Born	January 31st
Genre	Pop, R&B;, hip hop, soul, neo soul
Occupation	Songwriter, producer, musician
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist}}

James Poyser is a multi-Grammy winning songwriter, musician and multi-platinum producer.

Poyser has written and produced songs for various legendary and award-winning artists including Erykah Badu, Mariah Carey, John Legend, Lauryn Hill, Common, Anthony Hamilton, D'Angelo, The Roots, and Keyshia Cole.

During his career, Poyser has toured and played live with such distinctive artists as Jay-Z, The Roots, Erykah Badu, and Aretha Franklin. An active session musician, he has contributed to the works of Adele, Norah Jones, Eric Clapton, Joss Stone, Ziggy Marley, Macy Gray and Femi Kuti.

Poyser received a Grammy for Best R&B; Song in 2003 for co-writing Erykah Badu and Common's hit "Love Of My Life." James was also the executive producer on Badu's highly celebrated albums, Mama's Gun and Worldwide Underground.

A longtime collaborator and member of The Roots, James has joined them on stage, performing live as the houseband for NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Production and Songwriting

*Erykah Badu - "Window Seat", "Out of My Mind Just in Time", Master Teacher" "Back in the Day, Puff", "Bump It", "Cleva", "Danger", "I Want You", "Love of My Life", "My Life", "Other Side Of The Game", "Penitentiary Philosophy", "Sometimes", "Kiss Me on My Neck", "Green Eyes", "On & On", "Afro"

*Mariah Carey - "I Wish You Well", "Mine Again", "When Christmas Comes"

*John Legend - Wake Up

*Jill Scott - "Cant Explain", "Talk To Me", "Exclusively", "Try"

*Keyshia Cole "No Other"

*The Roots - "The Lessons Part III"

*Common - "*69", "Aquarius", "Between You and Liberation", "Common Free Stye", " Electric Wire Hustle Flower", "Ghetto Heaven Part 2", "Heaven Somewhere", Jimi Was a Rock Star", "New Wave", "The Questions", "Soul Power", "Time Travelin"

*Anthony Hamilton - "Corn Bread, Fish and Collard Greens", "I Tried", "Don't Get Me To Lying"

*Corrine Baily Rae - "The Blackest Lilly"

*Bilal - "Sometimes", "Bring 2"

*D'Angelo - "Chicken Grease"

*Erick Benet - "Love of My Own", "When You Think of Me", "Spanish Fly"

*Lauryn Hill - "Superstar"

*Musiq Soulchild - "Someone", "Mother Father", "Real Love"

*Tye Tribbett - Life

*Al Green - Lay it Down

*Jaheim - "In My Hands"

*Rubben Studdard - "Our Story"

Sessions

*Eric Clapton

*Adele 21

*Norah Jones The Fall

*Ziggy Marley Family Time

*Citizen Cope The Rainwater LP

*Roy Hargrove Strength

Film And TV

*Hawthorne

*Dave Chappelle Block Party

*Fame

*The Wash

*Fighting Temptations

*Baby Boy

*The Goods Live Hard Sell Hard

*Totally Awesome

*For One Night

References

Category:American record producers Category:African American musicians Category:American keyboardists Category:Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Living people Category:Music from Sheffield Category:People from Yorkshire Category:The Roots members

Name	Pino Palladino
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	Pino Palladino
Born	October 17, 1957Cardiff, Wales United Kingdom
Instrument	Bass, guitar
Genre	Rock, soul, blues-rock, funk
Occupation	Musician, songwriter
Years active	1978–present
Label	Verve, Atlantic
Associated acts	The Who, John Mayer Trio, The RH Factor, The Law, Jools Holland, Paul Young, Genesis, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Richard Ashcroft, D'Angelo, Joe Walsh, Hank Marvin, Simon & Garfunkel
Notable instruments	Fender Pino Palladino Signature Precision Bass Fender Jaguar BassMusic Man StingRay Fretless Bass

Pino Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh bass guitarist who gained fame playing primarily rock and roll, blues rock, and rhythm and blues music, although he has been lauded for his ability to play most genres of popular music, including jazz, neo soul, and funk. His career has spanned several ensembles, including the John Mayer Trio and The RH Factor, a band mixing elements of soul, jazz and R&B;, which he formed with jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove. He was also Pete Townshend's and Roger Daltrey's first choice to fill the position left by John Entwistle as the bassist for The Who. Adding to an eclectic grasp and melodic approach on his instrument, he has become one of the most sought-after session players on the bass and has played on a large number of recordings by some of the world's most successful entertainers, in part, by mastering a variety of techniques on both his late 1970s fretless Music Man StingRay bass guitar and, later in his career, adding fretted Fender Precision and Jaguar basses. His playing has earned him custom instruments bearing his name.

Career

Born in Cardiff to a family with Italian ancestry, Pino Palladino began playing the electric guitar at age 14. By 17 he decided to play the bass guitar, and bought his first fretless bass one year later, playing mostly R&B;, funk, and reggae within a rock and roll backbeat. His first professional gig, at age 20, was at a local television station in Cardiff, where he began playing in 1978. That same year he joined Jools Holland's band and is credited on Holland's album, Jools Holland and His Millionaires. Touring with Holland to support the album, gave him the opportunity to purchase his own Music Man StingRay Fretless Bass.

After Paul Young landed his own solo contract in 1982, Palladino was brought in as part of his backing band "The Royal Family" resulting in noticeable chart success with the No Parlez album,

1990s

Changes in instrument

, Philadelphia PA, 2008]]

In the 1990s, Palladino began to alternate between the sounds achieved in playing the fretless bass to one with frets, as well as the 4-string and 6-string bass. At the time, he was well known within the industry for his fretless bass sound. However, now, depending on which artist he was supporting, and the song to be played, he began gravitating towards fretted bass. He was maturing as a musician, and played with artists as diverse as Melissa Etheridge, Richard Wright, Sir Elton John and Eric Clapton. Also in 1991 he joined Paul Rodgers (of Free, Queen+ Paul Rodgers, and Bad Company fame) to form the band The Law. In the mid-1990s, Palladino played bass for The London Metropolitan orchestra during their recording of An American Symphony, soundtrack for the movie Mr Holland's Opus.

