Early life
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis, Jr. was born in New York City, New York to Elvera Sanchez (1905-2000)[1], a Puerto Rican tap dancer, and Sammy Davis, Sr. (1900-1988), an African-American entertainer. The couple were both dancers in vaudeville. As an infant, he was raised by his paternal grandmother. When he was three years old, his parents split up. His father, not wanting to lose custody of his son, took him on tour. During his lifetime Sammy Davis, Jr. stated that his mother was Puerto Rican and born in San Juan.[2] As a child he learned how to dance from his father and his "uncle" Will Mastin, who led the dance troupe his father worked for. Davis joined the act as a young child and they became the Will Mastin Trio. Throughout his long career, Davis included the Will Mastin Trio in his billing.
Mastin and his father had shielded him from racism. Snubs were explained as jealousy, for instance. When Davis served in the United States Army during World War II however, he was confronted by strong racial prejudice. As he said later, "Overnight the world looked different. It wasn't one color anymore. I could see the protection I'd gotten all my life from my father and Will. I appreciated their loving hope that I'd never need to know about prejudice and hate, but they were wrong. It was as if I'd walked through a swinging door for eighteen years, a door which they had always secretly held open."
Career
While in the service, however, he joined an integrated entertainment Special Services unit, and found that the spotlight removed some of the prejudice. "My talent was the weapon, the power, the way for me to fight. It was the one way I might hope to affect a man's thinking," he said.[3]
Sammy Davis, Jr. (left) with Roy Wilkins (right) at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C.
After he was discharged, Davis rejoined the dance act which played at a wide variety of spots around Portland Oregon, and began to achieve success on his own as he was singled out for praise by critics. The next year, he released his second album. The next move in his growing career was to appear in the Broadway show Mr. Wonderful in 1956.
In 1959, he became a member of the Rat Pack, which was led by his old friend Frank Sinatra, and included such fellow performers as Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, and Shirley MacLaine. Initially, Sinatra called the gathering of fast-living friends "the Clan," but Sam voiced his opposition, saying that it invoked thoughts about the Ku Klux Klan. Sinatra renamed the group "the Summit"...but nevertheless, the media kept on calling it the Rat Pack all along.
Davis was a headliner at The Frontier Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada for many years, yet was required to accept accommodations in a rooming house on the west side of the city, rather than reside with his peers in the hotels, as were all black performers in the 1950s. For example, no stage dressing rooms were provided for black performers, so they were required to wait outside by the swimming pool between acts. [4]
During his early years in Las Vegas, he and other African-American artists like Nat King Cole and Count Basie could entertain on the stage, but often could not reside at the hotels at which they performed, and most definitely could not gamble in the casinos or go to the hotel restaurants and bars. After he achieved superstar success, Davis refused to work at venues which would practice racial segregation. His demands eventually led to the integration of Miami Beach nightclubs and Las Vegas casinos. Davis was particularly proud of this accomplishment. [5]
Although James Brown would claim the title of "Hardest Working Man in Show Business," the argument could be made that Sammy Davis, Jr. deserved it more. For example, in 1964 he was starring in Golden Boy at night and shooting his own New York-based afternoon talk show during the day. When he could get a day off from the theater, he would either be in the studio recording new songs, or else performing live, often at charity benefits as far away as Miami, Chicago and Las Vegas, or doing television variety specials in Los Angeles. Even at the time, Sam knew he was cheating his family of his company, but he couldn't help himself; as he later said, he was incapable of standing still.
Although still a huge draw in Las Vegas, Davis' musical career had sputtered out by the latter years of the 1960s, although he had a #11 hit (#1 on the Easy Listening singles chart) with "I've Gotta Be Me" in 1969. An attempt to update his sound and reconnect with younger people resulted in some embarrassing "hip" musical efforts with the Motown record label.[6] But then, even as his career seemed at its nadir, Sammy had an unexpected worldwide smash hit with "Candy Man". Although he didn't particularly care for the song and was chagrined that he was now best known for it, Davis made the most of his new opportunity and revitalized his career. Although he enjoyed no more Top 40 hits, he did enjoy some extra popularity with his performance of the theme song from the T.V. series Baretta (1975-1978) which was not released as a single but was given extensive radio play and he remained a successful live act beyond Vegas for the remainder of his career. He would still occasionally land television and film parts, including high profile visits to the All in the Family series playing himself. In the 1970s, he also appeared in a series of memorable commercials in Japan for Suntory whiskey.
