120833bk Sammy 3/11/05 3:43 PM Page 2 1. The Gypsy In My Soul 2:34 7. Hey There 2:46 12. A Man With A Dream 2:53 17. I’ll Know 3:00 (Clay Boland–Moe Jaffe) (Richard Adler–Jerry Ross) (Victor Young–Stella Unger) (Frank Loesser) With Morty Stevens’ Orchestra From The Pajama Game From Seventh Heaven From Guys And Dolls DDR 102, mx 201 With Sy Oliver’s Orchestra With Morty Stevens’ Orchestra With Jack Pleis’ Orchestra Recorded 1953, New York Decca 29199, mx 86370-A Decca 29541, mx 87848-A Decca 29672, mx 88533-A 2. I Don’t Care Who Knows 2:41 Recorded 7 June 1954, New York Recorded 2 May 1955, New York Recorded 18 August 1955, New York (Buddy Johnson) 8. And This Is My Beloved 2:51 13. Something’s Gotta Give 2:03 18. Adelaide 2:48 With Dave Cavanaugh’s Music (Robert Wright–George Forrest, after From Daddy Long Legs (Frank Loesser) Capitol 15390, mx 3861-1 Alexander Borodin) (Johnny Mercer) From the film Guys And Dolls Recorded 13 January 1949, Hollywood From Kismet With Sy Oliver’s Orchestra With Jack Pleis’ Orchestra 3. Smile, Darn Ya, Smile 2:34 With Sy Oliver’s Orchestra Decca 29484, mx 87523-A Decca 29672, mx 88532-A (Max Rich–Charles O’Flynn–Jack Meskill) Decca 29199, mx 86371-A Recorded 10 March 1955, New York Recorded 18 August 1955, New York With Dave Cavanaugh’s Music; tap dancing Recorded 7 June 1954, New York 14. A Fine Romance 2:52 19. The Man With The Golden Arm 3:10 by Sammy Davis Jr. 9. All Of You 2:42 (Jerome Kern–Dorothy Fields) (Sammy Cahn–Jimmy van Heusen) Capitol 57-70045, mx 4740-2 (Cole Porter) With Carmen McRae and Jack Pleis’s With Morty Stevens’ Orchestra Recording 29 July 1949, Hollywood From Silk Stockings Orchestra Decca 29759, mx L 8786-A 4. Azure 2:23 With Sy Oliver’s Orchestra Decca 29620, mx 87850-A Recorded 10 November 1955, Los Angeles (Duke Ellington–Irving Mills) Decca 29402, mx L 8066-A Recorded 2 May 1955, New York 20. Lonesome Road 2:10 With Dave Cavanaugh’s Music Recorded 22 December 1954, Los Angeles 15. Love Me Or Leave Me 2:56 (Nat Shilkret–Gene Austin) Capitol 57-70045, mx 4742-2 10. The Birth Of The Blues 5:10 (Gus Kahn–Walter Donaldson) With Sy Oliver’s Orchestra Recorded 29 July 1949, Hollywood (Buddy DeSylva–Lew Brown– With Sy Oliver’s Orchestra, featuring Decca DL 8118, mx 86372-A 5. Because Of You, Part 1 2:40 Ray Henderson) Sam ‘The Man’Taylor, tenor sax Recorded 7 June 1954, New York (Arthur Hammerstein–Dudley Wilkinson) With Orchestra conducted by Joseph Decca 29484, mx 87526-A With Morty Stevens’ Orchestra Gershenson or Morty Stevens Recorded 10 March 1955, New York Transfers & Production: David Lennick Decca 29200, mx 86373-A Decca DL 8118, mx L 8152-A 16. In A Persian Market 2:32 Digital Restoration: Graham Newton Recorded 7 June 1954, New York Recorded 26 January 1955, Los Angeles (Albert Ketelbey–Mack David) Original recordings from the collections of David Lennick, John Rutherford and the Belfer 6. Because Of You, Part 2 2:45 11. That Old Black Magic 3:17 With Morty Stevens’ Orchestra Audio Laboratory & Archive, Syracuse University (Arthur Hammerstein–Dudley Wilkinson) (Harold Arlen–Johnny Mercer) Decca 29759, mx 87849-A With Morty Stevens’ Orchestra With Sy Oliver’s Orchestra Recorded 2 May 1955, New York Decca 29200, mx 86374-A Decca 29541, mx 87521-A Recorded 7 June 1954, New York Recorded 10 March 1955, New York Original monochrome photo of Sammy Davis Jr from Michael Ochs Archives / Redferns 5 8.120833 6 8.120833 120833bk Sammy 3/11/05 3:43 PM Page 1 There or And This Is My Beloved are lush and level of depth in Sammy’s vocals. There’s more was written by the team of Sammy Cahn and ‘ But there’s a chance that he SAMMY DAVIS JR confident, with Sammy doing his best to live up abandon now and a touch of pain – qualities Jimmy Van Heusen, originally intended to be Can shake the misery. ‘Hey There’ Original 1949-1955 Recordings to them. that he was to exploit brilliantly for decades played over the opening credits of the Frank That’s if he’s strong enough He sounds good, but it still feels a bit like a until he finally,unfortunately,began to lean on Sinatra film of the same name about a heroin And fights it long enough …’ Sammy Davis Jr went through many different the son of a Puerto Rican mother and a black kid wearing a borrowed tux: there’s a sense of them excessively in his final years. addict, but director Otto Preminger wisely stages in his