From 1991 to 1996, he joined Manu Katché to form Stephan Eicher's rhythm section on three albums : Engelberg (1991), Carcassonne (1993) and 1000 vies (1996).

Palladino supported Phil Collins, as a member of the house band for the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, which played with Sir Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Cliff Richard, and Tony Bennett, among other notable performers. He later wrote that he felt privileged to have been amongst the others on stage in such an event.

In 1999, he began working with Richard Ashcroft, of The Verve, during the recording sessions of Ashcroft's debut solo album, Alone With Everybody. Richard proved to be mightily impressed by Pino's natural bass playing ability;

Pino also joined Ashcroft's touring band for the singer's first major solo outing throughout 2000.

Neo Soul

By the mid- 1990s, Palladino had established himself as a busy, highly desirable bassist and a studio worker in many genres, but finally became visible to those artists who played largely left of center, and demand for his session playing grew within a different quarter. Palladino began moving from blues-rock toward neo soul projects. Palladino and Steve Jordan found themselves performing on the same session for B.B. King’s 1997 duets CD Deuces Wild. It was the first time soul singer D'Angelo first heard Palladino, who had just switched from a signature sound fretless bass sound to that of performing with fretted basses. The result was an invitation to «use Pino’s big, behind-the-beat bass to help cast a neo-soul spell on his Grammy Award-winning Voodoo album». It would not be his first uncredited Grammy performance.

As the word spread throughout the genre, Palladino found an increasing demand within the neo-soul genre. Examples of his bass work in this genre (in addition to D'Angelo) includes Mama's Gun, and Penitentiary Philosophy found on Erykah Badu’s 2000 CD.

2000s

The Who

, and Roger Daltrey from The Who, 2004]]

Following the death of The Who's bassist John Entwistle the night before the band were to kick off their first tour in two years, Palladino was their first choice to become the band's full-time touring bass guitarist, and by 2006, he was invited to join the remaining original band members in recording their first album in twenty-four years. Pete Townshend, the band's composer, recorded the bassline on the majority of the songs to get the effect he himself wanted, with Palladino doing so on the other six of them. Released in October 2006, the album was named Endless Wire.

Palladino also recently played with The Who at the Super Bowl XLIV half-time show, in February 2010, alongside other backing artists: Simon Townshend on guitar, Zak Starkey, drums and percussion, and John "Rabbit" Bundrick, on keyboard instruments.

Paul Simon

In 2003, Palladino intended to go down to see his old friend Paul Simon and meet Brian Eno for the first time. He was asked to record with them, and had to borrow a bass guitar to play. The result was that he played with Simon and Garfunkel on their Old Friends reunion tour and in an interview with Bass Player Magazine he mentions drummer Steve Gadd and percussionist Jamey Haddad "had laid down some great grooves for me to add bass". He had kept the recordings, and by the time that he appeared on the CD and DVD from the tour, he was able to use some of the material.

After 2005

In spring of 2006, Palladino toured with Jeff Beck. He also played with J. J. Cale, and Eric Clapton on their 2006 album The Road to Escondido, alongside other notable musicians, including Derek Trucks, and Billy Preston. It was to be Preston's last work before he died only days afterward. Palladino joined Eric Clapton's touring band for 11 dates in the Eastern U.S. and Canada in May 2008.

In 2009, Palladino joined with keyboardist Philippe Saisse and Simon Phillips to form an instrumental trio: Phillips Saisse Palladino, an instrumental progressive jazz/funk rock ensemble, which have toured Europe through 2009 into 2010, playing songs that spotlight the talents of each performer, in the manner of many jazz outfits. Current work has included work on an with Clapton and Robbie Robertson, and Palladino guested on bass for Amos Lee on his third album, Last Days at the Lodge. He appears on Jeff Beck's 2010 album, Emotion & Commotion. As of August 2010 Palladino is touring with Herbie Hancock.

Palladino also appears on Manu Katché's third jazz album, Third Round. Both had already played together several times, particularly on Paul Young's Other Voices, as Stephan Eicher's rhythm section in the first half of the 1990s, and on stage with Manu Katché's jazz band The Tweeters. Currently in the studio recording with Steve Gadd; Edie Brickell; Andy Fairweather Low; who have formed a group the Gaddabouts.

In January 2011 he entered the studio with D'Angelo to finish recording the long overdue follow up to Voodoo.

Discography (selected)

1983 with David Knopfler, Release (Peach Tree Records)

1983 with Paul Young, No Parlez (Columbia)

1997 with Steve Lukather, Luke (Columbia, 487360) 2)

1985 with Go West, Go West, (Chrysalis)

1985 with Paul Young, The Secret of Association (Columbia)

1985 with Pete Townshend, (Atco)

1987 with Go West, Dancing on the Couch, (Chrysalis)

1989 with Tears for Fears, Seeds of Love (Fontana)

1990 with Paul Young, Other Voices (Columbia)

1990 with Oleta Adams, Circle of One (Fontana)

1999 with Jeff Beck, Who Else! (Epic)

2006 with J. J. Cale and Eric Clapton, The Road to Escondido (Reprise Records)

2011 with Robbie Robertson, How to Become Clairvoyant (429 Records)

References

External links

Listen to a Sample Discography

"Roy Hargrove Presents the RH

5 Essential Pino Palladino Tracks

Discussion of Palladino's roots and bass transcription

Category:The Who members Category:Welsh session musicians Category:Welsh bass guitarists Category:Italian British musicians Category:Welsh people of Italian descent Category:People from Cardiff Category:1957 births Category:Living people

