I enjoy the creative process, be it music or business, and am committed to living a life of being fearlessly creative.

I have explored a number of musical paths in this lifetime. As a child, I was heavily influenced by the songs of Jimmy Reed and Ray Charles.

I remember writing lyrics and singing songs to close friends as we walked down the hallways in elementary school. I was 8 or 9 years old at the time. Lyrics have played a significant role in shaping my perceptions, or maybe it is more correct to say that my perceptions have played a significant role in my interpretation of lyrics. Words have always piqued my interest, my passion, inspiration, and love. I suppose this is why I have a BA in English with in an emphasis in writing and a minor in Applied Communication Arts.

My mother recognized my passion for songs, and my love of music and attempted to get me to take up piano when I was a child. However, as so many young boys are, I was crazy about playing baseball. Babe Ruth was my hero, and I loved reading books about converting old cars into roadsters (see the photo of my 56 Chevy below). Thankfully, however, I agreed to weekly private trumpet lessons with very fine studio musician by the name of Silvio Savante. Our family was living in Burbank, CA at this time. Years later, I did take up piano, and am glad for having done so.

I was a teenager when Bob Dylan, Donavon, The Doors, The Stones, Vanilla Fudge, Creedance Clearwater, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, The Cream (especially Disraeli Gears), Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, Motown (as a groove), Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, and multitudes of other artists of the time came about. Aside from seeing acts such as Donavon and the Doors at the Hollywood Bowl, hanging out all night long on Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards was a regular ritual. I would stand and listen at the entrance of the clubs where the Doors, and Bob Dylan were playing (much too young to get in). And yes, I did catch hell from my mother when I arrived home in the wee hours of the morning! People of every persuasion were on the streets, from Hells Angels to hippies....everything the night life could muster...lots of flash. Hollywoods' Playboy club is on Sunset or Hollywood Boulevard (I forget which), and high rollers, beautiful women and music were the catalyst! The lyrics in songs literally shaped, moved, and evolved my life, especially my emotional life.

Graduating from high school at 17, I worked in Los Angeles, CA, climbing telephone poles installing cable TV for a year with two great guys. Both had just returned from Vietnam. Dean had been a Dog Handler, with the 173rd Airborne, and the other guy was Special Forces / Green Beret Special Ops. They had an influence on me, and I joined the ARMY. By November of 1969 I found myself living in a tent, knee-deep in mud, and enduring monsoon rains of 10-15 inches a day in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. My new home, Outpost Bastogne, was located outside of Hue in the direction of Laos on a mountain top at the base of the Ashau Valley. I was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division as a light weapons specialist infantryman. We provided fire support for Special Forces and the 101st Airborne in the Ashau. Bastogne was a staging area for long range patrol units, exursions into Laos, and various other activities.

'No doubt I am on my way to Grandma's house with my bag of clothes and guns!'

Every time I hear 'Heard It Through The Grapevine' or 'What's Going On', by Marvin Gaye, and many of the Doors' songs on the radio, I am flooded with memories and sensations of Nam'. The rat tat tat of small weapons fire fights in the near distance and the ever present thump thump thump of heavy artillery landing near by, mixed with the smell of helicopter fuel and the swirling sound and feel of the pulsating rotors and turbines of Huey helicopters, are fused into my soul. Visions and memories of Hueys carrying soldiers into combat and disappearing into low lying clouds; moving just above the triple canopy jungle, is forever part of who I am.

Vietnam is a mystical paradise. I have fond memories of gazing accross lazy rivers into nearby hamlets during the early mornings and evenings during the weeks in which I was receiving advanced jungle warfare training in the jungles surrounding Bien Hoa which is located just outside of Saigon in the direction of Cambodia. A by product of B52 carpet bombings, many of Nam's scenic and mystical landscapes had been transformed by into baren landscapes, with 30-40 foot craters full of water from the monsoon rains. This is a harsh reality of humanities dark side. The only reason I have fond memories of 'riding shotgun' on military caravans while traveling through triple canopy jungles heading Northwest out of Hue to Fire Support Base Bastogne is becuase we weren't ambushed those few times. Otherwise, the memories would be nightmares. Bastogne had some of the largest guns in Nam and they operated 24/7. The NVA were forever attacking Bastogne's perimeter, and the road into Bastogne was through no-man's land. Bastogne's artillery rounds were so large that I could watch as the payloads sailed across the horizon toward their destinations. The guns of Bastogne had an effective range of some 19+ miles.

Back to musc: Christmas of 1969: I picked up my first guitar just outside of Hue, Vietnam. A guy taught me how to play a Bob Dylan song, "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright". My world was changing. The realities of war, life on the edge of darkness, began to be illumined with the sound of music.This was just the beginning of what has become a lifelong journey. There is much more to say regards my experience in Vietnam, but this isn't the place for that.

By 1973, I had written a large number of songs and wanted to learn how to notate my songs. From 1973-80, I completed very structured programs in classical music and studied extended jazz theory with Ray Brown. My interest in music has always emphasized lyrics and vocals, and I had the good fortune to study with one of America's top ten Soprano's, Nella Girolo, for a number of years as well.

From 1987-1994, I worked as the Administrator of the Recording Division for very successful private record label where I managed mechanical rights, publisher's royalties, performance contracts, and assisted world-class engineers to record sessions in venues such as The Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, UT. We produced extrememly fine recordings, and, on one occasion, produced an album of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Symphony performing simultaneously. Recording this event was a feat unto itself. During this period of time, I managed audio sales and promotions at trade shows in Chicago, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. I enjoyed representing the label at independent label trade shows, sponsored by NARAS, in Austin, Texas. During this period of time, I learned a great deal about the recording industry and will forever be grateful for that opportunity and the very fine people I worked with.. After leaving the label, I established Morton Davis Productions as an independent label / publisher in 1994.

What is a great song?
Great songs are memorable. That's pretty much it. Memorable. Something you want to hear again, and again. Something that stirs the soul, the mind, the spirit.

Best Regards,

Morton Davis

A story you may appreciate:

“Would you tell me, please which way I ought to go from here?” she asked. “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” was the reply. “I don’t much care where” she said. “Then, it doesn’t matter which way you go.”

That excerpt comes from Alice in Wonderland. The scene is when Alice comes to a crossroads and discovers the Cheshire cat perched in a tree. It’s a poignant reminder that the path we take will determine our destination. Whether it’s the path that we are taking for our music, or the one we want to lead our relationships, it really does matter where we want to go.

Dare to dream and make each day an epic adventure.

"Regards songwriting: Work on a given song, usually for no more than 3 hours, and walk away with something." -Paul McCartney

That's me (white shirt in back row) playing harmonica with our church band! I generally play Alto sax with this group. What fun this is.