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)
Five
Sammy Davis Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've got five fingers on the other
And my ten fingers and two hands
I'll use to hold my lover
Took me five by five years to meet her
Took me five minutes to fall
I'm a five cent guy but til I die
Five days a week, we barely speak
But Saturday, everything's fine
Five times a day, I stop to pray
That someday, she'll be mine
I've got five cents in my pocket
And a five and dime ring to give
But if I'm around in five-hundred years
I'll love my gal for as long as I live
In Sammy Davis Jr.'s song "Five", he talks about the beauty of simplicity and how we can find joy in life's little moments. The song begins with the simple observation that he has five fingers on each hand, which he'll use to hold his lover. This opening line sets the tone for the rest of the song, which is all about the little things that make life worth living.
Davis then goes on to talk about meeting his lover and falling in love with her. It took him five by five years to meet her, but only five minutes to fall in love. He describes himself as a "five-cent guy", implying that he doesn't have a lot of money, but he'll love his gal who's five feet tall until the day he dies. He also acknowledges that their relationship isn't perfect - they barely speak during the week, but everything is fine on Saturdays.
The song ends with Davis valuing the little that he has in his life. He only has five cents in his pocket, but he also has a five and dime ring to give to his lover. He recognizes that someday he may not be around anymore, but if he is, he'll love his gal for as long as he lives.
Overall, the song "Five" is a celebration of the little things in life. Davis emphasizes the importance of cherishing what we have and finding joy in the simple moments.
Line by Line Meaning
I've got five fingers on one hand
I have a full set of fingers on one hand, namely five.
I've got five fingers on the other
In addition to my first hand, I have five fingers on the other hand.
And my ten fingers and two hands
Collectively, my hands house ten fingers.
I'll use to hold my lover
I'll hold my beloved using both of my hands that are equipped with ten fingers.
Took me five by five years to meet her
It took me twenty-five years to meet her, in other words five by five.
Took me five minutes to fall
It only took me a matter of five minutes to fall in love with her.
I'm a five cent guy but til I die
Although I'm not rich, my love for her will last forever.
I'll love my gal who's five feet tall
I'll always love my beloved, who happens to be five feet tall.
Five days a week, we barely speak
We barely interact five days a week.
But Saturday, everything's fine
Saturday is the day everything between us seems to be perfect.
Five times a day, I stop to pray
I pray five times a day, every day.
That someday, she'll be mine
I hope that one day, she'll be with me permanently.
I've got five cents in my pocket
I have five cents in my possession.
And a five and dime ring to give
I have a ring from the five and dime shop to give to my beloved.
But if I'm around in five-hundred years
If I manage to stay alive for five hundred years.
I'll love my gal for as long as I live
I'll love my beloved as long as I live, even if it's for five hundred years.
Contributed by Leah D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Mel Schmidt
Wow that was wild! I never knew that Hawaii five 0 had words to the theme song. Learn something new everyday!
ladydanceryi
simply wow! i love it, i heard it from a radion station in Athens, Greece, and i got so surprised to hear lyrics...it's fantastic!!!!
Rafael De Souza
Canção para os meus ouvidos! 🇧🇷 2020
hebneh
Well, Sammy DID sing the lyrics to "Keep Your Eye on The Sparrow", which was the theme for "Baretta". This video combines the opening credits for the first season of "Five-0" along with those for the pilot film, "Cocoon". I actually have met the hula dancer in the opening credits. She's married to a friend of mine.
Crypto Hunt
Wow! I never heard this one before. Awesome!
Mike Stanley
Such an awesome tune.
Ravi Sriram
Amazing! I had no idea. What a pleasant surprise. Iconic and instantly recognizable the instrumental, which is how most of us remember the show, might be, what was the reason for not using the vocal, I wonder?
Rafael De Souza
Maravilha, em mais de 10 anos que esse vídeo foi publicado.
Dom Herbin
Great Sammy Davis Jr 🎩
I love this version
gary adams
great version ..love it