Name	Pharrell Williams
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Pharrell Williams
Alias
Born	April 05, 1973
Origin	Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States and rumors of Benin
Instrument	drums, piano, keyboards, guitar
Genre	Hip hop, funk, R&B;
Occupation	Record producer, singer-songwriter, rapper, multi-instrumentalist, fashion designer
Years active	1990–present
Label	Star Trak, Interscope
Associated acts	The Neptunes, N.E.R.D, Britney Spears, Child Rebel Soldier, Clipse, Snoop Dogg, Game, Cee Lo Green, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Mariah Carey
Url	pharrellwilliams.com

Pharrell Williams (born April 5, 1973) commonly known simply by the mononym Pharrell, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, composer, and fashion designer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the record production duo The Neptunes, producing hip hop and R&B; music. He is also the lead vocalist and drummer of funk/hip-hop band N.E.R.D, which he formed with Hugo and childhood friend Shay Haley. He released his debut single "Frontin'" in 2003 and followed up with his debut album In My Mind in 2006.

As part of The Neptunes, Williams has produced numerous hit singles for various music artists. The production duo have earned three Grammy Awards amongst ten nominations. He is also the co-founder of the clothing brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream Clothing.

Early life

Pharrell Williams was born on April 5, 1973, on Virginia Beach, Virginia. He was born eldest of three sons to Carolyn, a teacher, and Williams, a handyman. He met Chad Hugo in a seventh grade summer band camp where Williams played the keyboards and drums and Hugo played tenor saxophone. They were also both members of a marching band; Williams played the snare drum while Chad took the role of student conductor. Along with Hugo, Williams attended Princess Anne High School where they played in the school band; that is where he got the name Skateboard P.

In the 1990s, Hugo and Williams formed a 4-piece "R&B; type" group along with friends Shay Haley and Mike Etheridge, which they named The Neptunes. They later entered a high school talent show where they were discovered by Teddy Riley, whose studio was next to Princess Anne High School. After graduating from high school, they signed with Riley as a group.

Career

1992–2001: Career beginnings

Through working with Teddy Riley, Williams went on to write a verse for Wreckx-N-Effect's 1992 hit "Rump Shaker". That same year, he also performed a small rap solo on SWV's second hit, "Right Here (UK Remix)". In 1994, Hugo and Williams had established themselves formally as a production duo under the previously used name "The Neptunes", and produced "Tonight's The Night" from Blackstreet's self-titled debut. Over the next three years they continued to produce occasionally. Some of the production had little resemblance to the trademark Neptunes sound present today. However, some like Mase's 1997 song "Lookin' At Me" from his album Harlem World, and the most definite beginning of the so-called distinctive "Neptunes sound", came with N.O.R.E.'s "Superthug" in 1998, reaching number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100, and gaining them widespread attention for the first time. In 1999, the duo then worked heavily with Kelis, producing her first album Kaleidoscope

2001–2004: In Search Of..., Clipse and Fly or Die

In 2001, The Neptunes produced Britney Spears' single, "I'm a Slave 4 U" gaining their first worldwide number one. The same year, N.E.R.D, consisting of Williams, Hugo and Haley, released their first album, In Search Of..., in Europe, where the first Kelis album was better received. The album sounded very much like their previous production work; the group decided that they should make their work as N.E.R.D sound different, and re-recorded the album, with the rock band Spymob. Williams and Hugo met rap duo Clipse in Virginia Beach in 1993, where they were signed to Arista Records through Williams' Star Trak Entertainment imprint.

Then in 2002 their re-produced album was released worldwide, and The Neptunes reached number one in the U.S. with Nelly's single, "Hot in Herre". In August of the same year, The Neptunes were named "Producers of the Year" at both The Source Awards and the Billboard Music Awards. Clipse released their commercial debut album, Lord Willin' in August 2002. The album opened at number one on the Billboard Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number four on the Billboard 200, fueled by the strength of its first two singles, "Grindin'" and "When the Last Time", which peaked at number 34 and number 19 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Neptunes released a self-credited album called The Neptunes Present... Clones in 2003, featuring songs and remixes from various artists. This album topped the U.S. Billboard 200 Albums Chart. The Neptunes and Williams specifically were also kept in public eye largely due to ties with Jay-Z, producing several hit singles for him and landing two tracks on his album The Black Album. The track "Frontin'" was a big hit (the 34th biggest single of 2003 according to Billboard magazine). A survey in August 2003 found the Neptunes produced almost 20 percent of songs played on British radio at the time, a survey in the US had them at 43 percent.

On May 16, 2007, for seven days only, the first of two expected collaborations with Madonna, entitled "Hey You", was made available for free download from the MSN website. MSN, in conjunction with Madonna, donated 25 cents for each of the first one million downloads to the Alliance for Climate Protection, in support of Live Earth. Later that year, Williams performed songs at the Concert for Diana on July 1, 2007. Then, on July 7, 2007, he performed at the Brazilian leg of Live Earth in Rio de Janeiro.

A second album, entitled Out of My Mind, was recorded with his newly formed band "The Yessirs" featuring Questlove of The Roots. However, Williams' record label did not think that a companion album to the first would sell well. He also produced Beyoncé's rendition of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend". He then wrote and produced "Why Should I Be Sad" on Britney Spears' fifth studio album, Blackout. He also produced two songs from The Hives album, The Black and White Album, titled "Well All Right!" and "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.".

In April 2008, Madonna released her eleventh album, Hard Candy, which featured vocals from Williams and production from The Neptunes on several tracks. Later in June, an article in NME revealed that Williams is very interested in producing The Strokes' fourth album. Williams, along with other musicians, is to work on a remix album for Maroon 5's Call & Response.

Pharrell worked with Colombian artist Shakira on the songs 'Did It Again', 'Why Wait', 'Good Stuff' and 'Long Time' for her sixth studio album, She Wolf. The album was released in October 2009.

