Clifford Davis (born Clifford George Adams) is a British musician and

music manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of entertainer, artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee t ...

, chiefly known for his time as manager of

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

band

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

from 1967 to 1974.

Career

Davis's name is actually Clifford Adams. He was 'Cliff Adams' to the members of the early Fleetwood Mac circa 1967, but by 1969 had changed his surname to Davis to avoid confusion with the British vocal group The

Cliff Adams Singers The Cliff Adams Singers were a British male/female List of vocal groups, vocal group, known for ballads and novelty songs, and especially their regular performances on BBC Radio from the 1950s onwards. The ensemble was established in 1954 by Cl ...

. He continued to use the name C. G. Adams in songwriting credits, such as those he shared with band founder Peter Green for legal or copyright reasons on the 1968 album '' Mr Wonderful''. Davis (as Cliff Adams) worked for

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

manager

Brian Epstein Brian Samuel Epstein (; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was a British music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967. Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him i ...

before being brought in to run the Gunnell Brothers Agency in London, which was handling all of Fleetwood Mac's work, in 1967. Peter Green came in one day shortly after Davis had arrived and said he was dissatisfied with the way the agency was promoting the band and their new single, "

Black Magic Woman "Black Magic Woman" is a song written by British musician Peter Green, which first appeared as a single for his band Fleetwood Mac in 1968. Subsequently, the song appeared on the 1969 Fleetwood Mac compilation albums '' English Rose'' (US) and ...

". Davis, having been thus introduced to Fleetwood Mac, thought the band was "stunning" and immediately did all he could to help them. Like Green, Davis was a tough East End Cockney: he liked and respected Green and Green, impressed by his enthusiasm, asked Davis to be their manager. Brunning, B (1998): Fleetwood Mac – The First 30 Years. London: Omnibus Press. p16

1967–1974: Tenure as Fleetwood Mac manager

Davis managed Fleetwood Mac during their first period of success in the late 1960s. The band's original leader Peter Green left in 1970 after a bout with drug use and mental illness. In February 1971, guitarist

Jeremy Spencer Jeremy Cedric Spencer (born 4 July 1948) is a British musician, best known for playing slide guitar and piano in the original line-up of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. A member since Fleetwood Mac's inception in July 1967, he remained with the ...

quit the group without prior notice causing concerts to be cancelled and another guitarist,

Danny Kirwan Daniel David Kirwan (13 May 1950 – 8 June 2018) was a British musician whose greatest success came with his role as guitarist, singer and songwriter with the blues rock band Fleetwood Mac between 1968 and 1972. He released three albums as a s ...

, was sacked in the middle of a tour in August 1972. Kirwan's replacement,

Bob Weston Bob Weston (born 1965) is an American musician, producer, recording engineer, and record mastering engineer. Critic Jason AnkenyAnkeny, Jason. " Bob Weston: Overview from Allmusic.com declares that "Weston's name and fingerprints are all over th ...

, was fired during a tour the following year after having an affair with

Mick Fleetwood Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and occasional actor. He is best known as the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of th ...

's wife, after which the tour was abandoned. Having also managed

Curved Air Curved Air are an English progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classical, folk, and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band is a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fus ...

, his tenure as Fleetwood Mac's band manager came to an end during 1974 when he started promoting a different band under the name of Fleetwood Mac, after the original band had been forced to cancel or disrupt a number of tours. Fleetwood Mac had fallen apart after an aborted tour in late 1973, leaving Davis with touring commitments to fulfil in the US,Brunning, B (1998): Fleetwood Mac – The First 30 Years. London: Omnibus Press pp53-55 and he recruited more musicians, including ex-members of

, to tour the US as a replacement Fleetwood Mac in early 1974. He said later that he had done this with Mick Fleetwood's approval and the knowledge of other members of the band.Brunning, B (1998): Fleetwood Mac – The First 30 Years. London: Omnibus Press pp55-57 He also claimed that he owned the group's name, which caused ill-feeling between him and the band. The members of the real Fleetwood Mac brought legal proceedings against Davis, and the subsequent court case lasted four years.Brunning, B (1998): Fleetwood Mac – The First 30 Years. London: Omnibus Press p68 The dispute was eventually settled amicably out of court, in "a reasonable settlement not unfair to either party."Brunning, B (1998): Fleetwood Mac – The First 30 Years. London: Omnibus Press p68

Recording artist

During 1969 Davis embarked on a recording career of his own with the help of Green and Fleetwood Mac. His first single, "Before the Beginning" / "Man of the World", was a coupling of two reworked Fleetwood Mac songs written by Green. His second and final recording, "Come On Down and Follow Me" / "Homework", followed in 1970; neither single was commercially successful.

After Fleetwood Mac

Davis later managed the career of ex-Mac guitarist

, making use of some of the musicians who formed the fake Fleetwood Mac. He also continued to act as manager for Peter Green during the early part of his solo career.

References

General references

*"Fleetwood Mac: Behind the Masks",

Bob Brunning Robert Brunning (29 June 1943 – 18 October 2011) was a British musician who was, as a small part of a long musical career, the original bass guitar player with the blues rock band Fleetwood Mac. Career Fleetwood Mac When Peter Green left t ...

, Hodder & Stoughton, 1990. *"My 25 Years in Fleetwood Mac",

, Hyperion, 1992. {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Clifford Living people Year of birth missing (living people) English music managers Fleetwood Mac