Lawrence Davis is your man if you’re into privately released pop. I’m thinking Coast, Games, McElroy Brothers and Spice. Or the classic 1976 C.B. Victoria album.
Written by: Eric
ARTIST: Lawrence Davis
ALBUM: Davis
LABEL: Platinum Boulevard Records
SERIAL: LRD 101753 A
YEAR: 1983
INFO: Discogs Info List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Lawrence Davis – lead & backing vocals, guitar, bass, piano * Randy Davis, William Morse – bass * Brent Zane – drums * Mark Ishikawa, Jeff Nelman – keyboards, piano * Dee De Harpham – flute * Sandy Selby – lead vocals * Laurie Scott, Lynn Wade – backing vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 You Know How To Love Me * 02 Son Of A Rock N’ Roll Man * 03 Your Eyes Don’t Lie * 04 When I’m With You * 05 I Don’t Need Your Loving * 06 Live A Little * 07 I Heard The Song * 08 Lead Me On * 09 Special Girl * 10 I Used To Kiss Her On The Lips * 11 Time Flies * 12 Golden Diamond Studded Cane * 13 Reflecting
WEBLINKS: NA
Lawrence Davis Background
When I bought this LP for a whopping $3.67 at a local second hand shop; my hopes were not very high. This was based on the album’s photo and hopelessly cheesy song titles. Yet I couldn’t resist, proving once again I should never judge a record by its cover.
Who was Lawrence Davis? It doesn’t appear he recorded anything else but these days can be found running a Chiropractic Clinic in Reno, Nevada. He’s been practicing for decades it seems. The same ramblin’ gamblin’ city where this album was pressed and released.
Although why there is no date on the sleeve is confounding. I’ll take liberties placing it at 1983, though I stand corrected otherwise. This is judging by the looks of the leather jacket, mustache and coiffure reminiscent of Tim Feehan‘s ‘Carmalita’ period.
The Songs
A still-sealed copy of ‘Davis’ hovers around the $150-$200 range at both eBay and Music Stack. So my three-spot was well spent, but is it worth the silly money vendors are boldly charging?
Lawrence Davis is your man if you’re into privately released pop. I’m thinking Coast, Games, McElroy Brothers and Spice. Or the classic 1976 C.B. Victoria album.
Penning all thirteen tracks, Davis is a competent vocalist combining raspy Ian Lloyd with Donny Osmond‘s honey-coated tenor.
The songs run the gamut between the horn rock of ‘You Know How To Love Me’ to straight good-time boogie. As on ‘Son Of A Rock ‘N Roll Man’. There’s even a little Freddie Mercury dandyism on ‘Live A Little’.
Yup, there’s something for everyone with a penchant for classic pop sounds (before the new wave tsunami).
Side two’s ‘Lead Me On’ is one of the record’s finest moments. It reminded me of long lost melody-blessed Wisconsin band The Movies who we’ve reviewed elsewhere on these pages.
Heck, there’s even a sugar-sweet duet with female vocalist Sandy Selby. It’s highlighted by a surprising Apollo 100 baroque-styled middle eight. Although the chorus is just far too close to the theme song from slap-stick ’70s TV sitcom ‘Three’s Company’.
In Summary
While occasionally drifting into beige MOR, all in all Lawrence Davis is a nice find. I can understand collectors gravitating to the record.
Although sadly the going prices might be prohibitive for those with just a passing interest. However, we’ve found a YTM link of the album (see below link) plus a whole bunch of extra tracks. Refer tracks 14 through 31.
Lawrence Davis on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
This album now has a YTM link. 31 tracks in total. 18 extras on top of the original 13. Upon listening, it’s definitely more MOR/Pop than AOR. Still no clue as to the year of release. 1983 is a guess by Eric A.
Based on the legendary album cover I’d been trying to track this down for years. I can see why Eric zeroed in on 1983 based on his appearance, but the music sounds like late 70s to me. It was never going to live up to the hype and mystery.