Davis first made his name as a songwriter, working in the studio with artists including Elvis Presley. In the 1970s, he landed four top 15 hits on the Billboard charts.
Lubbock pastor and musician Jeff McCreight knew him personally. They met in 2004, when McCreight's band helped Davis perform a benefit show at the Rawls golf course. McCreight says Davis felt "God had given him the gift of songwriting" and kept a guitar within reach.
"He would strum a few chords and out would come lyrics that would totally capture everything that we were feeling about what we were talking about," McCreight said. "I loved that Mac always appreciated where he was from."
The statue looks to show younger folks that Davis is more than a street sign. As older generations pass, kids driving by can look up and ask who he was, and that question opens the door to his artistry and legacy.
Davis once said to bury him in Lubbock, Texas, in his jeans, and McCreight says that's exactly what happened.