On December 11, 1967, NBC broadcast a musical-variety special entitled Movin' With Nancy. In addition to the Emmy Award-winning musical performances, the show is famous for Nancy Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. greeting each other with a kiss, one of the first black-white kisses in U.S. television history.[7]
In Japan, Davis appeared in television commercials for coffee, and in the U.S. he joined Sinatra and Martin in a radio commercial for a Chicago car dealership.
Davis was one of the first male celebrities to admit to watching television soap operas, particularly the shows produced by the American Broadcasting Company. This admission led to him making a cameo appearance on General Hospital and playing the recurring character Chip Warren on One Life to Live for which he received a Daytime Emmy nomination in 1980. He was also a game show fan, making a cameo on the ABC version of Family Feud in 1979, and hosting a question with Richard Dawson watching from the sidelines. He appeared on Tattletales with third wife Altovise Davis in the 1970s. He also made a cameo during an episode of the NBC version of Card Sharks in 1981.
Davis was an avid photographer who enjoyed shooting family and acquaintances. His body of work was detailed in a 2007 book by Burt Boyar. "Jerry [Lewis] gave me my first important camera, my first 35 millimeter, during the Ciro's period, early '50s," Boyar quotes Davis. "And he hooked me." Davis used a medium format camera later on to capture images. Again quoting Davis, "Nobody interrupts a man taking a picture to ask... 'What's that nigger doin' here?' ". His catalogue of photos include rare shots of his father dancing onstage as part of the Will Mastin Trio. Also, intimate snapshots of close friends: Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, James Dean, Nat "King" Cole and Marilyn Monroe. His political affiliations also were represented in his images of: Robert Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. His most revealing work comes in photographs of wife May Britt and their three children, Tracey, Jeff and Mark.
(Credit Wikipidia.org)
Don't Blame Me
Sammy Davis Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've hung around you just like a fool
Falling head and heels in love like a kid out of school.
My poor heart is in an awful state now
But it's too late now to call a halt
So if I become a nuisance it's all your fault!
Don't blame me for falling in love with you
I'm under your spell but how can I help it!
Don't' blame me!
Can't you see when you do the things you do!
If I can't conceal the thrill that I'm feeling,
Don't blame; me.
Ican't help it if that doggoned moon above
Makes me need someone like you to love!
Blame your kiss as sweet as a kiss can be
And blame all your charms that melt in my arms
But don't blame me.
I like every single thing about you
Without a doubt you are like a dream
In my mind I find a picture of us as a team
Ever since the hour of our meeting
I've been repeating a silly phrase
Hoping that you'll understand me one of these days.
Don't blame me for falling in love with you
I'm under your spell but how can I help it!
Don't' blame me!
Can't you see when you do the things you do!
If I can't conceal the thrill that I'm feeling,
Don't blame; me.
Ican't help it if that doggoned moon above
Makes me need someone like you to love!
Blame your kiss as sweet as a kiss can be
And blame all your charms that melt in my arms
But don't blame me.
The lyrics of Sammy Davis Jr.'s "Don't Blame Me" tell a story of a love-struck person who has fallen head over heels for someone they've recently met. The singer is expressing how they are unable to control the love they feel for this person and how they are under their spell. They repeat how they can't help their emotions and how everything the other person does triggers a thrill that is difficult to conceal. The singer asks the person not to blame them for falling in love since they cannot help their feelings.
Furthermore, the singer talks about how they like everything about the person and how they are a like a dream to them. They convey a sense of infatuation with the person and that they've been thinking about them since the first hour of their meeting. They are hoping that one day, the person they fell in love with will understand their love.
