Capture The Art Blog's

Mother Cleo Productions [ now DaviSound ] was begun, in 1970, by founder, Hayne Davis
as a recording studio/radio production offering "Unique Services from a Unique Location" (Newberry, SC).
In-house record labels included Mother Cleo, Cleo and CUB Records with publishing wing Sweet Polly Music, BMI.


Information below from the DaviSound own website :

We were very active with in-house, worldwide broadcast productions. This was a time when broadcast radio programming and production were considered true art forms. And, as such, stations were individually, creatively programmed and often exciting and entertaining to listen to as opposed to being the predictable, sound alike "jukeboxes", or the conglomerate owned propaganda machines, most have become today.

Amongst a list of over twelve hundred worldwide clients, were such giants as WNBC Radio, New York, The BBC (London and Bristol), Radio Luxembourg WTBS Atlanta and many others.

We were particularly well-known in Canada for our novelty commercials and in England and Europe for our famous "Talking/Singing Moog" Synthesizer radio promo productions with agents operating in Ontario, London and Sweden (One of these agents happened to be Igil Aalvik ... who later became the infamous "Swedish Eagle" on "K-ROCK FM", Los Angeles!).

Among the many talented voices heard on MCP jingles over the years were native Newberrians ...
Kiki Kirkland (former Miss South Carolina/USA) ...
Brantlee Price (former Miss South Carolina and WIS television personality) and ...
Tommy Funderburk (noted professional studio singer in the Los Angeles music scene and composer of the number- one Starship single, "It's Not Enough").

Other talented Newberrians who frequently contributed to in-house recordings over the years were ...
Mary Ann Davis Hayes, Melissa Turbeville Crocker, Lloyd Brigman, Wayne Golden, Ryan Jones and
Bruce Wallace.

In the "Glory Days" of radio promos and jingles, some of our more popular voices were Newberry College Music Department students and they included Margie Fritz, Karen Hull, The Anderson Sisters, George Liebenrood, Gary Griffith, Dean Yates and Michelle Herbin.

Many of the studio musicians over the years were from the neighboring counties of Union, Laurens, Saluda, Spartanburg, Greenville, Lexington and Richland. Some of those included, Mandale "Pickle" Eaves, Ronnie Hayes, Andre' Kerr, Freddie Vanderford, Don Reno, Curt Bradford, James Meadows, Lisa Miller, Sharon Dimmery, Bonnie Glenn and Vanessa Gaye.

This Spartanburg, South Carolina band, which covered Motown, R&B and some British Invasion rock, was fronted by Doug Gray (1948- ) and included bassist Tommy Caldwell (1949 -1980), both later members of The Marshall Tucker Band formed in 1971.

Sonic Records (still active today) was formed in 1968 by three college students, Don Adrian Rice; Jim Linsay; and Doug Thurston at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. These students were actively involved in music and had been putting on concerts using local bands in the Western North and South Carolina area.
The New Generation was the first group they put out on record.

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Country prod. and directed by G.A. and A.R. Hopkins - excl. distr. Little Nashville Enterprises, 1610 Poinsettia Rd., Charleston, S.C. 29407

Roger Hopkins managed The Preludes. See The Preludes feat. Lou Martucci

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The 'Original' Villagers were an R&B (Beach) band hailing from Union and Whimire in upstate South Carolina between "1965 - 1969". The 8-9 member group enjoyed popularity with the college and high school crowds from Virginia to Florida and as far west as Arkansas. The 'Original' Villagers could often be found backing-up the popular R&B vocal groups touring the south in those days such as The Platters, The Showmen, The Radiants and others in "live” performances in the tri-state area. They were also a front band for the “Pieces of Eight” for a period of time after the “Pieces” rise in popularity with their recording “Lonely Drifter”. The Villagers performed in places like “The Red Rooster” in Panama City, Fla., the Pavilion at Myrtle Beach, and , of course, at fraternities and sororities in every major college and university in the southeast. The group recorded two 45-rpm records. The first was recorded and released in 1966 on the TVU label titled “Send Down All Your Lovin’, b/w Tossin and Turning, their version of the 1961 hit recorded by Bobby Lewis. The second release was an instrumental entitled Bye Bye J. J. b/w Love is the Word on the Emerald Label and recorded in Greenwood under the name “The Townsmen” in 1967. They briefly performed using that name before reclaiming their original name, The ‘Original’ Villagers a few months later. The groups’ final performance was in October, 1969 at a University of Alabama frat party. By that time, the draft and Viet Nam war had taken half of the band, and the remaining members decided to go their separate ways.
Ken Sparks Keyboards, The Original Villagers

Side One

I’ve Been Born Again (Tripp)
Thank You For The Valley (Rambo)
Going Home (Gaither)
I Believe In A Hill (Gaither)
Come Spring (Rambo)
For God So Loved (Hill)

Side Two

O Will Never Turn Back (Rambo)
My Heart Can See (Rambo Davis)
One More Valley (Rambo)
He’s Mine And I’m His (Speer)
Standing By The River (Unknown)
Darkness Comes Before The Dawn (Hatfield)

Recorded and produced by Avon Hampton
Realtone Recordings
Star Route
Blacksburg, South Carolina

16535 - Try To Figure Why
16536 - Got To Go On

Testimony :
As a teenager, Jesse formed his first country group and performed to capacity crowds with some of America's most popular artists. [...] His burning desire to sing lured him to Nashville, where he pursued his career as an entertainer.

Although achieving many of his goals while climbing the ladder of success, his personal life was being torn apart. In his futile search for happiness, he faced his ultimate crisis with the destruction of his marriage and the loss of his family. He was left literally without a reason to live. At this darkest moment of his life, Jesse accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. His new-found faith brought about a chain reaction of miracles into his life, beginning with the restoration of his marriage and family. His born-again experience also brought a new direction to his music.

CP-6831 - You Ran Away From My Heart
CP-6832 - Twisting Saturday Nite

Carolina black vocal group.

Jim Hardin ("High Stepping Woman" on Volcano) and Jim Nesbitt were on the same label, owned by Charles Rush in Greenville, South Carolina. Plaid was another label. he had in Greenville.