(February 15, 2018) Frederick Davis is a man who can truly be called a lover and a fighter. The Cleveland native was a Golden Gloves boxer who trained with the Navy Olympic Boxing team while he was in the service in 1976. But Davis’s greatest success came in the music game.
After returning home from service, Davis landed a job as a songwriter for a local recording studio. Davis also cut a few tracks, and one of those songs, a ballad duet titled “Gentle (Calling Your Name)” garnered radio airplay and charted in 1984 under the name of Frederick. Davis could not repeat the chart success he achieved with “Gentle,” but he continued making music. Two of those songs, “A Shoulder to Cry On” and “Let Go” were recorded in 1991 and 1992.
(February 15, 2018) Frederick Davis is a man who can truly be called a lover and a fighter. The Cleveland native was a Golden Gloves boxer who trained with the Navy Olympic Boxing team while he was in the service in 1976. But Davis’s greatest success came in the music game.
After returning home from service, Davis landed a job as a songwriter for a local recording studio. Davis also cut a few tracks, and one of those songs, a ballad duet titled “Gentle (Calling Your Name)” garnered radio airplay and charted in 1984 under the name of Frederick. Davis could not repeat the chart success he achieved with “Gentle,” but he continued making music. Two of those songs, “A Shoulder to Cry On” and “Let Go” were recorded in 1991 and 1992.
Davis says, “I call these songs from the vault. These songs along with other recordings I did, they sat in boxes since 1988. Every now and then I would pull out the old cassette tapes and listen to the songs and think back on how it was done and how things have changed relative to the recording process.” Listening to “Gentle” and “Shoulder to Cry On” reveals Frederick to be an artist who could adapt with the times. While “Gentle” synth ballad from the late funk era, “Shoulder to Cry On” our latest SoulTracks First Listen, nods to the hip-hop influences and New Jack Swing of the early 1990s. Check it out.
Frederick Davis – “Shoulder to Cry On”