiled, and discuss how their careers became...
, that he thought he was merely going through another phase right up until the last month or so.
1977 to 2005
Davies then moved on to session work again and soon was composing songs and performing with vocalistSinging
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
Ronnie Lane
Ronnie Lane
Ronald Frederick "Ronnie" Lane was an English musician, songwriter, and producer who is best known as the bass guitarist and founding member of two prominent English rock and roll bands; the Small Faces where he was nicknamed "Plonk", – and, after losing the band's frontman, Faces, with two new...
who was an old friend and former member of the English bands
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, The Faces and the Small Faces. Together, the two co-wrote and recorded the opening track for Lane's upcoming album, See Me, as well as "One Step", and another tune, "She's Leaving", in 1979.
Current work
With the re-emergence of Yusuf Islam back on stage, Davies has spent the majority of his time performing and recording with him, and does so to the present day.Davies also currently performs with the group Good Men in the Jungle with his former bandmate from their Cat Stevens days, drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Gerry Conway. Conway, also formerly of Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
, plays most often with Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
). Others in this band include Davies' daughter
Daughter
A daughter is a female offspring; a girl, woman, or female animal in relation to her parents. The male equivalent is a son. Analogously the name is used on several areas to show relations between groups or elements.-Etymology:...
, Becky Moncurr.
Alun Davies Discography
| Year | Album | Musicians | Label | Supporting Musicians |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Relax Your Mind | Alun Davies Jon Mark |
Decca Records Deram Records Deram Records was a subsidiary record label established in 1966 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom. At this time U.K. Decca was a completely different company than the Decca label in the United States, which was then owned by MCA Inc. Deram recordings were also distributed in the U.S. through... LK 4547 |
Arthur Watts (bass) Big Jim Sullivan Big Jim Sullivan Big Jim Sullivan is an English musician, whose career started in 1959. He is best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s, Sullivan was one of the most "in-demand" studio musicians in the UK, and performed in more than one thousand charting singles over his career... (guitar) Judd Proctor (banjo, guitar) |
| 1968 | Sweet Thursday Sweet Thursday (album) Sweet Thursday is the self-titled debut, and only, album by the late 1960s British rock band Sweet Thursday. Its chance of success was cut short by the almost-immediate failure of the record label.-History:... |
Alun Davies Jon Mark Nicky Hopkins Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins was an English pianist and organist.He recorded and performed on noted British and American popular music recordings of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a session musician.... |
Fontana Records Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label which was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records; when Philips restructured its music operations it dropped Fontana in favor of Vertigo Records. In the seventies PolyGram acquired the dormant label.... /Tetragrammaton Records Tetragrammaton Records Tetragrammaton Records was an American record label, founded by artist manager Roy Silver, Bruce Post Campbell, Marvin Deane, and comedian Bill Cosby in the late 1960s. The name references a term for the un-nameable name of God.... |
Harvey Burns Brian Odgers |
| 1972 | Daydo | Alun Davies | CBS Records CBS Records CBS Records is a record label founded by CBS Corporation in 2006 to take advantage of music from its entertainment properties owned by CBS Television Studios. The initial label roster consisted of only three artists; rock band Señor Happy and singer/songwriters Will Dailey and P.J... |
Cat Stevens Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam.... (Piano, Guitar, backing vocals) Gerry Conway Gerry Conway (musician) Gerald Conway is an English folk and rock drummer/percussionist, best known for having performed with the backing band for Cat Stevens in the 1970s, Jethro Tull during the 1980s, and currently a member of Fairport Convention as well as his side projects... (drums, percussion) Nicky Hopkins Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins was an English pianist and organist.He recorded and performed on noted British and American popular music recordings of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a session musician.... (bass) Jean Roussel (keyboards, organ, backing vocals) |
Daydo
Alun Davies' only solo album as of 2008 was Daydo, released in 1972. Much of the material was written as early as 1970, but this was just prior to Davies' introduction, backup work, and devoted friendship with Cat StevensCat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....
. With the intention of releasing the material as soon as possible, Davies bemoaned the fact that he had so little time to debut his own work, but stated that he had no regrets. The LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
at last was released in the summer of 1972. An editorial
Editorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
appears on the sleeve of the LP from Jon Mark, of Sweet Thursday and the Mark-Almond Band.
