Carl Davis Dead: Famed Chicago Soul Producer Dies at Age 77

Chicago music impresario Carl Davis has died at the age of 77. The record producer was known as the King of Chicago Soul for his work in the 1960s, including his first No. 1, which was Gene Chandler's "Duke of Earl," and Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher."

Born in Chicago on Sept. 19, 1934, Davis began his music career as an assistant to a radio DJ, later getting into music marketing, then working as an A&R for Columbia Record's subsidiary label OKeh.

Davis went on to produce for everyone from Curtis Mayfield to Major Lance and founded two record labels of his own, Dakar and Chi-Sound.

The music industry veteran passed away at his home in Summerville, S.C., on Aug. 9 from pulmonary fibrosis. He is survived by his wife Dedra and seven children.

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