Tyrone Davis (May 4, 1938 – February 9, 2005) – Get On Up (Disco) (1978)
The late great Chicago soul singer's I Can't Go On This Way LP included this disco funk masterpiece featuring Curtis Mayfield's percussionist "Master" Henry Gibson.
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Tyrone Davis was a Chicago soul singer whose songs were staples of the R&B charts in the 1970s and 80s, including three #1 R&B hits.
Tyrone D. Fettson (or Tyrone D. Branch) was born in Greenville, Mississippi. As a boy he moved with his father to Michigan before they moved again to Chicago when he was 12 years old. He was billed as Tyrone The Wonder Boy on his earliest records, which did not chart.
In 1968, Chicago producer Carl Davis signed him to his new label Dakar Records and suggested he change his name. He did so, adopting Davis’ last name. Davis’ first single on Dakar was “Can I Change My Mind,” originally released as the B-side to “A Woman Needs to Be Loved.” The sides were flipped on later pressings after radio DJ’s began playing “Can I Change My Mind.” It hit #1 R&B, reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and went gold, selling over a million copies.
His next #1 R&B success came in 1970, with “Turn Back The Hands Of Time,” another million seller. His third R&B chart-topper was “Turning Point” (1975), which made history by becoming the first #1 R&B song not to cross over to the Billboard Hot 100 or any pop singles chart since 1955.
Davis released almost 25 singles over seven years on Dakar, with all of them hitting the R&B charts and most crossing over. After “Turning Point” put him back on top, Davis left the label and signed with Columbia.
His third album for Columbia was I Can’t Go On This Way (1978), produced by Leo Graham and arranged by James Mack, the duo responsible for “Turning Point.”
The LP featured several solid cuts, including the superb closer “Do You Feel It.” Its first single was the disco funk masterpiece “Get On Up (Disco)” which was written by Graham.
Like the rest of I Can’t Go On This Way, it was produced by Graham and arranged by Mack. “Get On Up (Disco)” reached #12 R&B and almost cracked the Hot 100, bubbling under at #102. The single’s B-side was the phenomenal uplifting love song “It’s You, It’s You.”
The album featured top session musicians including Tennyson Stephens on keyboards, Quinton Joseph on drums, former Pieces of Peace bassist Bernard Reed, and Curtis Mayfield’s longtime percussionist “Master” Henry Gibson on congas and bongos.
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