Sammy Davis Jr ~ Baretta's Theme 1976 Soul Purrfection Version

I was working on The Candyman when I remembered this little gem, I found out about it in the 90's. I think this is the coolest version of a TV theme I ever heard! Sammy is really singing his heart out here! This is surprisingly wonderful.

Samuel George Davis Jr was born December 8, 1925 in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City into a musical family with his father Sammy Davis Sr and mother Elvera Sanchez both involved with the stage. Due to his parents constant touring, he was raised by his grandfater. At the age of three his parents divorced and Sammy Sr got to keep custody of Sammy Jr taking him on tour with him. When Sammy reached the age of 7, he played the title role of "Rufus Jones For President" along side legend Ethel Waters.

He learned to dance and joined the act, but because of racism against Puerto Ricans (his mother was Afro Cuban) his father and godfather shielded him. However, once he joined the Army during World War II he began to realize how deep the prejudice ran. "Overnight the world looked different. It wasn't one color any more. I could see the protection I'd gotten all my life from his family. I appreciated their loving hope that I'd never need to know about prejudice and hate, but they were wrong. It was if I'd walk through a swinging door for 18 years, a door they had always secretly held open."

He was frequently abused by fellow soldiers from the South and was constantly fist fighting to keep his place and getting his nose broken several times to the point it permanently flattened. He was reassigned to the Special Services branch who brought him on as a performer, ending up doing shows for his harassers. He was discharged in 1945 and stated "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."

Sammy toiled away for various performances until 1959 when The Chairman, Frank Sinatra became his friend. Dean Martin, Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford who was a brother in law of President John F Kennedy. That lead to more film roles, a Las Vegas show then New York where he became the first black to sing at the Copacabana.

Jim Crow practices were rampant in Las Vegas, and Sammy could not stay in the same hotel he was performing in, had no pre show dressing room and had to wait outside the building between acts. He could not enter the casino, nor dine or drink in the hotel's restaurants and bars.

His pop career reached a #11 Hot100 peak with "I've Gotta Be Me" in 1969
which became a #1 Adult Contemporary Hit. Then he signed with Motown to gain some relevance but the label had no plan for him and it fizzled out.

The song that saved his career came from "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory" in 1972. He was in the habit of covering Broadway show tunes and other covers putting his distinctive stamp on them. When "The Candy Man" hit #1 no one was more surprised than Sammy, but it revitalized his career for a new and younger audience.

In 1976 he left MGM Records to join 20th Century Fox and his debut outing had the requisite cover version alongside covers TV program themes for Kojak, Nary Tyler More, Hawaii 5 0 and Barretta.

Robert Black was Baretta and his funky fashion style meshed perfectly with the jazz sounds of Dave Grusin and Morgan Ames song "Keep Your Eye The Sparrow" that became known as Baretta's Theme. The song was first recorded by Merry Clayton, and in 1976 Rhythm Heritage (SWAT) covered the song and took it to #20. Sammy's version did not chart, although I find it to be the definitive version. The B side of Sammy's tune was his cover of the José Felciano's "Chico & The Man" TV Theme.

He continued to record and perform until 1989 when he was diagnosed with throat cancer and refused to have the cancerous part of his throat removed so he could keep his voice. Unfortunately it was removed in March of 1990 but too late to save him, He passed on May 18, 1990 from complications of the cancer.

I should mention that Sammy played a dual role on Charlie's Angels playing himself and a rogue impersonator who get kidnapped instead. In a funny scene, he knocks around a candy machine that did not dispense the sweet treat he wanted referencing his song "The Candy Man". Gotta hand it to the man, his life was not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but he kept his sense of humor. Long live Sammy Davis Jr.