22 Years Ago Today ~ The Sammy Davis Jr 60th Anniversary Special February 4th 1990

[MJ TinkerBell]

22 Years Ago Today ~ The Sammy Davis Jr 60th Anniversary Special
February 4th 1990 (Airs on ABC-TV)

In 1990 Debbie Allen, Anita Baker, Diahann Carrol, Neil Carter, Bill Cosby, Tony Danza, Clint Eastwood, Lola Falana, Ella Fitzgerald, Goldie Hawn, Gregory Hines, Bob Hope, Whitney Houston, Jesse Jackson, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Shirley MacLaine, Dean Martin. Eddie Murphy, Gregory Peck, Richard Pryor, Frank Sinatra, Mike Tyson, Dionne Warwick, Steve Wonder and Eddie Murphy as host all appeared on stage in celebration of Sammy’s 60 years in show business. This show won the Emmy award and was the last appearance of Sammy who passed away from throat cancer on May 16th just weeks after this program was broadcast.

[YOUTUBE]RGxRJkBpv0k[/YOUTUBE]

You Were There - Lyrics

You were there, before we came.
You took the hurt, you took the shame.
They built the walls to block your way.
You beat them down.
You won the day.
It wasn’t right, it wasn’t fair.
You taught them all.
You made them care.
Yes, you were there, and thanks to you
There’s now a door we all walk through.
And we are here, for all to see
To be the best that we can be.
Yes, I am here….
cause’ you were there..

Written by Michael Jackson , with Alan 'Buz' Kohan, at the Shrine Auditorium - venue for Sammy Davis Jr.'s 60th Anniversary Show, on 13th November 1989. Performed by Michael - for the one and only time - at the show, after which he was heard saying he would never sing the song again, (which he never did) as it was "Sammy's song".
The night before the tribute show, Michael and Buz Kohan, who wrote the script, went in the rehearsal hall and wrote a song. They arranged it overnight, and the night of the show was the first time he'd ever sung it. He wanted to sing something that really related to Sammy.
Sammy Davis Jr. had helped to ease racial tensions and break down the walls separating the different races. This lead directly to Michael's tribute.
Michael stepped from the glare of several spotlights to perform, "Your Were There" Michael's touching tribute brought tears to his idol, who was then battling throat cancer. Sammy was unable to speak due to the surgery. Michael stood relatively still behind the microphone stand delivering the song only a few feet away from Davis. After Michael finished the performance with one hand raised in the air, he walked over to Sammy and hugged him warmly. It was registered with the United States Copyright Office in December 1989.


The Youtube Videos for this Event for Sammy Davis Jr.

Whitney Houston Tribute To Sammy Davis Jr
[YOUTUBE]zq5A_ei2QvM[/YOUTUBE]

Gregory Hines Tribute Sammy Davis Jr
[YOUTUBE]nlpvhtd1uaI[/YOUTUBE]

Frank Sinatra Tribute to Sammy Davis Jr
[youtube]RH_V2807q8c[/youtube]

Dean Martin Tribute to Sammy Davis Jr
[youtube]WXtu4F8oEYs[/youtube]
[youtube][/youtube]

Debbie Allen & Dancers Tribute to Sammy Davis Jr
[youtube]WQcsABiXM44[/youtube]

Liz Taylor , Eddie Murphy Tribute to Sammy Davis Jr
[youtube]NGMZuB6uwVA[/youtube]

[youtube]FHSDEjZeU3Y[/youtube]

Michael's Rehearsal for "You Where There"
[youtube]T64HEI8nlbs[/youtube]

[youtube]IjmalHcQh54[/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]


The Sammy Davis Jr 60th Anniversary Special Photo Gallery:

Ella Fitzgerald

Sammy Davis Jr Trivia


Member of the "Rat Pack" with Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. All appear in Ocean's Eleven (1960).

Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, Garden of Honor, next to his father Sammy Davis Sr..

Always articulate, he never attended school of any kind; performing since the age of five, he was largely self-taught.

During his childhood as a vaudeville entertainer, he often appeared in states and cities with strict child labor laws. To get around these laws, he was billed as "Silent Sammy, the Dancing Midget", and conspiciously walked around backstage with a rubber cigar in his mouth and a woman on each arm.

Was given a gift, of a black sapphire ring, by Elvis Presley , who told him, "This is the biggest black star I've seen, so I'm giving it to the biggest black star I know."