It has been revealed that Williams will collaborate with Lindsay Lohan on her upcoming third studio album Spirit in the Dark. He will also provide guest vocals on the album's first single, "Playground".

In September 2009, it was announced that Williams co-wrote and produced a song titled "Fresh Out the Oven" for Jennifer Lopez. The song was released as a buzz single from Lopez's upcoming seventh studio album Love?, which is due for release in the Summer of 2010.

In October 2009, it was announced that he would make a guest appearance on French indie/electronic rapper Uffie's debut album, due out in early 2010.

He has also worked with rapper Snoop Dogg and singer Brandy on the song "Special" in Snoop Dogg's album Malice 'n' Wonderland.

Pharrell has been featured on an unofficial remix/mash-up of "Arab Money" featuring Busta Rhymes.

Pharrell and Kid Cudi collaborated on an untitled song for Kid Cudi's second studio album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr.Rager. Cudi described the song as a "club hit".

In late 2009, Pharrell also started working with the multi-Platinum recording artist Game (previously known as The Game) for his fourth studio album known as The R.E.D. Album, Pharrell returned to work with US singer Justin Timberlake, whom he hadn't worked with for nearly 8 years after he was a producer on Timberlake's debut solo album Justified.

In July 2010, Pharrell Williams composed one of the soundtracks in the movie Despicable Me at the Hollywood Studio Symphony.

Pharrell collaborated with Swedish house music group the Swedish House Mafia, on the song "One" from their debut album Until One. The released song featuring Pharrell's vocals was renamed "One (Your Name)."

Pharrell & his group N.E.R.D supported Gorillaz on their Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour. On the tour, Damon Albarn used his iPad to record and compose the Gorillaz album The Fall. Pharrell recorded a track with Albarn, but this track did not appear on The Fall; it may appear on a future album.

He will be featured on Gucci Mane's second album "* on a track called Haterade alongside "Nicki Minaj".

He will also be featured on Swizz Beatz upcoming album "Haute Living".

Musical style

, September 30, 2008.]] Williams often sings in a falsetto, which he utilizes during the hook of a song. Critics often say that Williams has the inability to rap or sing well, but point out that his singing is better than his rapping. Alasdair Lees of The Independent felt that Williams "strives for the Prince effect", but sounds like Bobby Valentino "on work experience".

Pharrell also did music for the Dreamworks film Despicable Me. The film makers liked his genre of music for the movie. Williams has encompassed a broad range of genres, including hip hop, R&B;, pop, rock, and funk. His lyrics often pertain to his childhood, family, religious faith and sexuality. In the album review for Seeing Sounds by N.E.R.D, Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone felt he learned nothing from his lyrics except that Williams was sexually aroused.

Williams has stated that he does not have any direct influences, but has expressed his admiration of several recording artists, including Michael Jackson, J Dilla, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Rakim and Q-Tip. Williams described A Tribe Called Quest's 1990 album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, as a "turning point" in his life, which "made me see that music was art". He has also worked on furniture with Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin and a French manufacturer, Domeau & Pérès. One of his works, a molded plastic seat with human legs, was created because he "wanted to know what it was like to be in love." The chair depicts a sexual scene with a pair of female legs and male legs.

Pharrell recorded four songs for the computer animated film Despicable Me. Some of the songs are used in the trailers, and are also in the movie.

Personal life

In 2005 Williams was voted the "Best Dressed Man in the World" by Esquire magazine. He is a fan of the science fiction series Star Trek, as indicated by his consistent use of the Vulcan salute to signify his label name, Star Trak. He also enjoys the works of the late astronomer and science lecturer Carl Sagan, whom he calls "a genius". Williams is a skateboarder and has a half-pipe inside his home. In April 2009, Williams underwent a skin procedure to have most of his tattoos removed.

Discography

In My Mind (2006)

Awards and nominations

{|class="wikitable" |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:center;"|Grammy Awards |- !Year !Category !Genre !Title !Result |- |rowspan=6|2004 |Producer of the Year (with Chad Hugo) |N/A |— | |- |Best Pop Vocal Album |Pop |Justified | |- |Best Rap/Sung Collaboration |Rap |"Frontin'" (with Jay-Z) | |- |Best Rap/Sung Collaboration |Rap |"Beautiful" (with Snoop Dogg) featuring Terrence Campbell | |- |Best Rap Song |Rap |"Beautiful" (with Snoop Dogg) | |- |Best Rap Song |Rap |"Excuse Me Miss" (with Jay-Z) | |- |rowspan="2"|2005 |Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group |Rap |"Drop It Like It's Hot" (with Snoop Dogg) | |- |Best Rap Song |Rap |"Drop It Like It's Hot" (with Snoop Dogg) | |- |rowspan=2|2007 |Best Rap Song |Rap |"Money Maker" (with Ludacris) | |- |Best Rap Album |Rap |In My Mind | |}

References

External links

Official website

Category:1973 births Category:African American rappers Category:African American rock musicians Category:American alternative rock musicians Category:American fashion designers Category:American funk musicians Category:American hip hop musicians Category:American record producers Category:American rhythm and blues musicians Category:American rock musicians Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:N.E.R.D members Category:People from Virginia Beach, Virginia Category:Rappers from Virginia Category:The Neptunes members

