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)
Smoke Smoke Smoke
Sammy Davis Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With the ways of a gentleman I've been told
A kind of a fellow that wouldn't even harm a flea
But if me and a certain character met
That guy that invented the cigarette
I'd murder that son of a gun in the first degree
That ain't that I don't smoke myself
I've smoked 'em all my life and I ain't dead yet
But nicotine slaves are all the same
At a pheasant party or a poker game
Everything's gotta stop when they have that cigarette
Smoke smoke smoke that cigarette
Puff puff puff
And if you smoke yourself to death
Tell St Peter at the Golden Gate
That you hate to make him wait
But you just gotta have another cigarette
Now at a game of chance the other night
Ol' Dame Forson wasn't doin' me right
Them kings and queens just kept on comin' round
Well I got a full and I bet it high
But my plug didn't work on a certain guy
He just kept a risin' and a layin' that money down
He's raise me and I'd raise him
I sweated blood I had to sink or swim
He finally called and he didn't raise the bet
I said "aces is full pal how about you?"
He said "I'll tell you in a minute or two
But I just gotta have another cigarette"
Smoke smoke smoke that cigarette
Puff puff puff
And if you smoke yourself to death
Tell St Peter at the Golden Gate
That you hate to make him wait
But you just gotta have another cigarette
The other night I had a date with
The cutest gal in the fifty states
A high bred uptown social little dame
She said she loved me and it seemed to me
That things were like they ought a be
So hand in hand we strolled down Lover's Lane
She was oh so far from a chunk of ice
And our smoochin' party was a goin' real nice
So help and I think I'd of been there yet
But I give her a hug and a little squeeze
And she said "Willie excuse me please
But I just gotta have another cigarette"
Smoke smoke smoke that cigarette
Puff puff puff
And if you smoke yourself to death
Tell St Peter at the Golden Gate
That you hate to make him wait
But you just gotta have another cigarette
Smoke smoke smoke that cigarette
Puff puff puff
And if you smoke yourself to death
Tell St Peter at the Golden Gate
That you hate to make him wait
But you just gotta have another cigarette
Just gotta have another cigarette
The song "Smoke Smoke Smoke That Cigarette" by Sammy Davis Jr. is a classic example of a humorous country song that pokes fun at the addiction of smoking. The lyrics talk about the singer's love for smoking and how it is hard to resist the urge to smoke another cigarette. The singer also expresses his frustration with the person who invented cigarettes and, in a comical way, says he would like to murder that person if he ever met him.
The song takes on a more serious tone towards the end as the singer describes how even in moments of romance and love, the addiction for smoking takes over. The lyrics suggest that smoking is a powerful addiction that can overpower even the strongest of emotions.
Overall, this song can be interpreted as a commentary on the dangers of smoking and how it can take over a person's life. It highlights the absurdity of addiction and the lengths people will go to satisfy their cravings.
Line by Line Meaning
Now I'm a fellow with a heart of gold
I'm generally a good person
With the ways of a gentleman I've been told
People have told me I act like a gentleman
A kind of a fellow that wouldn't even harm a flea
I try to avoid hurting anyone or anything
But if me and a certain character met
If I met a particular person
That guy that invented the cigarette
The person who invented cigarettes
I'd murder that son of a gun in the first degree
I'd be so angry at him that I'd want to kill him
That ain't that I don't smoke myself
I do smoke cigarettes myself
And I don't reckon they'll injure your health
I don't think smoking cigarettes will harm you
I've smoked 'em all my life and I ain't dead yet
I've been smoking for a long time and I'm still alive
But nicotine slaves are all the same
People addicted to nicotine act a similar way
At a pheasant party or a poker game
No matter the event, smokers have to stop and smoke
Everything's gotta stop when they have that cigarette
Everyone has to pause what they're doing when a smoker needs to smoke
Smoke smoke smoke that cigarette
Light up a cigarette
Puff puff puff
Take a drag on the cigarette
And if you smoke yourself to death
If you smoke so much it kills you
Tell St Peter at the Golden Gate
When you die and meet St Peter at the gates of Heaven
That you hate to make him wait
Tell him you're sorry for being late
But you just gotta have another cigarette
You have an urge to smoke another cigarette
Now at a game of chance the other night
At a gambling game the other night
Ol' Dame Forson wasn't doin' me right
I wasn't having any luck at the game
Them kings and queens just kept on comin' round
I kept getting dealt bad cards
Well I got a full and I bet it high
I got a good hand and bet a lot of money
But my plug didn't work on a certain guy
My bluff didn't work on someone else playing
He just kept a risin' and a layin' that money down
He kept raising the bet and putting more money down
He's raise me and I'd raise him
We kept raising each other's bets
I sweated blood I had to sink or swim
I was under a lot of pressure and had to make a decision
He finally called and he didn't raise the bet
He didn't raise the bet when he finally called
I said "aces is full pal how about you?"
I asked him what his hand was
He said "I'll tell you in a minute or two
He said he needed some time to think
But I just gotta have another cigarette"
But he needed to smoke a cigarette before answering
The other night I had a date with
I went on a date with
The cutest gal in the fifty states
The girl I found most attractive
A high bred uptown social little dame
A well-bred, upper-class socialite
She said she loved me and it seemed to me
She told me she loved me and it felt real
That things were like they ought a be
Things were going well
So hand in hand we strolled down Lover's Lane
We walked together down a romantic path
She was oh so far from a chunk of ice
She was very warm and loving
And our smoochin' party was a goin' real nice
We were kissing and having a good time
So help and I think I'd of been there yet
I almost got lucky
But I give her a hug and a little squeeze
I hugged and touched her affectionately
And she said "Willie excuse me please
But then she asked me to excuse her
But I just gotta have another cigarette"
Because she needed to smoke another cigarette
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Merle Travis, Tex Williams
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Muzikgirl67
JUST AS GOOD AS GOLD!...Thank you sooo very much for posting and sharing this "lost and rarely heard anymore" lil' country ditty that became Sammy's only single to ever make it onto the country charts, when it made it to #89 back in December 1982...Sadly, Sammy would pass less than 8 years later due to throat cancer...I thoroughly enjoyed listening though...and the sound quality is FIRST RATE too! Take Care! :-)
loofoowho
Brilliant song. Heard this just the other day on BBC radio 2 and loved it instantly. thanks for the posting
Erik Smith
Love this version of the song!
Joh Hansen
My dad got me his album from a charity shop when I was 14, happy times!
Henrik Rónai
I used to listen to Sammy Davis a lot while travelling in our car. I mis those times :(
Fran MC
I love my dad for getting me in to this kind of music :)
Henrik Rónai
I used to listen to this on long journeys on highway. (My father used to, so did I). Oh those were good times :/
CoolDude13885
THANK YOU MY NAME IS EARL FOR BRINGING ME THIS SONG
Coregazer
Heh, brilliant song, I actually prefer this cover to the original if I'm honest. But in general the lyrics are hilarious
Tony Hoffbeck
I'm still smoking today love it