"Ol' Man River" by Sammy Davis, Jr. (1958)

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GoogaMooga
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"Ol' Man River" by Sammy Davis, Jr. (1958)

Postby GoogaMooga » 13 Mar 2021, 08:22

So, Sammy Davis Jr. at Town Hall, May 1958: this is just one of many covers of the Jerome Kern and Hammerstein III classic, "Ol' Man River". It appears on a comp from Music Club, a high end label for repackaging. Music Club CD's are normally very classy, offering well-designed booklets with copious liner notes, a generous track selection, and good sound. In other words, keepers. However, as much as I love Sammy Davis Jr.'s performances, his take of "Ol' Man River" on this Music Club comp sounds completely wrong to me. Sammy tries to add some jazzy pizazz to the normally very stately song, which traditionally requires a good basso profondo voice and a slow build-up to the shattering finale. Having grown up with Paul Robeson's version and the Hollywood musical, "Showboat", I have a preset idea of what it should sound like. Sammy builds up, too, but before his climax, he practically spits out some of the lines, as if they were vocal interjections. I wonder how supper club audiences took it in 1958, whether they thought it was classy.

Please have a listen and tell me what you think:

"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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mudshark
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Re: "Ol' Man River" by Sammy Davis, Jr. (1958)

Postby mudshark » 14 Mar 2021, 22:56

What a voice! But I don't like the presentation. I feel no emotion when i hear him sing it. It seems to me it's all about the presentation and not what the song represents. He doesn't sound like a hard-working labourer on a show boat, instead he's show-boating. Awesome voice, no jazz.
There's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over

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GoogaMooga
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Re: "Ol' Man River" by Sammy Davis, Jr. (1958)

Postby GoogaMooga » 15 Mar 2021, 01:28

mudshark wrote:What a voice! But I don't like the presentation. I feel no emotion when i hear him sing it. It seems to me it's all about the presentation and not what the song represents. He doesn't sound like a hard-working labourer on a show boat, instead he's show-boating. Awesome voice, no jazz.


Well said, I agree.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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cheifwhat
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Re: "Ol' Man River" by Sammy Davis, Jr. (1958)

Postby cheifwhat » 21 Mar 2021, 02:04

I mean, to be fair, he sings it better than I could
Mostly dancing sir,...


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