Mac Davis
Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way.
Flashback 1982
I was teaching then. My Director of Education allocated four slots for a much sought after, ten-day Madeline Hunter Workshop. In the course of said workshop, the same Director of Education — also one of the four-slotted attendees — rapidly gained the mantle of Mr. “It’s Hard to be Humble,” not at all undeserved, mind you.
He was smarter than everyone else, hands-down; he was younger than everyone else, hands-down; he was more exuberant than everyone else, hands-down; and more handsome than anyone else, hands-down.
And as such, much less humble than anyone else.
Flash-Forward 2014
I had no idea how hands-down everything, Mac Davis was, and is.
He recorded “It’s Hard to be Humble” in 1980 as a playful stab at the affectations of stardom. It became his very own first Top 10 music hit, after writing music for others whose names appeared on that list long before his.
In the late 60’s Davis worked as a songwriter for Nancy Sinatra whose company also published his music, “In the Ghetto” and “Memories”, among others, many of which were later recorded by Elvis Presley, B. J. Thomas and Nancy, herself.
During the 70’s some of his songs transitioned from pop to country music. One in particular, “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me” was nominated for a Grammy and awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The Mac Davis Show aired on NBC between 1974 and 1976, leap-frogging Davis into feature films, more television and even Broadway: North Dallas Forty (1979), The Muppet Show (1980), The Sting II (1982), The Will Rogers Follies, King of the Hill (1999 – 2004), 8 Simple Rules (2004), to name but a few.
To Avoid Regurgitating that which can be Found Elsewhere
Honored by awards, inductions and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Davis was said to have felt one of his greatest acknowledgements came from his home town of Lubbock, Texas which named a street after him.
Now that’s humble.