With Cat Stevens
- 1970 Mona Bone JakonMona Bone JakonMona Bone Jakon is the third album released by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. The album was released In July, 1970 on the Island Records label in the United Kingdom, and A&M record label in the United States and Canada...
- 1970 Tea for the TillermanTea for the TillermanTea for the Tillerman is an album by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. This album, Stevens' second during 1970, includes many of Stevens' best-known songs including "Where Do the Children Play?", "Hard Headed Woman", "Wild World", "Sad Lisa", "Into White" and "Father and Son"...
- 1971 Teaser and the FirecatTeaser and the FirecatTeaser and the Firecat is an album released by Cat Stevens in 1971. It contains 10 songs including hits such as "Morning Has Broken," "Moonshadow," and "Peace Train." It is also the title of a children's book written and illustrated by Stevens...
- 1972 Catch Bull At FourCatch Bull at FourCatch Bull at Four is an album by Cat Stevens. It was Stevens' most successful album in the United States, holding the top spot on Billboards chart for three consecutive weeks...
- 1974 Buddha and the Chocolate BoxBuddha and the Chocolate BoxBuddha and the Chocolate Box is a 1974 album by Cat Stevens. The title came to Stevens when he was travelling to a gig on a plane with a Buddha in one hand and a box of...
- 1974 SaturnightSaturnightSaturnight is a 1974 live album by Cat Stevens. It was released only in Japan, to support UNICEF.-Side one:#"Wild World" – 3:28#"Oh Very Young" – 2:27#"Sitting" – 3:14#"Where Do the Children Play?" – 3:38...
- 1975 NumbersNumbers (Cat Stevens album)Numbers is concept album by singer/songwriter Cat Stevens released in November 1975. Subtitled "A Pythagorean Theory Tale", it is a concept album based on a fictional planet in a far-off galaxy named Polygor and the "Polygons" who inhabit its palace...
(1975) - 1976 MajikatMajikatMajikat is a live album and DVD by British singer/songwriter Cat Stevens. It was recorded during the US leg of Stevens' Earth Tour 1976, but was not released until 2004, by which time the artist was known as Yusuf Islam.-Track listing:...
- released in 2005 - 1976 IzitsoIzitsoIzitso is an album released by the British singer/songwriter Cat Stevens in 1977. After the lackluster Numbers, Izitzo – an album of pop/rock songs more in keeping with the style of Stevens' earlier 1970s albums – proved to be his comeback. The song "Child for a Day" was featured in the 1977 film...
- 1978 Back to EarthBack to Earth (Cat Stevens album)Back to Earth is a 1978 album released by the British singer/songwriter Cat Stevens. It was the only album he recorded using the name Cat Stevens after his conversion to Islam in December 1977...
Other collaborations
- 1979 See Me with Ronnie LaneRonnie LaneRonald Frederick "Ronnie" Lane was an English musician, songwriter, and producer who is best known as the bass guitarist and founding member of two prominent English rock and roll bands; the Small Faces where he was nicknamed "Plonk", – and, after losing the band's frontman, Faces, with two new...
- 2004 Entre Lajeunesse et la sagesseEntre Lajeunesse et la sagesseEntre Lajeunesse et la sagesse is a 1980 album by Kate and Anna McGarrigle. The album is also known by the title French Record.The album title is a pun. Lajeunesse is a street name in Montreal, Quebec, but the title can also mean "between youth and wisdom".It is considered by many fans, even those...
as supporting guitarist with Kate and Anna McGarrigleKate and Anna McGarrigleKate and Anna McGarrigle, were a pair of Canadian singer-songwriters from Quebec, who performed as a duo until Kate McGarrigle's death on January 18, 2010.-Profile:...
External links
- Davies & Fairport Convention perform with Yusuf Islam at the 2009 Cropredy Festival
- Review of Daydo from Rolling Stone.
- More about Davies with Stevens
- Rolling Stone interview upon Yusuf's return to music
- Information re: Cat Stevens
- New Musical Express September '72 review of Davies' Daydo single, "I'm Gonna Love You Too"
- "Cat's man branches out" Daydo review
- Alun Davies Player of the Month