Stu Davis (July 1, 1921 – March 25, 2007) was a Canadian singer, songwriter, storyteller and musician. Davis was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993.
Stu Davis was born David Alexander Stewart in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, the son of Scottish immigrant parents. As a youth he was a collector of cowboy songs and ballads. After completing his education, Davis worked in an optical factory but in his spare time played guitar and wrote songs. He began his radio career at 17, when his winning a talent contest earned him a regular program. He and his brother Fred sang as the Harmony Boys on CKCK in Regina. It was at this time he adopted the stage-name Stu Davis. As his fame grew, he would also come to be known as 'Canada's Cowboy Troubadour'. His early career was interrupted by service in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during World War II; he resumed it in late 1942, following an Honourable Medical Discharge.
He developed an early following in the United States from his Sonora and RCA Victor recordings (1940s) and several appearances on such American radio shows as Chicago's 'National Barn Dance', Minneapolis''Sunset Valley Barn Dance', New York's ‘Prairie Pals’ ‘Town Hall' and also the 'Grand Ole Opry' in Nashville. He had more than 300 songs that were published and were recorded by numerous singers, including Eddy Arnold, Hank Snow, Wilf Carter, Ray Price, Julie Lynn, Slim Whitman, Jack Kingston, and Dale Warren (Sons of the Pioneers). His most successful was “What a Fool I Was (To Ever Let You Go)”, made a hit by Eddy Arnold and second only to Arnold's “Anytime” as the biggest selling country recording of 1948.
Throughout the 50s, he maintained an hectic radio and touring schedule but he also became one of Canada’s first country pioneers of television. Several of his shows, including Rope Around The Sun, 'Rope Around the Sun', ‘Swing Your Partner’, 'Red River Jamboree', and 'Trail Riding Troubadour' and radio's ‘Prairie Trails’ and ‘Red River Barndance’ were watched by large audiences, while The Stu Davis Show ran for seven years on the CBC television network. One of the original songs most meaningful to him was written in 1959. That year, Davis was commissioned by the CBC to compose and perform a special western song of welcome to Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of the Royal Visit to the Calgary Stampede.
In a career that spanned three decades, Davis recorded dozens of singles and more than twenty albums for Sonora, RCA Victor, Aragon, London, Dominion and various other labels. Some of his later albums were released under the Richmond label in the U.S. and his most recent collections were retrospectives. In addition to his work with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Davis hosted programs for several private radio stations and regional networks across western Canada. At various times in the late 1940s and through the 1950s these broadcasts originated in the studios of CKCK and CKRM in Regina, Saskatchewan; CJCA, CFRN, and CKUA in Edmonton, Alberta; CKXL, CFCN, and CFAC in Calgary, Alberta; CKY and CKRC in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Through the years he shared stages with contemporary artists such as Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers, Wilf Carter, Hank Snow, Ernest Tubb, and Elton Britt. Always appreciative of mentorship he had received early in his career from Wilf Carter and Hank Snow, Davis himself was very encouraging to younger performers; he was especially supportive of The Mercey Brothers, Jim Pirie, and Alfie Myhre, artists with whom he worked in the 1950s and '60s.
Davis spent the latter part of his career performing from the radio and television studios of CBC Edmonton. In 1964, he began appearing on a weekly-televised network show with his sons Duane (b. 1944) and Derry (b. 1950). In 1967, he and Duane appeared in a Centennial Project, which celebrated Canada’s 100th year of confederation. They starred in Trail Riding Troubadour, the first colour televised series produced in Western Canada. The series was filmed at historic sites and told the story of Canada’s first century in story and song.
Davis retired from performing shortly after his last television special, turning his attention to his cattle ranch, the Lazy SD, and to the management of various real estate holdings in Alberta. He died on March 25, 2007, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
(Edited from Wikipedia,AllMusic & Merritt’s Walk Of Stars)