Wild Bill Davis

Wild Bill Davis (November 24, 1918 – August 17, 1995) was the stage name of American jazz pianist, organist, and arranger William Strethen Davis.

Biography

Davis was born in Glasgow, Missouri. He is best known for his pioneering jazz electronic organ recordings and for his tenure with the Tympany Five, the backing group for Louis Jordan. Prior to the emergence of Jimmy Smith in 1956, Davis (whom Smith had reportedly first seen playing organ in the 1930s) was the pacesetter among organists.

Davis originally played guitar and wrote arrangements for Milt Larkin's Texas-based big band during 1939–42, a band which included Arnett Cobb, Illinois Jacquet, and Tom Archia on horns. After leaving the Larkin orchestra, Davis worked in Chicago as a pianist, recording with Buster Bennett in 1945. He played a crucial role as the pianist-arranger in Jordan's Tympany Five (1945–47) at the peak of their success. After leaving Jordan, he returned to Chicago for a time, recording again with Buster Bennett and working with Claude McLin. After switching from piano to organ, Davis moved to the East Coast. In 1950, he began leading an influential trio of organ, guitar, and drums, which recorded for OKeh.

Bill Davis

William Grenville "Bill" Davis, PC CC OOnt QC (born July 30, 1929) was the 18th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the MPP for Peel in the 1959 provincial election where he was a backbencher in Leslie Frost's government. Under John Robarts, he was a cabinet minister overseeing the education portfolio. He succeeded Robarts as Premier of Ontario and held the position until resigning in 1985.

In a 2012 edition, the Institute for Research on Public Policy's magazine, Policy Options, named Davis the second-best Canadian premier of the last forty years, beaten only by Peter Lougheed.

Early life and education

Davis was born in Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, the son of Vera (Hewetson) and Albert Grenville Davis. His father was a successful local lawyer. He married twice, first to Helen MacPhee (b. 1931, m. 1955, d. 1962), with whom he had four children (Neil, Nancy, Cathy, Ian), before marrying Kathleen MacKay (m. 1962).

Davis was politically active from a young age. Local Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Gordon Graydon was a frequent guest at his parents' house, and Davis himself became the first delegate younger than seventeen years to attend a national Progressive Conservative convention in Canada. He frequently campaigned for local Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Thomas Laird Kennedy, who briefly served as Premier of Ontario in 1949.

Bill Davis (musician)

William "Bill" Davis (born New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He is the founder, lead guitarist, and lead vocalist of the rock band Dash Rip Rock, and a member of the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Davis founded Dash Rip Rock in 1984 and is often credited as a pioneer in "country punk," "cowpunk," and alt-country music that combines elements of rock with country and outlaw country with punk rock, but Davis has said in interviews that he considers his music to be widely roots-based. His work has been inspired by a variety of styles, including rock, country, punk, power pop, punk, soul and, at times, Cajun.

The Austin Chronicle called him "the brains behind Dash’s brawn, a barroom poet with a wicked sense of humor and a shameless knack for a good lick."

Other projects

Davis contributed guitar work and backing vocals on six songs on Glenn Tilbrook's (lead singer and guitarist of the British band Squeeze) solo album titled Transatlantic Ping Pong. His guitar work is also featured on Mojo Nixon's Root Hog or Die, and on the country punk supergroup Otis album that featured John Doe, Bill Davis, and Country Dick Montana and was produced by Jim Dickinson. He also was a guitarist for two years with Trent Summar and the New Row Mob. In 2013 Davis contributed guitar work and vocals on The Vibrators song "Rock N' Roll Clown" for their record On the Guest List. In 2011 and 2014, Davis was a member and founder of the sometimes band Jello Biafra and the New Orleans Raunch & Soul All-Stars. In 2012, he played lead guitar for a special show in New Orleans featuring Clarence "Blowfly (musician)" Reid, the grandfather of dirty rap. In 2014 Punk News announced that Bill Davis would be appearing on lead guitar and lead vocals on a track on a forthcoming Black Oak Arkansas tribute album with Greg Ginn of Black Flag, Paul Leary and Jeff Pinkus of Butthole Surfers, Shooter Jennings, and others.

Bill Davis (ice hockey)

William Lloyd "Bill" Davis (born August 22, 1954) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the World Hockey Association (WHA). Davis played parts of two WHA seasons with the Winnipeg Jets. He was drafted in the fourteenth round of the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

References

External links

Wild Bill

Wild Bill may refer to:

People

Wild Bill (G.I. Joe)

Wild Bill is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is the G.I. Joe Team's helicopter pilot and debuted in 1983.

Profile

His real name is William S. Hardy, and his rank is that of army chief warrant officer CW-4. Wild Bill was born in Brady, Texas. His primary military specialty is helicopter pilot and his secondary military specialties are fixed wing pilot and aircraft armorer.

Wild Bill served as a combat infantryman and participated in LRRP operations during the Vietnam War. He reenlisted for Flight Warrant Officer School and has remained in service since, but his specialized training records are classified. Wild Bill joined the G.I. Joe Team as the pilot of the "Dragonfly" helicopter. He is a qualified expert in the M1911A auto pistol and the XM-16 attack rifle, but prefers single action .45 long colt revolvers.

Wild Bill is the original helicopter pilot for the G.I. Joe team, and is also an expert tracker and can function on the ground as well as any trained infantry scout. He is able to adapt the hunting skills he learned as a boy whenever he's tracking the enemy, saying that sneaking up on a Cobra is easier than sneaking up on most 'critters'.

Wild Bill (1995 film)

Wild Bill is a 1995 Western film about the last days of legendary lawman Wild Bill Hickok. It stars Jeff Bridges, Ellen Barkin, John Hurt and Diane Lane. The film was distributed by United Artists. It was written and directed by Walter Hill, with writing credits also going to Pete Dexter, author of the book Deadwood, and Thomas Babe, author of the play Fathers and Sons.

Plot

A well-known lawman and scout of the 19th Century's western frontier, Wild Bill Hickok (Jeff Bridges) has drifted to Deadwood, Dakota Territory. Jack McCall (David Arquette) is a young man whose mother and family have been slighted by Bill in the past, and is out for revenge.

Troubled by his on-again, off-again relationship with a woman called Calamity Jane (Ellen Barkin), haunted by the ghosts of his past, and struggling with failing eyesight, Wild Bill faces with grave concern the arrival of this dangerous newcomer to town.

Cast