This song's theme of helplessness and the loss of control over one's emotions expresses a common feeling of love, which many can relate to. In conclusion, "Don't Blame Me" is a song about the uncontrollable nature of love and how it can take over a person's heart and mind.
Line by Line Meaning
Ever since the lucky night I found you
From the moment I met you, I've been infatuated with you
I've hung around you just like a fool Falling head and heels in love like a kid out of school.
I have been acting foolishly and completely in love, like a childish schoolboy.
My poor heart is in an awful state now But it's too late now to call a halt So if I become a nuisance it's all your fault!
I am in love so badly that I cannot stop myself, and if I become bothersome, it is entirely your fault.
Don't blame me for falling in love with you I'm under your spell but how can I help it! Don't' blame me!
I cannot help falling in love with you, I am drawn to you, and you have complete control over me.
Can't you see when you do the things you do! If I can't conceal the thrill that I'm feeling, Don't blame; me.
You inspire feelings in me that I cannot hide or control. Please don't hold it against me.
I can't help it if that doggoned moon above Makes me need someone like you to love!
My heart is swayed by the influence of the moon, which makes me need someone like you to love.
Blame your kiss as sweet as a kiss can be And blame all your charms that melt in my arms But don't blame me.
Your kiss and all of your charming qualities are making me fall deeper in love with you. However, please do not blame me for it.
I like every single thing about you Without a doubt you are like a dream In my mind I find a picture of us as a team
You are a dream to me, and I picture us together as a great team. I adore everything about you without any uncertainty.
Ever since the hour of our meeting I've been repeating a silly phrase Hoping that you'll understand me one of these days.
Since we met, I have been replaying a silly phrase over and over in my head, hoping that you'll understand how much I adore you.
Lyrics © DistroKid, Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DOROTHY FIELDS, JIMMY MC HUGH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Roger Hall
Without a doubt this is one of Sammy's absolute best songs. He ruffled a lot of feathers with the message this song gave, so this song didn't get the recognition that it deserved.
Richard
Even back there in those years, there's never been truer lyrics to a song. I believe that the generation of to-day should sit down and take notice of exactly what the lyrics are telling us and therefore we might find our children heading in the right direction. At the end of the day,we adults allowed it to happen.One of my favourite songs.
Robyn R
Have shared this song many times over the years because the words are so true regardless of which generation. I'm thankful I heard it before it was banned here in Calif. We aren't taught how to be good parents before having children which is really sad. And children having children, etc., it's no wonder the world is the way it is today.
oldfarty101
I remember making my father (he was a minister of religion at the time) listen to this as I was going through a turbulent time in my teens. My point is this is as relevant today as it was back then, as Susan Graham's comment does she is correct
dedejeumjeum
My grandmother, Evelyn Brack, wrote this poem. It was published in the Sunday (?) paper, The Boston Globe. At some point her policeman neighbor heard it on the radio while on a visit to Chicago. He bought a copy at the record store, brought it back to Nana Brack and she heard it sung for the first time! Sammy Davis Jr. wrote the music, Frank Sinatra's recording company released it.... all WITHOUT permission from her, or any credit to her writing. She sued, the case stalled, and Nana died before the case was resolved..
I had not heard the recording since I was a kid, and YouTube brought it back! Yay! And an extra shout out to all of you who have heard it and loved it!
It truly surprised me to read the comments below!
Btw, I had never heard anything about this song being banned in California. I suspect that the song was pulled from circulation because of the lawsuit. Nana also wrote other poetry... also lovely and heartfelt.
JCWAY Services
Anyone born and spent their first 25 years of life before the 1960s knows this song rings true today!
Thomas Mace
The greatest performer that ever lived.
Ron Munro
A great song ahead of its day of release but still so relevant today and always.
evokegts
Takes me back to a good time and reminds me that we need to look after our kids always and always.
Syneathia Bell
True words!! THANK YOU FOR POSTING...Love you Sammy!