Joe Davis was born in New York city in 1896. He began his music career in the 1910s, working as a singer and songwriter through Columbia Records. In the following decade, he started managing artists within the blues and pop genres, signing them to work with labels big and small. At the same time, Davis himself was becoming a radio personality: Joe Davis “The Melody Man”. He also began the Triangle Music Publishing Company.

Davis collaborated, mentored, and served as a songwriter for Fats Waller. He also wrote songs with Andy Razaf. He worked with the likes of Tom Delany, Claude Hopkins, and many more, publishing their music through Triangle Music Publishing Co.. Eventually, he changed the company’s name to Joe Davis Inc., and later sold the company, deciding to venture into record manufacturing instead.

In 1942, Davis founded his own record label, Beacon Records. He continued to publish music through the label, including the works of artists such as Irving Kaufman and the vocal ensemble The Red Caps. He purchased the records of two other labels, Varsity and the State Street Ramblers. In 1945, he founded the Joe Davis Record Company, keeping his previous labels as sub labels in the company.

With a larger company, Davis began editing pop, jazz, blues, and Latin music. He began releasing swing and jazz recordings, and promoting the songwriter Una Mae Carlisle. In the 1950s he worked for MGM records editing music and re-releasing rhythm and blues and doo-wop records.

By the 1960s, Davis had restarted Beacon Records and was operating the company alongside another label, Celebrity Records. He passed away in 1978.

-Lucy Koukoudian

This profile was created during the 2023-2024 academic year as part of the Song of America Fellowship Program, a project of the Classic Song Research Initiative between the Hampsong Foundation and the University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.