amazing career. father, both of whom were vaudeville dancers. entitlement that’s missing. It’s only when he Each session Sammy stepped into that opted for Elmer Bernstein’s moody jazz That ill-fated bend in the road on Route 66 Starting out as a childhood hoofer, he later When he was three, his parents divorced, tears into his comic impersonations, emotionally charged year revealed another side instrumental instead. may have taken away Sammy Davis Jr’s left eye, morphed into a slick variety performer, a clever and Davis’s father took custody of young demonstrating how everyone from Jimmy of himself. His March recording of That Old The song is definitely too mainstream to but it gave him something in return: a way of impersonator, charter member of ‘The Rat Pack’ Sammy. He brought him on the road along with Cagney to Cary Grant would sing Because Of Black Magic showed a new sensuality and a have accompanied such an uncompromising looking at the world which brought his talent and Broadway superstar, eventually being another hoofer named Will Maston, and the You, that he truly seems at home. sense of rhythmic variation that crackles with film, but it works well as a milestone of to a whole other level. canonized as ‘the world’s greatest entertainer’ youngster made his stage debut as part of an act And then, it all suddenly changed for Sammy excitement. discovery for our Sammy. These songs clock the journey he took that before finishing his career on a sad note of self- called ‘Holiday in Dixieland’, billed as ‘Silent in one split second. A Man With A Dream which came on It’s possible to listen to it as a tribute to his year – for good as well as for ill – and it’s parody. Sam,The Dancing Midget’. It was 19 November 1954 and he was trying 2 May,marks the first of the great anthemic pal, Sinatra, who was there for him during the magical to hear the way he learned how to But one thing remained constant through all Davis was a natural with audiences and the to drive back overnight from Las Vegas to Los Davis songs, the ones where he goes to the wall worst of his post-accident depression. redefine his life through his music. of these various manifestations of the Samster’s act soon changed its name to ‘Will Mastin’s Gang Angeles. Just before dawn, on the outskirts of with a number, belting out the final notes with But when he barrels into the song’s Sammy Davis Jr. Oh yes, he was much more personality until nearly the very end: he was a Featuring Little Sammy’. Film appearances San Bernadino, he became part of a freak auto that unique bravado he possessed. You can see pounding bridge, it’s hard not to think that than “The Candy Man”. dynamite vocalist. followed as did a 1941 stint opening for Tommy collision and the steering wheel column of his the first draft of later hits like “What Kind Of Davis had also found a generous measure of At his best, Davis was a songwriter’s dream: Dorsey,where Sammy was first to meet Frank beloved Cadillac destroyed his left eye. Fool Am I?”in this Victor Young tune from autobiography in the lyric: Richard Ouzounian able to squeeze maximum juice out of any Sinatra. At first, Davis was in despair, but friends like Seventh Heaven. melody,while still giving the lyric full value and After a stretch in the army,he returned to Sinatra and Tony Curtis rallied round and he The very same day,he also paired up with wrapping the whole thing up with his own join his old buddies and as The Will Mastin Trio found the courage to continue. He also made an Carmen McRae for a saucy,conversational Also available in the Naxos Nostalgia series ... unique brand of showmanship that made any they became an increasingly popular act, playing amazing decision to embrace Judaism which he rendition of A Fine Romance that presages his number seem special. clubs like Ciro’s and the Copacabana. During said helped him start to rebuild his life again. later breezy on-stage repartee with The Rat Pack The selections on this album are assembled these years, Sammy discovered his gift for One month after his accident, Davis stepped in Las Vegas. from a six-year period in his career (1949-1955) celebrity impersonations and the humour they into a studio in Los Angeles and recorded All Of On 18 August, he recorded a pair of songs with most of them actually having been added to the mix made it click even more readily.