DESCRIPTION:
Joe Davis-I'm Sorry Sally (Justin Ring's Trio) Okeh Records-78-41148-1928....new finds from Toledo Record Show Oct. 7 2012 new way of recording hope it sounds better

Joseph M. "Joe" Davis (6 October 1896 -- 3 September 1978[1]) was an American music producer, publisher and promoter in jazz, rhythm and blues and pop music.
Joe Davis was born in New York City. In the late 1910s and 1920s he worked as a songwriter and singer who recorded for Columbia Records.[2] In the mid-1920s he had been responsible for placing dozens of blues and pop singers under his management with major and minor labels, while pursuing a radio and recording career as "Joe Davis, The Melody Man" and operating Triangle Music Publishing Co.,[3] which was founded in 1919 with the help of George F. Briegel (1890--1968).[4]


Fats Waller 1938
He has to be considered as an important influence for Fats Waller, having actually talked the shy, reluctant Waller into considering a performing career.[5] It was Joe Davis, who push Fats to compose seriously for the piano (as "African Ripples" 1931).[6] Davis' name was found as "songwriter" of Waller songs as "Alligator Crawl" (1927)[7] and "Our Love Was Meant To Be",[8] also the Andy Razaf-titles "Alexander's Back in Town" and "After I've Spent My Best Years on You".[9] Davis managed to cheat Razaf out of royalties to the great hit "S'posin'", which was written to Paul Denniker's music.[10] As a publisher Davis has worked with Porter Grainger ("Wylie Avenue Blues", 1927), Howard Johnson ("Florida Flo"), Chris Smith, Alex Hill, Spencer Williams, Carson Robison, J. C. Johnson, and Claude Hopkins.[11] Davis dropped the Triangle imprint in the 1930s and replaced it with Joe Davis, Inc. He sold the firm in 1939 and went into the record manufacturing business.


Billy Murray 1919
In May 1942 Davis founded his first record label Beacon Records.[12] On Beacon Davis published 1943/44 the music of Billy Murray/Monroe Silver (Casey and Cohen in the Army 1943), Irving Kaufman with the Buddy Clark Orchestra, and local vocal ensembles as The Red Caps. In 1944 Davis purchased most of the short-lived Varsity label's hundreds of master records when they went bankrupt in the early 1940s, but had with Varsity a tiny shellac ration from which to press the records. Joe Davis then pressed token quantities of records by the State Street Ramblers (Jimmy Blythe), Thomas A. Dorsey (as Georgia Tom), and Bradley Kincaid, using Gennett and Champion masters, also reissues from the 1939-Varsity label by Harry James, Frank Trumbauer, Vincent Lopez, Sammy Kaye, or The Three Suns;.[13][2] but had a tiny shellac ration from which to press the records.[2]
In 1945 he founded the Joe Davis Record Company with the Sublabels Beacon, Celebrity and (Joe) Davis Records. The Company was placed in 331 West 49th Street, with subsidiary in Richmond, Virginia.[14]
Davis edited pop music, jazz, rhythm & blues, gospel and Latin music, by artists as Coleman Hawkins ("On the Bean" 1945), the vocal ensemble Five Red Caps[15] ("Just for You"[16]) and singer Una Mae Carlisle ("I'm a Good, Good Woman" 1945[14]). Joe Davis was making use of her talents as a prolific songwriter and surrounding her once again with excellent players, including Ray Nance, Budd Johnson and Shadow Wilson ("Tain't Yours").[17]


Gabriel Brown (1935)
Davis edited an album by Otis Blackwell and a compilation with the title World Famous Rhythm and Blues Groups.[18] also in the 1950s on Davis Records swing and jazz recordings by Frank Signorelli, Erskine Butterfield, Lee Castle and Eddie Miller, under Joe Davis Records Blues recordings by Walter Thomas, Champion Jack Dupree and Gabriel Brown.[19]
Davis worked in the early 1950s for MGM Records and founded the label Jay-Dee in spring 1953; he edited re-issues from The Crickets with the lead singer (Grover) Dean Barlowe, recordings by Doo-Wop ensembles as The Blenders ("Don't Play Around With Love2 1953) and The Mellows, with the lead singer Lillian Leach.[20] The Mellows recorded several songs for Jay Dee, including "How Sentimental Can I Be" in August 1954, "Smoke From Your Cigarette" in January 1955, and "I Still Care," issued in April 1955 and probably the high point of their career.[21] In 1956 Davis also recorded The Chestnuts ("Love Is True2).[22]
In 1954 Davis reactivated his Beacon label for re-issues of R&B-recordings.[23] He edited recordings of Dean Barlow & The Crickets and The Deep River Boys.[24] In 1961 Davis also recorded on his Beacon label a session of jazz pianist Elmo Hope,[25] but in this time mostly party music.[2] In the 1960s he lead Beacon und Celebrity as his two publishing companies.[2] Davis died 3 September 1978 in Louisville, Kentucky.