Name	Jefferson Davis
Order	President of the ConfederateStates of America
Term start	February 18, 1861
Term end	May 5, 1865
Vicepresident	Alexander Stephens
Predecessor	Office instituted
Successor	Office abolished
Order2	23rd United States Secretary of War
Term start2	March 7, 1853
Term end2	March 3, 1857
President2	Franklin Pierce
Predecessor2	Charles Magill Conrad
Successor2	John Buchanan Floyd
Order3	United States Senatorfrom Mississippi
Term start3	August 10, 1847
Term end3	September 23, 1851
Predecessor3	Jesse Speight
Successor3	John J. McRae
Term start4	March 4, 1857
Term end4	January 21, 1861
Predecessor4	Stephen Adams
Successor4	Adelbert Ames (1870)
Order5	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi's At-large district
Term start5	March 4, 1845
Term end5	June 1, 1846
Predecessor5	Tilghman M. Tucker
Successor5	Henry T. Ellett
Birth date	June 03, 1808
Birth place	Christian County, Kentucky
Death date	December 06, 1889
Death place	New Orleans, Louisiana
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Sarah Knox TaylorVarina Howell
Religion	Episcopal
Alma mater	Jefferson CollegeTransylvania UniversityUnited States Military Academy
Profession	Soldier, Politician
Signature	Jefferson Davis Signature.svg
Signature alt	Cursive signature in ink
Branch	United States ArmyMississippi Rifles
Serviceyears	1828–1835, 1846–1847
Rank	Colonel
Battles	Mexican-American War

Jefferson Finis Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889), also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. After initially attending Transylvania University, Davis graduated from West Point and fought in the Mexican–American War as a colonel of a volunteer regiment. He served as the United States Secretary of War under Democratic President Franklin Pierce. Both before and after his time in the Pierce administration, he served as a Democratic U.S. Senator representing the State of Mississippi. As a senator, he argued against secession, but did agree that each state was sovereign and had an unquestionable right to secede from the Union.

On February 9, 1861, after he resigned from the U.S. Senate, Davis was selected to be the provisional President of the Confederate States of America; he was elected without opposition to a six-year term that November. During his presidency, Davis took charge of the Confederate war plans but was unable to find a strategy to stop the larger, more powerful and better organized Union. His diplomatic efforts failed to gain recognition from any foreign country, and he paid little attention to the collapsing Confederate economy, printing more and more paper money to cover the war's expenses. Historians have criticized Davis for being a much less effective war leader than his Union counterpart Abraham Lincoln, which they attribute to Davis being overbearing, controlling, and overly meddlesome, as well as being out of touch with public opinion, and lacking support from a political party (since the Confederacy had no political parties). According to historian Bell I. Wiley, the flaws in his personality and temperament made him a failure as the highest political officer in the Confederacy. His preoccupation with detail, inability to delegate responsibility, lack of popular appeal, feuds with powerful state governors, inability to get along with people who disagreed with him, his neglect of civil matters in favor of military ones—all these shortcomings worked against him.

After Davis was captured on May 10, 1865, he was charged with treason; although he was not tried, he was stripped of his eligibility to run for public office. (Congress posthumously lifted this restriction in 1978.) While not disgraced, he was displaced in Southern affection after the war by the leading Confederate general Robert E. Lee. However, many Southerners empathized with his defiance, refusal to accept defeat, and resistance to Reconstruction. Over time, admiration for his pride and ideals made him a Civil War hero to many Southerners, and his legacy became part of the foundation of the postwar New South. In spite of his former status as the president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis began to encourage reconciliation by the late 1880s, telling Southerners to be loyal to the Union.

Early life and military career

Davis' grandfather, Evan Davies, was born in Philadelphia in 1702; his father or grandfather had emigrated to North America from Wales. Evan married Lydia Emory Williams, also from Philadelphia; Samuel Emory Davis was born to them in 1756. Lydia had two sons from a previous marriage; along with his two half-brothers, Samuel served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He later married Jane Cook, who was born in Christian County, Kentucky in 1759 to William Cook and his wife Sarah Simpson; Samuel and Jane were married in 1783 and had 10 children. Jefferson was the last and was born on June 3, 1808. Samuel died on July 4, 1824, and Jane on October 3, 1845.

During Davis' youth, his family moved twice: in 1811 to St. Mary Parish, Louisiana and in 1812 to Wilkinson County, Mississippi. Three of Jefferson’s older brothers served during the War of 1812. In 1813 Davis began his education at the Wilkinson Academy, near the family plantation in the small town of Woodville. Two years later, Davis entered the Catholic school of Saint Thomas at St. Rose Priory, a school operated by the Dominican Order in Washington County, Kentucky. At the time, he was the only Protestant student at the school. Davis went on to Jefferson College at Washington, Mississippi in 1818, and then to Transylvania University at Lexington, Kentucky in 1821.

In 1824 Davis entered the United States Military Academy (West Point). While at West Point, Davis was placed under house arrest for his role in the Eggnog Riot in Christmas 1826. In June 1828, he graduated 23rd in a class of 33. Following graduation, Second Lieutenant Davis was assigned to the 1st Infantry Regiment and was stationed at Fort Crawford, Wisconsin. Lt. Davis was home in Mississippi for the entire Black Hawk War of 1832, but was assigned by his colonel, Zachary Taylor, to escort Black Hawk himself to prison; it is said that the chief liked Davis because of the kind treatment he had shown.

Marriage, plantation life, and early political career

Davis fell in love with Zachary Taylor's daughter, Sarah Knox Taylor. Her father did not approve of the match, so Davis resigned his commission and married Miss Taylor on June 17, 1835, at the house of her aunt near Louisville, Kentucky. The marriage proved to be short. While visiting Davis' oldest sister near Saint Francisville, Louisiana, both newlyweds contracted malaria, and Davis' wife died three months after the wedding on September 15, 1835. In 1836 he moved to Brierfield Plantation in Warren County, Mississippi. For the next eight years, Davis was a recluse, studying government and history, and engaging in private political discussions with his brother Joseph. Margaret Howell Davis was born the following year on February 25, 1855; she married Joel Addison Hayes Jr. (1848–1919) and they had five children. Margaret died on July 18, 1909. Jefferson Davis Jr. was born on January 16, 1857; he died of yellow fever at age 21 on October 16, 1878, during an epidemic that swept the Mississippi river valley. Joseph Evan Davis was born on April 18, 1859 and died on April 30, 1864 at age 5. William Howell Davis was born on December 6, 1861 and died on October 16, 1872 before reaching the age of 11. Varina Anne "Winnie" Davis was born on June 27, 1864 and died on September 18, 1898 at age 34; she never married.

