Buddy Rich, Sammy Davis Jr - Sounds of 66

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Music reviews of Sounds of 66

Music Review: Sammy's most amazing live performance
Rating: 5 Stars

All of that being said, one of the many great things about The Sounds of `66 is the fact that a number of these tracks aren't readily available on other albums, at least not that I know of. I can't remember which female artist made I Know a Place famous, but Sammy truly brings the song to life in a wholly new form. What Did I Have That I Don't Have? is perhaps my favorite song on this CD; it starts a little slowly, but Sammy fills it with enough passion and emotion that it is all but flammable by the time he gets through with it. Once in Love With Amy and If It's the Last Thing I Do are great songs I have not heard elsewhere. I never cared for What the World Needs Now Is Love until I heard Sammy sing it; he wails, producing a much more animated song than Burt Bacharach could even conceive of. One of my all-time favorite songs is What Now My Love?, and Sammy provides rather a unique version of it here. The song starts slowly, sounding almost like uninspired lounge music, but Sammy quickly picks up the tempo and energy, eventually drawing the most vocal audience response of the night. One selection that is admittedly rather strange is Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead from The Wizard of Oz. This ain't your Munchkins' version because Sammy belts this thing out and makes it a truly hip experience.

This live album is more than deserving of five stars, but I do see a couple of minor problems with it. For one thing, it is relatively short, adding up to just over thirty four minutes; I should note that this is the most intense, action-packed thirty four minutes I've ever experienced, though. To my great consternation, I found that tracks six and seven were listed backwards, with What the World Needs Now is Love actually preceding Once in Love With Amy; I will never understand how mistakes like that can happen on a released CD. Finally, this CD does not contain a full and complete recording of the concert. There are gaps in between most of the songs, so I'm not sure whether or not the songs are presented in the order Sammy performed them, nor can I keep myself from wondering what other musical magic was made that night that was not released for posterity. Given the strength of the performance as a whole, though, these are minor quibbles that have absolutely nothing to do with Sammy, who threw himself completely into all of these songs. No Sammy Davis Jr. collection is complete without The Sounds of '66.

Description of Sounds of 66

Broadway & Vocalists CDs

• Music > Styles
• Jazz
• Pop