Bonnie Davis

Bonnie Davis
Background information
Birth name	Gertrude Melba Smith
Also known as	Melba Moorman
Born	(1920-06-10)June 10, 1920 New Orleans,Louisiana,United States
Died	August 1976 (age 56) New Jersey,United States
Genres	R&B,jazz
Occupation	Singer
Years active	Late 1930s - early 1970s
Labels	Savoy,Columbia,Decca,etc.
Formerly of	Teddy Hill The Piccadilly Pipers Clem Moorman

Bonnie Davis,bornGertrude Melba Smith(June 10, 1920 – August 1976),was an AmericanR&Bsinger most popular in the 1940s. Her recording of "Don't Stop Now"reached no.1 on theR&B chartin 1943. She was the mother of singerMelba Moore.

Life and career

Melba Smith was born inNew Orleans,but her family relocated toBessemer, Alabama,when she was a child. At first she planned to become a school teacher. However, in the late 1930s she started working as a singer in New York, initially in saxophonistTeddy Hill's band. By early 1942, she had joined another band, thePiccadilly Pipers,based at the Piccadilly Club inNewark, New Jersey.The group comprised Clement Moorman (piano and vocals), Ernie Ransome (guitar and vocals), and Henry Padgette (bass).

She recorded several tracks with the trio, including "Don't Stop Now", forHerman Lubinsky,who had recently establishedSavoy Records.However, because of the "Petrillo Ban"which preventedunionmembers from releasing records legitimately at the time, the release was credited to Bonnie Davis - a pseudonym for Smith - with the "Bunny Banks Trio" - a name disguising the actual musicians.On March 6, 1943, the record reached no.1 on the "Harlem Hit Parade", which was later renamed theR&B chart.

Several further records credited to Bonnie Davis (sometimes also nicknamed "The Oomph Girl" ) with the Bunny Banks Trio were issued by the Savoy label before, in 1945, the label reverted to using the name of the Piccadilly Pipers. The same year, Bonnie Davis and bandleader Teddy Hill had a daughter together; she was born Beatrice Hill, and later became known as singerMelba Moore.Soon after the birth, the couple separated. In 1950, Bonnie Davis and pianistClem Moormanwere married.

Bonnie Davis and the Piccadilly Pipers left the Savoy label in 1946. They began releasing singles again in 1950, and over the next four years recorded for theKeystone,Columbia,CoralandMelmarlabels. However, the records were not commercially successful. With Davis and Moorman as the core members, there were various personnel changes in the group: Ransome was replaced by Walter "Pinky" Smith, and Padgette by, firstly, Ed "Skeets" McKaine, and then James "Doc" Starkes, who was in turn succeeded by Brother Moncur. In 1955, Bonnie Davis began recording as a solo singer, at first forDecca Recordsand then various other labels including Tune Tone, who released anLP,All I Want Is You,credited toBonnie & Clem,"The Aero-Dynamic Singers", in 1966.

Davis and Moorman continued to perform together in clubs as a duo until the early 1970s, when they divorced.She died in August 1976 inEast Orange, New Jerseyof cancer,and was buried atHoly Cross CemeteryinNorth Arlington, New Jersey.

External links

• Images of Bonnie Davis and the Piccadilly Pipers
• The Piccadilly Pipers with Bonnie Davis at VocalGroupHarmony