A portrait of Varina Davis in old age is held at the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library in Biloxi, Mississippi. Painted by Adolfo Müller-Ury in 1895, it is dubbed 'Widow of the Confederacy'. It was exhibited at the Durand-Ruel Galleries in New York in 1897. The Museum of the Confederacy at Richmond, Virginia, holds Müller-Ury's 1897–98 profile portrait of the youngest daughter Winnie Davis, which the artist presented to the Museum in 1918.

Second military career

In 1846 the Mexican-American War began. Davis resigned his house seat in June and raised a volunteer regiment, the Mississippi Rifles, becoming its colonel. On July 21, 1846, they sailed from New Orleans for the Texas coast. Davis armed the regiment with the M1841 Mississippi Rifle percussion rifle and trained the regiment in its use, making it particularly effective in combat. In September 1846 Davis participated in the successful siege of Monterrey.

On February 22, 1847, Davis fought bravely at the Battle of Buena Vista and was shot in the foot, being carried to safety by Robert H. Chilton. In recognition of Davis' bravery and initiative, commanding general Zachary Taylor is reputed to have said: "My daughter, sir, was a better judge of men than I was."

Narciso López sought both Davis and Robert E. Lee to lead his first filibuster expedition to Cuba, but both turned him down.

Return to politics

Senator

Because of his war service, the governor of Mississippi appointed Davis to fill out the senate term of the late Jesse Speight. He took his seat December 5, 1847, and was elected to serve the remainder of his term in January 1848. In addition, the Smithsonian Institution appointed him a regent at the end of December 1847.

Davis introduced an amendment to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to annex most of northeastern Mexico. It failed 44-11. Davis also declared that "Cuba must be ours" to "increase the number of slaveholding constituencies."

The senate made Davis chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. When his term expired he was elected to the same seat (by the Mississippi legislature, as the constitution mandated at the time). He had not served a year when he resigned (in September 1851) to run for the governorship of Mississippi on the issue of the Compromise of 1850, which Davis opposed. This election bid was unsuccessful, as he was defeated by fellow Senator Henry Stuart Foote by 999 votes.

Left without political office, Davis continued his political activity. He took part in a convention on states' rights, held at Jackson, Mississippi, in January 1852. In the weeks leading up to the presidential election of 1852, he campaigned in numerous Southern states for Democratic candidates Franklin Pierce and William R. King.

Secretary of war

Pierce won the election and in 1853 made Davis his Secretary of War. In this capacity, Davis gave Congress four annual reports (in December of each year), as well as an elaborate one (submitted on February 22, 1855) on various routes for the proposed Transcontinental Railroad, and promoted the Gadsden Purchase of today's southern Arizona from Mexico. The Pierce Administration ended in 1857. The President lost the Democratic nomination, which went instead to James Buchanan. Davis' term was to end with Pierce's, so he ran successfully for the Senate, and re-entered it on March 4, 1857.

Return to Senate

His renewed service in the senate was interrupted by an illness that threatened him with the loss of his left eye. Still nominally serving in the senate, Davis spent the summer of 1858 in Portland, Maine. On the Fourth of July, he delivered an anti-secessionist speech on board a ship near Boston. He again urged the preservation of the Union on October 11 in Faneuil Hall, Boston, and returned to the senate soon after.

As Davis explained in his memoir The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, he believed that each state was sovereign and had an unquestionable right to secede from the Union. He counseled delay among his fellow Southerners, because he did not think that the North would permit the peaceable exercise of the right to secession. Having served as secretary of war under Pres. Franklin Pierce, he also knew that the South lacked the military and naval resources necessary to defend itself if war were to break out. Following the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, however, events accelerated. South Carolina adopted an ordinance of secession on December 20, 1860, and Mississippi did so on January 9, 1861. As soon as Davis received official notification of that fact, he delivered a farewell address to the United States Senate, resigned and returned to Mississippi.

President of the Confederate States of America

on February 18, 1861, on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol.]] Issue of 1861]] Four days after his resignation, Davis was commissioned a major general of Mississippi troops.

1861 election

Davis was elected to a 6-year term as President of the Confederate States of America on November 6, 1861. He had never served a full term in any elective office, and that would turn out to be the case on this occasion as well. He was inaugurated on February 22, 1862. Davis was actually elected by his fellow Southern politicians as a provisional president. He, like his vice-president Alexander Stephens, were not actually elected by the people. One of the main reasons for Davis' election is that he was a well-known moderate who also had a lot of experience (having served in a president's cabinet.) It is well documented that Davis actually wanted to serve as a general in the Confederate States Army and not as a president.

Lee and strategy

In June 1862, in his most successful move, Davis assigned Gen. Robert E. Lee to replace the wounded Joseph E. Johnston in command of the Army of Northern Virginia, the main Confederate army in the Eastern Theater. That December he made a tour of Confederate armies in the west of the country. Davis largely made the main strategic decisions on his own, or approved those suggested by Lee. He had a very small circle of military advisers. Davis evaluated the Confederacy's national resources and weaknesses and decided that in order to win its independence the Confederacy was going to have to fight mostly on the strategic defensive. Davis maintained mostly a defensive outlook throughout the war, paying special attention to the defense of his national capital at Richmond. His attempted strategic offensives when he felt that military success would shake Northern self-confidence and strengthen the peace party there. The campaigns met defeat at Antietam (1862) and Gettysburg (1863).

