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)
Where Is Love?
Sammy Davis Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And suddenly you're sighing sighs.
You're thinkin' nothin's wrong,
You string along, boy, then SNAP!
Those eyes, those sighs -
They're part of the tender trap.
You're hand in hand beneath the trees,
You're actin' kind of smug
Until your heart just goes WHAP!
Those trees, that breeze -
They're part of the tender trap.
Some starry night,
When her kisses make you tingle,
She'll hold you tight
And you'll hate yourself for being single.
And all at once it seems so nice,
The folks are throwin' shoes and rice.
You hurry to a spot that's just a dot on the map.
You're hooked, you're cooked,
You're caught in the tender trap.
Some starry night,
When her kisses make you tingle,
She'll hold you tight
And you'll hate yourself for bein' single.
And all at once it seems so nice,
The folks are throwin' shoes and rice.
You hurry to a spot that's just a dot on the map.
And then you wonder how it all came about,
It's too late now, there's no gettin' out -
You fell in love, and love is the tender trap.
The song "The Tender Trap" by Sammy Davis Jr. and Laurindo Almeida talks about the perils of falling in love. The lyrics describe how the sight of a pair of laughing eyes can make one feel happy and carefree, until they suddenly realize they have fallen into a trap. They become smug, thinking they have everything under control, until their hearts take over and they fall in love. They find themselves embroiled in a situation they cannot escape from and wonder how it all happened.
The chorus describes the feeling of being caught in the tender trap. The tender trap refers to the lure of love, the feeling of being captivated by someone's charms and unable to resist their affection. The lyrics suggest that falling in love can be both wonderful and dangerous, as it can lead to heartbreak and regret if not handled carefully.
Overall, the song captures the universal experience of falling in love, with its ups and downs, joys and sorrows. It reminds us that love is not always easy but is worth the risk.
Line by Line Meaning
Ya see a pair of laughing eyes,
When you notice someone's happy eyes,
And suddenly you're sighing sighs.
You start to feel emotionally affected.
You're thinkin' nothin's wrong,
You believe there is no danger.
You string along, boy, then SNAP!
You get caught in a trap that you can not escape.
Those eyes, those sighs -
The happiness in her/his eyes and your emotional response are
They're part of the tender trap.
ingredients to what's about to come.
You're hand in hand beneath the trees,
Walking with your beloved beneath the trees,
And soon there's music in the breeze.
Everything feels like music and joy that you feel.
You're actin' kind of smug
You start feeling good about yourself.
Until your heart just goes WHAP!
Suddenly, everything changes and you feel like you've been hit.
Those trees, that breeze -
The sounds, the environment contribute to emotional turbulence.
They're part of the tender trap.
All these things are leading to a trap.
Some starry night,
On a beautiful night
When her kisses make you tingle,
When her kisses provoke beautiful feelings
She'll hold you tight
She will embrace you tightly.
And you'll hate yourself for being single.
You'll start regretting your earlier single status.
And all at once it seems so nice,
It feels like everything is perfect.
The folks are throwin' shoes and rice.
Everyone is happily celebrating your union.
You hurry to a spot that's just a dot on the map.
You rush to a location, which is still insignificant.
You're hooked, you're cooked,
You are trapped and cooked like a bait.
You're caught in the tender trap.
You are subject to the tender trap is laid, and there's no escape.
And then you wonder how it all came about,
Suddenly, you start questioning your choices.
It's too late now, there's no gettin' out -
However, now it's too late to get out of the situation.
You fell in love, and love is the tender trap.
You have entirely fallen into the trap of love.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, THE MUSIC GOES ROUND
Written by: Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@WarriorOfGhengisKhan
What a beautiful rendition. Sammy was so talented and such a kind soul.
@mandli14
What a true but melancholy song for a man looking for his soulmate.
@Poeme340
Yes☮️
@pnascimento100
The perfect joining:Sammy and the Brazilian Laurindo on guitar...
@EdWaldrup
An historic pairing on an historic album. Unforgettable. Simply incredible.
@CarlMoore1957
I asked my friend, charles Gamble, why i wasn't getting any gigs with the local heavywieghts. He said" You can't swing" and then he gave me some songs to woodshed on....this album was one of them. That was thirty years ago...I don't know if i can swing any better...but at least I found a true musical gem! Its still breathtaking!
@carol1938ann
Thank you for a very beautiful song. Almeida's arrangement is incredible. I can hardly wait to play this video for my guitar teacher.
@joeyb4ever
One of the best entertainers ever.
@giri.goyo_yt
Wowzers! Never heard this. Two of my faves, too!!! THANKS SO MUCH.
@IMdRightGirl
Blissful.