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Stephen Allen Davis grew up outside of Nashville in Hendersonville, Tennessee. During his teens, he was a nationally ranked tournament water skier and played basketball and football. But seeing The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, February 9, 1964, forever changed what he wanted to do with his life. From age 14, he organized his own bands and played in and around Nashville. During his senior year, he had a football injury that took that sport and the skiing away, and as life can do, something was to replace it.

In 1967, the summer he got out of high school, he started playing bass in a band that worked in the infamous Printer’s Alley. He was underage, and the drummer in the band got him a fake ID. Later that summer, the band “Billy Osborne and the Tracers” got a house gig in Indianapolis at the Sugar Shack. The six of them moved into two rooms at a downtown hotel. Stephen’s mother made him promise to return and go to college. He entered Peabody College in Nashville that fall.

Stephen talked with his uncle, Music City legend Harold Bradley, about getting into the music business. He suggested contacting a publisher. Stephen got the phone book and found Music Publishers and called until someone said they would see him. That person was Norro Wilson, who ran Al Gallico Music. In his first meeting. Norro listened, but nothing knocked him out. Davis asked if he could play him one more song. He did not have it on tape, but he could play it on guitar. He played a song he had written one night in his bedroom at home. Norro immediately recognized this as a potential hit song. He contacted Gallico in New York, and Davis played it over the phone for him. Gallico also felt the song was a hit. He said he wanted to take the song to Jerry Wexler for Percy Sledge. That song was one of Percy’s biggest hits, “Take Time To Know Her.” Stephen signed his first major publishing deal at 17 years old. The early part of 1968 also saw him get his first recording contract of many with RCA Records.

To date, Stephen has over 350 songs that major artists have recorded from around the world, with total sales of over 30 Million Records. He has 18 BMI “Most Performed” song awards and has been nominated for Grammy’s twice. He has three BMI “Million Aire” award songs in his catalog.

Davis’ self-released CD, “The Light Pink Album,” was hailed in 1995 by AAA Radio guru Dennis Constantine at KBCO-Boulder as the epitome of the new Triple-A format, which Constantine was trailblazing. In 2011 Stephen did his first PBS special, “THE DESERT SESSIONS, “ which was described as a cutting-edge live performance that introduced a large audience to his music.

Stephen Allen Davis’s skill in writing great songs has transcended into also writing novels. Along with Screen Plays, Film treatments, and Scripts, which could be Davis’s most creative endeavor yet.

Partial Discography

Percy Sledge / Take Time To Know Her

John Hiatt / Take Time To Know Her

Joe Cocker / Highway, Highway / No Ordinary World +7

Meatloaf / Where Angels Sing

Faith Hill / No Greater Love

Ann Murray/Highway, Highway

Tammy Wynette / One of a Kind / No One Else In The World

Lonestar/No Greater Love
Diana Ross/The Best Years of My Life

Ronnie Dunn/I'm Not Ready

Little Texas/Amy’s Back In Austin

Jodee Messina/Stand Beside Me

Reba McEntire/Just A Little Love

Charlie McClain/Radio Heart/Sleeping With The Radio On

Barbara Mandrel/Lonely Heart Knows/There’s No Love In Tennessee

Trace Adkins/Thankful Man

Alabama/Down On Longboat Key

Kenny Rogers/The Fool Strikes Again/Highway, Flyer

Johnny Paycheck/15 Beers/The Fool Strikes Again

Omar and the Howlers/Judgement Day
Johnny Rodriquez/North Of The Border
Johnny Duncan/Hello Mexico And Adios Baby To You

Lacy J. Dalton/Love Is

Memphis Slim/Say Good-Bye To Memphis
Englebert Humperdinck/Let Me Love You Good-Bye
Tom Jones/In The Middle Of The Night
Charlie Rich/Beautiful Woman

Johnny Mathis/I'll Do It All For You

Tanya Tucker/The Child