The story behind the song "Fugitive"

“Fugitive” Story, by Jan Davis

In 1963 and 1964, there were many records released, based on TV themes. Back then, I was a big fan of “The Fugitive” TV series, and every time I heard the theme they used, I wanted to jump through the TV screen and show them how it could be improved with a more current pop instrumental sound that would grab their audience and make the series more memorable.

With this agenda, I decided to write and record my own guitar instrumental, entitled: “Fugitive.” My co-writer, Lou Josie, and I wanted to make this the best-ever version by adding a little novelty hook by creating an opening with howling hound dogs to paint the picture of a fugitive running from the law. It worked! We presented the finished “Fugitive” to A&M Records and they released it immediately!

Soon after the initial release, a then-popular group, The Ventures, hopped on the bandwagon and released their own version, which caused my passion-filled “Fugitive” to drop off the current charts, and was quickly replaced by The Ventures version. Talk about being shot down! The only saving grace I got out of the whole issue was that I later learned their lead guitarist tried every method he could to duplicate my guitar sound and admitted to his drummer, Mel Taylor, that he could never duplicate my original sound.

Years later, the Sundazed Music label in New York, found my “Fugitive” and re-released it on CD to the public, along with 19 other selections of my guitar instrumentals they absolutely loved and entitled the new release: “Jan Davis – Boss Guitar.” My kudos to Sundazed Music, known worldwide for their extensive catalogue aimed specifically for record collectors.

This song is from the album “Boss Guitar”. Songs from this album can be downloaded from the Stone Tiger Music website