Alex Henderson

Tyrone Davis
Let's Be Closer Together

Chicago is not only famous for its extensive contributions to jazz and the blues, but also, for all of the great R&B it has given the world over the years. The Windy City has boasted famous soul artists like the Impressions (which included Curtis Mayfield and Jerry “The Ice Man” Butler before they went solo), the Dells, the Chi-Lites, the Emotions, Chaka Khan, Earth, Wind & Fire (before founder/leader Maurice White moved his band to Los Angeles), the Radiants and Gene Chandler. And of course, no discussion of Chicago soul would be complete without mentioning the late Tyrone Davis.

Although Davis was not a native Chicagoan—the iconic singer was born Tyrone Fettson in Greenville, Mississippi on May 4, 1938 and lived in Saginaw, Michigan before moving to Chicago in 1959—it was in Chi-Town that he established himself as an important contributor to northern soul. Davis’ big commercial breakthrough came in 1968, when his classic single, “Can I Change My Mind,” soared to #1 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. And plenty of major hits followed, including “Is It Something You’ve Got” in 1969, “Turn Back the Hands of Time” (which was #1 R&B/#3 pop in Billboard in the U.S.) and “I’ll Be Right Here” in 1970, “Could I Forget You” in 1971, “I Had It All the Time” in 1972, “Without You in My Life” and “There It Is” in 1973, “I Wish It Was Me” in 1974 and “Turning Point” (another #1 R&B smash) in 1975. So when Chicago-based producer/songwriter Leo Graham produced Let’s Be Closer Together for Davis in 1977, he had a lot to live up to. And Davis didn’t let his followers down: this album, which was originally released by Columbia Records/CBS Records (now Columbia Records/Sony Music) and reached #17 on Billboard’s R&B albums chart in the U.S., is a solid example of the type of smooth northern soul that Davis was famous for.

Let’s Be Closer Together is best known for the energetic single “This I Swear,” which climbed to #6 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart in the U.S.—and another single, the funky “All You Got,” made it to #32 on that chart. This is a diverse album, ranging from the exuberance of “If That’s What It Takes” and “You Need Love” to ballads and slow jams that include “I Got Carried Away,” “Playing in the Sand,” the title track and the melancholy “I Just Can’t Keep on Going.” In addition to the eight songs that appeared on Columbia’s original 1977 LP, this reissue offers the single versions of “This I Swear” and “All You Got” as bonus tracks.

Graham worked with Davis extensively during the singer’s long career, producing more than 20 of his albums and doing a great deal of songwriting for him as well. Graham (who is also known for his work with the Manhattans) is the main songwriter on this album: he wrote “Playing in the Sand,” “This I Swear,” “All You Got,” “You Need Love,” “I Got Carried Away” and “If That’s What It Takes” by himself and co-wrote “I Just Can’t Keep on Going” and the title track with arranger James Mack. 

Interviewed in February 2015, Graham noted that Davis was new to the Columbia roster when Let’s Be Closer Together came out in 1977. Davis had spent seven years at Dakar Records, a Chicago-based label that was distributed by Cotillion Records (an Atlantic Records subsidiary) from 1967-1971 and by Brunswick Records from 1971 on. The #1 R&B gem “Turning Point,” which Graham wrote and produced, was among Davis’ last hits at Dakar—and he joined Columbia Records  with 1976’s Graham-produced Love and Touch, which included the #2 R&B hit “Give It Up (Turn It Loose).”

“Columbia was very excited about having Tyrone, and we had a lot of good situations with Columbia,” Graham recalls. “Columbia was interested in Tyrone based on the fact that he had just had a lot of success with ‘Turning Point’ at Brunswick Records. The release of ‘Turning Point,’ which was a big hit for him, sparked the interest of Columbia Records. ‘Turning Point’ made his career grow.”

Graham adds that the move from Dakar/Brunswick to Columbia did not bring about any major stylistic changes for Davis, who stuck with the soul-oriented approach that had made him a star in the late 1960s. “Tyrone was a great artist, and he didn’t really vary a lot from his sound,” Graham stresses. “Tyrone was Tyrone. That’s what his fans wanted and appreciated and loved.”

Graham continues: “Tyrone and I got along well. We had a very, very good relationship. I was dedicated to him, and he was dedicated to me. I was lucky to be able to come up with a lot of songs that Tyrone liked. Tyrone and I had good material, and we had good people who were contributing as far as the writing and ideas. We were fortunate.”

Back in 1977, the memorable front cover of the original Let’s Be Closer Together LP—which showed Davis in the middle of a diverse group of about 15 people of different ages and ethnic backgrounds—stood out in record stores. And Graham appreciates the amount of thought that went into that cover. “In the 1970s,” Graham comments, “album covers were something to look forward to. The record companies went to a lot of trouble with the photographers and the designers to make those album covers the way they were.”

When Davis (who suffered a stroke in September 2004) died in Chicago at the age of 66 on February 9, 2005, he left behind a huge catalogue—and Let’s Be Closer Together was among the many examples of the high standards that he brought to northern soul. “Tyrone Davis was a singer who had his base and did his thing, and Let’s Be Closer Together is an album that we were proud of,” Graham asserts. “The songs on that album still sound good to me many years later. They’re songs that I feel are standing the test of time.”

—Alex Henderson, February 2015

Alex Henderson’s work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, Salon.com, Creem, The L.A. Weekly, AlterNet, JazzTimes, Jazziz, Cash Box, HITS, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Beat, The Pasadena Weekly, Black Radio Exclusive (BRE), Music Connection, The New York City Jazz Record, Jazz Inside Magazine and many other well-known publications. Henderson (alexvhenderson.com) also contributed several thousand CD reviews to the popular Allmusic.com website and The All Music Guide’s series of music reference books.