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)
These Foolish Things
Sammy Davis Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh! Will you never set me free?
The ties that bound us
Are still around us
There's no escape that I can see
And still those little things remain
That bring me happiness or pain
An airline ticket to romantic places
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things remind me of you
A tinkling piano in the next apartment
Those stumbling words that told you what my heart meant
A fair ground's painted swings
These foolish things remind me of you
You came you saw you conquer'd me
When you did that to me
I knew somehow this had to be
The winds of March that make my heart a dancer
A telephone that rings but who's to answer?
Oh, how the ghost of you clings!
These foolish things remind me of you
First daffodils and long excited cables
And candle lights on little corner tables
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things remind me of you
The park at evening when the bell has sounded
The "Ile de France" with all the gulls around it
The beauty that is Spring's
These foolish things remind me of you
How strange how sweet to find you still
These things are dear to me
They seem to bring you near to me
The sigh of midnight trains in empty stations
Silk stockings thrown aside dance invitations
Oh, how the ghost of you clings!
These foolish things remind me of you
Gardenia perfume ling'ring on a pillow
Wild strawb'ries only seven francs a kilo
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things remind me of you
The smile of Garbo and the scent of roses
The waiters whistling as the last bar closes
The song that Crosby sings
These foolish things remind me of you
How strange how sweet to find you still
These things are dear to me
They seem to bring you near to me
The scent of smould'ring leaves, the wail of steamers
Two lovers on the street who walk like dreamers
Oh, how the ghost of you clings!
These foolish things remind me of you
These Foolish Things is a song by Sammy Davis Jr. that talks about the things and memories that remind him of a past love. The song begins with a plea for freedom from the ties that still bind him to his past love. He lists the little things, such as a cigarette with lipstick traces, a romantic airline ticket, and stumbling words that express his love towards her, that still bring him happiness or pain. These things remind him of the love that he had, which he admits to having been conquered by. He then goes on to talk about other things that trigger memories of his past love, such as the winds of March that make his heart dance, the park in the evening, the beauty of spring, and the scent of smoldering leaves.
The song suggests that even though the relationship has ended, there's no escaping the remnants of love that are left behind. Despite this, Davis seems to find comfort in reminiscing about the love he once had. He finds it strange yet sweet to still feel close to his past love through the memories that he cherishes.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh! Will you never let me be?
Can you please leave me alone and let me move on?
Oh! Will you never set me free?
Can you please stop haunting me and let me go?
The ties that bound us
The emotional connection that we shared
Are still around us
Still exist and can be sensed
There's no escape that I can see
I cannot seem to move on from our past relationship
And still those little things remain
Even though time has passed, some things have not changed
That bring me happiness or pain
These remind me of both the good and bad times we had together
A cigarette that bears a lipstick's traces
A memory of the intimate moments we shared
An airline ticket to romantic places
Remembrance of the adventures we had together
And still my heart has wings
My heart still feels light and free when I think of you
These foolish things remind me of you
All these little things make me think of you
A tinkling piano in the next apartment
The sound of the piano reminds me of the times we spent together
Those stumbling words that told you what my heart meant
The times I tried to express my feelings to you
A fair ground's painted swings
The fun we had together, enjoying life's simple pleasures
You came you saw you conquer'd me
You won my heart effortlessly
When you did that to me
When you made me fall in love with you
I knew somehow this had to be
I knew that we were meant to be together
The winds of March that make my heart a dancer
The feeling of freedom and happiness that comes with springtime
A telephone that rings but who's to answer?
I still hope it's you calling me, even though I know it's not
The park at evening when the bell has sounded
The peacefulness and beauty of the park at dusk
The 'Ile de France' with all the gulls around it
The picturesque scenery that reminds me of our romantic travels
The beauty that is Spring's
The breathtaking beauty of the spring season
How strange how sweet to find you still
It's surprising and lovely to still be reminded of you
These things are dear to me
These memories are precious to me
They seem to bring you near to me
It feels like you're still with me when I remember these things
The sigh of midnight trains in empty stations
Loneliness and longing at night, reminiscent of when we were apart
Silk stockings thrown aside dance invitations
The enchanting and seductive moments we shared
Gardenia perfume ling'ring on a pillow
The sweet scent of your perfume that lingers
Wild strawb'ries only seven francs a kilo
The joy of the simple, but meaningful things we shared
The smile of Garbo and the scent of roses
The beauty and elegance that reminds me of you
The waiters whistling as the last bar closes
The lively atmosphere of the night scene that brings back memories of us together
The song that Crosby sings
The music that takes me back to the moments we shared
The scent of smould'ring leaves, the wail of steamers
The sounds and smells of autumn that reminds me of you
Two lovers on the street who walk like dreamers
Seeing other happy couples who remind me of us, who once walked hand in hand
Oh, how the ghost of you clings!
I can't seem to shake off the memory of you
These foolish things remind me of you
All these little things make me think of you
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BOB STANLEY, PETER STEWART WIGGS, SARAH CRACKNELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
iconaclastor
This song is a gem. I never heard it before but it has to be one of the best orchestrations from the past Crooner golden age and Sammy was a natural all round artist and is awesome here.
Paulo Nascimento
Este é o Sammy Jr. Imaginem o Senior!
jorge gonzalez
este señor si debio ser sir ..... sir sammy davis junior excelencia en alma y cuerpo
Philip Sheedy
Wow beautiful!
Mark O
Now, this IS Nat King Cole's song.... but Sammy is soooooo nice!
Paulo Nascimento
Este é o Junior