J.C. Davis (born April 29, 1938), known as Billy Davis, is an American rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, who is best known for his work with Hank Ballard & The Midnighters. Life and career Davis was born in Bentonia, Mississippi and moved to Memphis, Tennessee in childhood. He became inspired to play guitar at the age of 8, when he heard "That's All Right" by Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup. In 1951, at the age of 13, Davis moved to Detroit, Michigan. There he lived in the predominantly black area of the city known as "Black Bottom" and took guitar lessons from Bosie Gatlin, who taught him how to play the Muddy Waters' song "Baby, Please Don't Go". In 1951, Davis met his mother's friend from Mississippi, John Lee Hooker.<ref name="billydavissite">{{cite web|url=http://billydavisdetroit.com/|title=Billy Davis biography |website=Billydavisdetroit.com|accessdate=March 27, 2019}}</ref> Hooker in turn introduced Davis and Jackie Wilson, who became close friends and collaborated musically throughout their lives. In 1957, after graduating from Miller High School in Detroit, he formed Billy Davis & The Upsetters, and they worked for Motown founder Berry Gordy, backing up musicians such as Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. Marv Johnson at live performances. In 1958, Davis was spotted by Henry Booth, who was a singer for The Midnighters, and he convinced Hank Ballard to hire Davis as the guitarist for the band, as a replacement for Cal Green. Davis played with The Midnighters until the dissolution of the band in 1965, and again during their reunion tours in the 1980s. The Midnighters continued to draw large audiences at a rate of nearly 300 booking dates a year in the early 1960s. Davis was a flamboyant figure on stage, and he became known for his energetic stage presence, which featured guitar feedback and was accented with spins and twirls, and backflips while he played, and he was also known to play his guitar with his teeth. Davis was considered an actual Midnighter alongside the singers, and not just a member of the backing band, because of his ability to play and sing, and also do the group's dance routines. Ballard would often give Davis 30 minutes to open the shows doing his guitar solos and tricks, before he would take the stage. In 1959, while playing with The Midnighters in Seattle, Washington, he met Jimi Hendrix, who was just 16