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Cliff Davies (musician)

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Cliff Davies
Davies in 1978
Background information
Born1948
OriginEngland
Died2008 (aged 59–60)
Atlanta, Georgia, US
GenresRock, hard rock
Occupation(s)Drummer, producer
Formerly ofRoy Young Band, If, Ted Nugent

Cliff Davies (c. 1948 – 13 April 2008) was a British drummer.

Career

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If

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After receiving tuition from pipe band drummer Jock Cree, and playing local gigs in the Aldershot area, in the early 70s Davies went on to join the Roy Young Band and then the second incarnation of the jazz-rock band If from 1972 to 1975. He played on four albums by the band and contributed many of their songs.

Ted Nugent

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Following If's break-up, Davies joined American hard rock guitarist Ted Nugent from 1975 to 1982 as drummer and co-producer of all Nugent's recordings over those years, in collaboration with Lew Futterman, who had also produced If.[1]

In 1975, Nugent dropped The Amboy Dukes name and the band became The Ted Nugent Band. The other members did not want to be considered a backing band and one of the conditions of Derek St. Holmes joining them was it would be treated like a collective band. They toured as The Ted Nugent Band and, in 1975, after Davies joined the band on drums, they went into the studio to do their first album, which at the time was unnamed, for Epic Records. Davies was instrumental in organising and producing the album (and provided lead vocals on the track "You Make Me Feel Right at Home"), which later went multi-platinum. He was never given full credit for producing this album.[1]

At this point, David Krebs of Leber & Krebs Management convinced Nugent to drop "Band" from the title and just call it "Ted Nugent". This was a total surprise to the rest of the group and it was the beginning of the end. The nucleus of Rob Grange, Derek St. Holmes and Cliff Davies for songwriting, as well as arranging, was forever broken. In 1978, three years later and with four platinum albums titled Ted Nugent, Free-for-All, Cat Scratch Fever and Double Live Gonzo!, Grange and St. Holmes moved on to form St. Paradise, because Nugent did not want a "band concept". Their last concert together as the original line-up was Cal Jam 2 on 18 March 1978.[1][2]

In the 1980s, Davies worked for Next City Productions in New York City, also owned by Futterman, recording with Grand Funk Railroad among others. Since the late 1990s, he lived in Atlanta teaching piano and drums. He was also instrumental in founding the Rock and Roll Remembers Foundation with writer Michael Robert Krikorian.

Death

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Davies was found dead in his home in Atlanta on 13 April 2008; he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.[3] Reed Beaver, the owner of Equametric Studio where Davies was employed as chief engineer, reported that Davies called him the night before his body was found and was "extremely distraught" over medical bills.[3]

Discography

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With If

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With Ted Nugent

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Other recordings

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  • Whitehorn (1974) – Geoff Whitehorn
  • In the Red (1983) – Fist
  • Today is Tomorrow's Yesterday (2008) – The Unknown Heros of Rock

References

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  1. ^ a b c Martin Popoff (2012). Epic Ted Nugent. Toronto, Canada: Power Chord Press.
  2. ^ Sterling Whitaker (2013). "Cal Jam 2". Ultimate Classic Rock.
  3. ^ a b Associated Press (16 April 2008). "Nugent's former drummer, Clifford Davies, found dead of apparent suicide". mLive. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
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