Though he had done nothing wrong and was bleeding profusely in need of stitches , Davis was accused of assaulting an o cer of the law and promptly arrested . In the end , he was acquitted a year later , even so , the incident left him feeling helpless , “ bitter , and cynical .” By 1959 , Davis had been dating aspiring dancer Frances Taylor for seven years after meeting her at Ciro ’ s club in Los Angeles . After popping the question in September , the couple was married in Toledo , Ohio , in December of the same year . Though he had kicked his heroin addiction , Davis was still consuming large quantities of cocaine and alcohol in an e ort to reduce joint pain caused by sickle cell anemia . The musician ’ s abuse of drugs and alcohol caused him to have hallucinations and violent outbursts usually directed at his wife . After one incident where he was “ looking for this imaginary person ,” he went after Taylor in the kitchen wielding a kitchen knife . This was the last straw . She packed her bags and left in 1965 , with the divorce being finalized in 1968 . Throughout the 1950s and 1960s , each of the albums Miles Davis released would typically sell around 100,000 copies .
After recovering from a liver infection in the hospital in 1966 , the musician wanted to try something new stylistically . He had grown tired of his typical jazz venues , so he decided to play for the college crowds , which resulted in a rapid decline in record sales . Columbia president Clive Davis confided in his client that his sales had gone from 100,000 to 40-50,000 in less than one year . Davis knew things had to change when he read a press report disclosing his financial troubles and ill health , so he leaned on actress Cicely Tyson to help him cut down on his alcohol intake . Without the booze , the trumpeter felt creative again . This was just the beginning of his famous fusion phase . Though Davis had listened to gospel , blues , and jazz for most of his life , his musical interests expanded considerably when he met and married songwriter Betty Mabry in 1968 . As a well-connected musician herself , Mabry introduced Davis to the musical stylings of Jimi Hendrix , The Byrds , Sly and the Family Stone , James Brown , and Aretha Franklin . The combination of funk and soul made quite an impression on Davis , inspiring him to compose more works of fusion instead of his classical jazz ri s .
Miles Davis and his Wife Betty Mabry ( Davis )
Flashmag ! Issue 143 August 2023
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