Tim Davis and Steve Miller: Velvet Side of Hell

Steve Miller Band, with Tim Davis, center, in hat.

And now I spend my life
On the velvet side of hell
Aimlessly here searching
For what I cannot tell

The quietness is terrible
It’s more than I can stand

…Tomorrow’s come
A long, long way
To help you
Yes, it’s your saving grace

Before Steve Miller had so many hits in the mid-1970s and early 1980s (particularly in 1976 and 1977), he had a smaller, though very dedicated audience. He also had a drummer, Tim Davis, who would do the vocals from time to time. “Your Saving Grace” was the title song to Miller’s fourth album, which Davis both wrote and sang:

Davis’ career in music was cut short by diabetes, which eventually killed him, at the age of 44. Steve Miller regarded Davis’ association as dividing the eras of the Steve Miller Band; with Davis and post-Davis.

Sometimes people are remembered, and sometimes surprisingly less so. Despite his notability, Davis had no Wikipedia page. I started one. As is often the case, much more than at first imagined.
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Postscript, December 24, 2011: When starting the Wikipedia profile of Tim Davis, I discovered that he had only been with the Steve Miller Band for three years, from the time of its founding, in 1967, to 1970. However, during the two year period of 1968-1970, the band released five albums, two per year in 1968 and 1969. I recall hearing a Toronto radio interview with Steve Miller in the late 1970s. He was asked about Tim Davis. I was shocked to discover that, even at that young age (Davis would have been in his mid-30s), he was in a wheechair. As Miller said, “he lost both his legs to sugar diabetes”. Davis appeared to be living the latter part of his life off his royalties from the numerous “greatest hits” reissues of Steve Miller material. In addition, in 1984, he contributed two songs, co-written with Miller, to the Steve Miller Band’s Italian X-Rays album. Never forgotten by Steve Miller.