Strategic failures

Most historians sharply criticize Davis for his flawed military strategy, his selection of friends for military commands, and his neglect of the homefront crises. Until late in the war he resisted efforts to appoint a general-in-chief, essentially handling those duties himself; on January 31, 1865, Lee assumed this role, but it was far too late. Davis insisted on a strategy of trying to defend all Southern territory with ostensibly equal effort, which diluted the limited resources of the South and made it vulnerable to coordinated strategic thrusts by the Union into the vital Western Theater, such as the capture of New Orleans in early 1862. He made other controversial strategic choices, such as allowing Lee to invade the North in 1862 and 1863 while the Western armies were under very heavy pressure; not only did Lee lose at Gettysburg but simultaneously Vicksburg fell and the Union took control of the Mississippi River, splitting the Confederacy. At Vicksburg, the failure to coordinate multiple forces on both sides of the Mississippi River rested primarily on the inability of Davis to create a harmonious departmental arrangement or to force such commanders as generals Edmund Kirby Smith, Earl Van Dorn, and Theophilus H. Holmes to work together.

Davis has been faulted for poor coordination and management of his generals. This includes his reluctance to relieve his personal friend, Braxton Bragg, defeated in important battles and distrusted by his subordinates; he relieved the cautious but capable Joseph E. Johnston and replaced him with the reckless John Bell Hood, resulting in the loss of Atlanta and the eventual loss of an army.

Davis gave speeches to soldiers and politicians but largely ignored the common people and thereby failed to harness Confederate nationalism by directing the energies of the people into winning the war; more and more the plain folk resented the favoritism shown the rich and powerful. Davis did not use his presidential pulpit to rally the people with stirring rhetoric—he called instead for people to be fatalistic and to die for their new country. Apart from two month-long trips across the country where he met a few hundred people, Davis stayed in Richmond where few people saw him; newspapers had limited circulation and most Confederates had little favorable information about him. In April 1863, food shortages led to rioting in Richmond, as poor people robbed and looted numerous stores for food until Davis cracked down and restored order. Davis feuded bitterly with his vice president; perhaps even more serious, he clashed with powerful state governors who used states' rights arguments to withhold their militia units from national service and otherwise blocked mobilization plans.

Final days

Mansion, Danville, Virginia, temporary residence of Jefferson Davis and dubbed Last Capitol of the Confederacy]] On April 3, 1865, with Union troops under Ulysses S. Grant poised to capture Richmond, Davis escaped for Danville, Virginia, together with the Confederate Cabinet, leaving on the Richmond and Danville Railroad; Lincoln sat in his Richmond office 40 hours after Davis' departure. Circa April 12, he received Robert E. Lee's letter announcing surrender. Davis issued his last official proclamation as president of the Confederacy, and then went south to Greensboro, North Carolina.

After Lee's surrender, there was a public meeting in Shreveport, Louisiana, at which many speakers supported continuation of the war. Plans were developed for the Davis government to flee to Havana, Cuba. There, the leaders would regroup and head to the Confederate-controlled Trans-Mississippi area by way of the Rio Grande. None of these plans was put into practice.

President Jefferson Davis met with his Confederate Cabinet for the last time on May 5, 1865, in Washington, Georgia, and the Confederate government was officially dissolved. The meeting took place at the Heard house, the Georgia Branch Bank Building, with 14 officials present. He was captured on May 10, 1865, at Irwinville in Irwin County, Georgia. In the confusion, Davis put his wife's overcoat over his shoulders and attempted to flee the Union soldiers, leading to caricatures of him being captured while disguised as a woman. He was held as a prisoner for two years in Fort Monroe, Virginia.

Administration and Cabinet

{| class="infobox" style="font-size:88%; width:auto; text-align:left; white-space:nowrap; float:left; clear:left; " ! style="background:#DCDCDC; text-align:center;" colspan="3" | The Davis Cabinet |- ! Office ! Name ! Term |- ! style="background:#000;" colspan="3" | |- |President ! Jefferson Davis||1861–1865 |- |Vice President ! Alexander H. Stephens||1861–1865 |- ! style="background:#000;" colspan="3" | |- | rowspan="3"|Secretary of State ! Robert Toombs||1861 |- ! Robert M. T. Hunter||1861–1862 |- ! Judah P. Benjamin||1862–1865 |- ! style="background:#D1D1D1;" colspan="3" | |- | rowspan="3"|Secretary of the Treasury !Christopher Memminger||1861–1864 |- !George Trenholm||1864–1865 |- !John H. Reagan||1865 |- ! style="background:#D1D1D1;" colspan="3" | |- | rowspan="5"|Secretary of War !Leroy P. Walker||1861 |- !Judah P. Benjamin||1861–1862 |- !George W. Randolph||1862 |- !James Seddon||1862–1865 |- !John C. Breckinridge||1865 |- ! style="background:#D1D1D1;" colspan="3" | |- |Secretary of the Navy !Stephen Mallory||1861–1865 |- ! style="background:#D1D1D1;" colspan="3" | |- |Postmaster General !John H. Reagan||1861–1865 |- ! style="background:#D1D1D1;" colspan="3" | |- | rowspan="4"|Attorney General !Judah P. Benjamin||1861 |- !Thomas Bragg||1861–1862 |- !Thomas H. Watts||1862–1863 |- !George Davis||1864–1865 |} , Stephen Mallory, Christopher Memminger, Alexander Stephens, LeRoy Pope Walker, Jefferson Davis, John H. Reagan and Robert Toombs]]

Imprisonment and later years

On May 19, 1865, Davis was imprisoned in a casemate at Fortress Monroe, on the coast of Virginia. He was placed in irons for three days. Davis was indicted for treason a year later. While in prison, Davis arranged to sell his Mississippi estate to one of his former slaves, Ben Montgomery. After two years of imprisonment, he was released on bail of $100,000 which was posted by prominent citizens of both Northern and Southern states, including Horace Greeley, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Gerrit Smith (Smith, a former member of the Secret Six, had supported John Brown). Davis visited Canada, Cuba and Europe. In December 1868 the court rejected a motion to nullify the indictment, but the prosecution dropped the case in February 1869. That same year, Davis became president of the Carolina Life Insurance Company in Memphis, Tennessee. He turned down the opportunity to become the first president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M; University).

