Ronny Wayne "Ron" Davies (January 15, 1946 – October 30, 2003) was an American songwriter and musician. He was described by CMT News at the time of his death as "the family's artistic trailblazer" although "less celebrated… than his oungersister, singer/songwriter and producer Gail Davies."Songwriter Ron Davies Dead at 57
CMT News, 10-30-2003. Retrieved 03-07-2011. The son of country singer Tex Dickerson, Ron took the name ''Davies'' after he and his siblings were adopted by their stepfather, Darby Davies. He began his professional songwriting career at the age of 17, when he wrote an entire album of songs (''Outburst!'') for the

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

-based Wailers. He released two albums of his own on

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

, ''Silent Song Through the Land'' and ''U. F. O,'' which he co-produced with Grammy Award-winning engineer

Tommy Vicari Thomas Vicari (born August 24, 1948) is an American recording engineer, mixing engineer, record producer and scoring mixer known for his work with Quincy Jones, Gino Vannelli, Nicholas Britell, Thomas Newman, Prince, George Duke and Barbra Strei ...

. Davies's 1970 song "It Ain't Easy" was covered by

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(on their album of the same name),

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(as title song of his 1971 album),

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(on his 1972 '' Ziggy Stardust'' album), Dave Edmunds, and Grammy Award winner

Shelby Lynne Shelby Lynne (born Shelby Lynn Moorer, October 22, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter and the older sister of singer-songwriter Allison Moorer. The success of her pop rock album '' I Am Shelby Lynne'' (1999) led to her winning the Grammy ...

, among others; his "Long, Hard Climb" by Helen Reddy and Maria Muldaur; “Silent Song Through the Land” by

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; "The Man I Used to Be" by

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; and "Waitin' on a Dark-Eyed Girl" by the

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. Davies moved to

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in 1985 where he wrote for Cedarwood Publishing and later for

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. Although not a professional actor, he played the lead role in the

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song " He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

video '' Cold Hard Truth'' in 1999. Davies died of a heart attack at his home in Nashville on October 30, 2003. In 2013 an album of his songs entitled ''Unsung Hero: A Tribute to the Music of Ron Davies'' was released, featuring 22 well-known artists including

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death. He ...

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...

Delbert McClinton Delbert McClinton (born November 4, 1940) is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist. From his first professional stage appearance in 1957 to his most recent national tour in 2018, ...

, Crystal Gayle and jazz legend Benny Golson.

Discography

Notes

External links

*
rondaviesunsunghero.com

Ron Davies: The Missing Link In Pacific Northwest Music History
Dave Beck with Eric Apoe, KUOW, 06 * 1946 births 2003 deaths American male singer-songwriters American singer-songwriters 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers {{US-songwriter-stub