Turn Back The Hands Of Time – Tyrone Davis | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#3) & R&B (#1 for 2 weeks ); 1970
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Whereas on the pop side, Tyrone Davis is remembered for his two Top 20 hits, on the R&B chart he racked up an impressive 43 singles, including 21 Top 20’s. The turnaround in Tyrone’s fortunes (he’d earlier waxed six non-hits on four different labels) came after he softened his blues-based singing.
In 1969 he finally scored with Can I Change My Mind (#1 R&B/#5 Pop) and Is It Something You’ve Got (#5R&B/#34 Pop). Songwriters Jack Daniels and Johnny Moore drew their inspiration for follow-up Turn Back The Hands Of Time from Daniels’ recently shattered relationship with the mother of his child.
With some fine-tuning on the arrangement, Tyrone laid down Turn with Barbara Acklin plus Eugene Record Robert “Squirrel” Lester of the Chi-Lites helping out on backing vocals.
By late spring of 1970, Tyrone’s tale of woe was a pop and R&B smash. All in all, not bad for the man who’d spent his younger days driving cars and lugging bags for bluesman Freddy King!
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Willie Henderson
Lyrics Written by:
- Jack Daniels
- Bonnie Thompson
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).