During Reconstruction, Davis remained silent; however, he privately expressed opinions that federal military rule and Republican authority over former Confederate states was unjustified. He considered "Yankee and Negroe" rule in the south oppressive. Davis held contemporary beliefs that African Americans were inferior to the white race. Historian William J. Cooper stated that Davis believed in southern social order that included "a democratic white polity based firmly on dominance of a controlled and excluded black caste." In 1876, Davis promoted a society for the stimulation of U.S. trade with South America. He visited England the next year, returning in 1878 to Beauvoir. Over the next three years there, Davis wrote The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. While he was in prison, Pope Pius IX sent Davis a portrait of himself on which were written the Latin words "Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis, et ego reficiam vos, dicit Dominus", which comes from Matthew 11:28 and translates as, "Come to me all ye who labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest, sayeth the Lord." It was accompanied by a crown of thorns woven by the pope himself.

Davis' reputation in the South was restored by the book and by his warm reception on his tour of the region in 1886 and 1887. In numerous stops he attended "Lost Cause" ceremonies, where large crowds showered him with affection and local leaders presented emotional speeches honoring his sacrifices to the would-be nation. The Meriden Daily Journal stated that Davis, at a reception held in New Orleans in May, 1887, urged southerners to be loyal to the nation; he said, "United you are now, and if the Union is ever to be broken, let the other side break it." Davis stated that men in the Confederacy had successfully fought for their own rights with inferior numbers during the Civil War and that the northern historians ignored this view.

Davis completed A Short History of the Confederate States of America in October 1889. Two months later, on December 6, Davis died in New Orleans of unestablished cause at the age of 81 in the home of Charles Erasmus Fenner, an Associate Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. His funeral was one of the largest in the South, and included a continuous cortège, day and night, from New Orleans to Richmond. Davis was first entombed at the Army of Northern Virginia tomb at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans. In 1893, Mrs. Davis decided to transport his remains for burial at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. After the remains were exhumed in New Orleans, they lay for a day at Memorial Hall of the newly organized Louisiana Historical Association, with many mourners passing by the casket, including Governor Murphy J. Foster, Sr. The body was then placed on a Louisville and Nashville Railroad car and transported to Richmond.

Memorials

High schools in Houston, Texas and Montgomery, Alabama are named after him.

Jefferson Davis was honorarily initiated into the Kappa Sigma Fraternity (Xi Chapter-then located at Virginia Military Institute) following the death of his son.

See also

List of Memorials to Jefferson Davis

Notes

References

Secondary sources

Allen, Felicity (1999). Jefferson Davis: Unconquerable Heart. Columbia: The University of Missouri Press.

Ballard, Michael B. (1986). Long Shadow: Jefferson Davis and the Final Days of the Confederacy. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.

Collins, Donald E. (2005). The Death and Resurrection of Jefferson Davis. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Cooper, William J. (2000). Jefferson Davis, American. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Cooper, William J. (2008). Jefferson Davis and the Civil War Era. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.

Current, Richard, et al (1993). Encyclopedia of the Confederacy. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Davis, William C. (1991). Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour. New York: HarperCollins.

Dodd, William E. (1907). Jefferson Davis. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs and Company.

Eaton, Clement (1977). Jefferson Davis. New York: The Free Press.

Escott, Paul (1978). After Secession: Jefferson Davis and the Failure of Confederate Nationalism. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.

Hattaway, Herman and Beringer, Richard E. (2002). Jefferson Davis, Confederate President. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.

Neely Jr., Mark E. (1993). Confederate Bastille: Jefferson Davis and Civil Liberties. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press.

Rable, George C. (1994). The Confederate Republic: A Revolution against Politics. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Stoker, Donald, "There Was No Offensive-Defensive Confederate Strategy," Journal of Military History, 73 (April 2009), 571–90.

Strode, Hudson (1955). Jefferson Davis, Volume I: American Patriot. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company.

Strode, Hudson (1959). Jefferson Davis, Volume II: Confederate President. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company.

Strode, Hudson (1964). Jefferson Davis, Volume III: Tragic Hero. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company.

Swanson, James L. (2010). Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln's Corpse. New York: HarperCollins.

Thomas, Emory M. (1979). The Confederate Nation, 1861–1865. New York: Harper & Row.

Primary sources

External links

Jefferson Davis in Encyclopedia Virginia

Inaugural address of President Davis (1861)

The Papers of Jefferson Davis at Rice University

Capture of Jefferson Davis

Jefferson Davis's final resting place

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Name	Erykah Badu
Landscape	no
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Erica Abi Wright
Born	February 26, 1971Dallas, TexasUnited States
Instrument	Vocals, keyboards, guitar
Genre	Neo soul, R&B;, soul, funk, jazz, hip hop soul, hip hop better known by her stage name Erykah Badu (), is an American recording artist, record producer and actress. Her work includes elements from R&B;, hip hop and jazz.
Name	Wright, Erica Abi
Alternative names	Erykah Badu
Short description	American singer
Date of birth	February 26, 1971
Place of birth	Dallas, Texas

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Name	Davey Boy Smith
Names	(The) British BulldogDavey Boy SmithYoung David
Height
Weight	(November 27, 1962 – May 18, 2002) was a British professional wrestler, better known as "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith, who was born in Golborne in North West England, United Kingdom. Smith is known for his appearances with Stampede Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. Described by WWE as "one of the most physically impressive individuals in WWE history", Smith found success as both a singles and tag competitor, holding every major title in the organization except the WWF Championship. Nonetheless, Smith competed in multiple pay-per-view main events in the WWF and WCW, and challenged for the top titles of both promotions.

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