‘With my favorite jeans and a cheap guitar I ran off chasing a distant star
If Buddy Holly could make it that far then I figured I could too
I thought happiness was Lubbock Texas in my rearview mirror
My mama kept calling me home but I just did not want to hear her’
– lyrics to Texas in My Rearview Mirror.
Legendary musician, Mac Davis, a shining country & pop star, finally comes home to Texas.
Teenage years spent in the 70s: meant Mac Davis was one of my favorites.
- I Believe in Music – 1971
- Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me – 1972
- Everybody Loves a Love Song – 1972
- Your Side of the Bed
- Stop and Smell the Roses – 1974
- All the Love in the World – 1975
- Every Now and Then – 1976
- Picking Up the Pieces of My life – 1977
- Music in My Life – 1978
Carting a guitar and kicking West Texas dust from his shoes, Mac Davis set his sights on stardom . . . however, the road to an induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame is seldom a straight path, or a smooth ride.
After leaving his hometown of Lubbock, Texas – famous in his song: ‘Texas in My Rearview Mirror’, Mac Davis settled down to a ‘real job’ (quote from interview in Songwriter Universe: 2017). Married young, with a child to support, he spent time traveling around the country handling sales & promotions for other artists’ albums. In the late 60s, after a transfer to the West Coast, Mac Davis met Billy Strange, Nancy Sinatra, and finally Elvis Presley.
Songs written by Mac Davis for Elvis Presley (Legacy.com) :
- A Little Less Conversation
- Memories
- In The Ghetto (this song has roots back to Mac’s Texas days, as well)
- Daddy Don’t Cry
All chart-topping singles that revitalized Elvis’ career.
But Elvis wasn’t alone in benefitting from Mac Davis’ extraordinary songwriting talent:
Other recording artists include:
(VanityFair.com)
- Kenny Rogers
- Bobby Goldsboro
- Freddie Hart
- Ray Price
- Lou Rawls
- Dolly Parton
- Rascal Flatts
- Weezer
- Avicci
- Bruno Mars (co-writing credit)
- Keith Urban (co-writing credit)
Mac Davis’ early days were spent in Lubbock, Texas, where he graduated high school at 16.
Not too tall – scrawny – by Texas standards, Davis spent his time toughening up by joining Golden Gloves and waiting for the day that he could leave Lubbock, and his very strict father, behind. But Texas boys almost always come home – and Mac Davis is no exception.
Preliminary funeral arrangements forecast that Mac Davis will be buried in Texas – perhaps, completely appropriate with his lyrics: ‘And when I die you can bury me in Lubbock Texas in my jeans’.
The singer/songwriter/TV host/feature-film star/Broadway actor has been honored by a Lubbock street that carries his name; a Hollywood ‘Walk of Fame’ star; Three Grammy Award nominations; induction into: The Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, and the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, just to mention of a few of his accolades.
Be the first to reply