He was a regular at many of Elvis Presley's concerts in Las Vegas.He appeared in the audience and backstage in the Elvis documentary "That's The Way It Is"(1970).

Filmed a cameo appearance for the James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever (1971). The scene was ultimately cut, but can be seen in the DVD of the movie.

He and the other members of the Rat Pack were banned from Marilyn Monroe's funeral by Joe DiMaggio.

Was the childhood idol of director Tim Burton, who wanted to cast him as the title character in Beetlejuice (1988), but Warner Bros. ultimately refused.

According to the "Fastest Gun Who Ever Lived," Bob Munden, Davis was the second-fastest draw in Hollywood, trailing only Jerry Lewis. Davis presented Munden with a customized Colt Peacemaker in recognition of Munden's skill after they appeared together on "The Mike Douglas Show" (1961).

Despite being 64 at the time of his death, he was survived by his mother Elvera Sanchez (1905-2000) and his grandmother, Elvera's mother Luisa (who died in 1996 at 112).

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 235-237. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.

Inducted into the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2005.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6254 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

In 1956, he starred on Broadway in 400 performances of "Mr. Wonderful".

WINNER - Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Special - 1990
SAMMY DAVIS, JR.'S 60TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION ABC
Buz Kohan, Co-Producer; Jeff Margolis, Co-Producer; Gary Necessary, Co-Producer; George Schlatter, Producer; Maria Schlatter, Co-Producer

Everything Michael Jackson does on stage is exactly right.
~ Sammy Davis, Jr.

 

[soulmum]

Breathtaking performance from Michael.

 

[MJ TinkerBell]

everytime I hear and see him do this song :heart: I remember when I was glued to the television when it was broadcast...WoW...ray:

 

[Speechless09]

Thank you so much for sharing - the performance and lyriks are always deeply touching my heart and makes me cry.

 

[Sunwalker7]

I love this performance, the lyrics of the song are so beautiful and touching.

 

[dewey]

@MJ TinkerBell I too remember when it was on, watching him perform...the reaction from the crowd and how moved Sammy was when he was finished...

I remember being so completely in love with him even more after watching it. :blush: :wub:

 

[earthlyme]

Thankyou SOOO Much for this!


L.o.v.e.
Romi

 

[qbee]

Great article - This was such and awesome performance by Michael for Sammy
Thanks for including all the deatail of this event to Honor Sammy _ I added tags
below so it can be found in our search engine ..

 

[zinniabooklover]

@Agonum

You might be interested in this. It's from a transcript of a PBS interview with Buz Kohan where he talks about Sammy Davis Jr's career. I've copied and pasted this straight from the transcript; I've tidied it up a tiny bit but the layout is still a bit wonky! This is easily the most detailed version of the story of 'You Were There' that I've seen. The whole interview is worth reading (or listening to, I guess!).

Buz Kohan | Interview | American Masters | PBS

www.pbs.org

"But the real relationship was. My relationship with Michael and I went with George out to see Michael, who was recording out in the Valley and we went to convince Michael, who, by the way, hated to do television. Now, I know Michael, since he’s 12 and I worked with him all these years. I’ve written songs with him, I’ve done specials with him, concerts, and I knew. That Michael didn’t want to do television. And Michael prepares. I mean, he when Michael does an album, he’s got 40 songs mastered and done and prepared to the nth degree of perfection. And then they pick 13 for the album and the rest go on in a vault somewhere. So Michael is meticulous, and he’s also one of the very few out of the world geniuses that I knew.

And we went out to see Michael. And the reason I point up the fact that Michael spends so much time preparing these things is that he never wants to be unprepared. And we came to him. It was like a week before the show. And I had written something for for him. And I said. Michael, you must do this show. I said, this is a little something that I wrote that you and you can we can play with the music and fix it up. But it’s called You Were There. And basically what it says is that I am here because you were there. And it is so true you would not be here if not for Sammy Davis and all the things that he went through that opened doors and broke precedent and set up new patterns of civility. And Michael. I’m sure George told you he took us into a little back shower and he said. I want you to feel my head. And I said, okay. And I reached over and I felt his head and in under his scalp, there were two balloons. That were under the scalp as a result of the fire when he was doing the Pepsi commercial. He had burned his scalp so bad and there wasso much scar tissue that the procedure was to open up the scalp, put balloons in there to stretch the the scalp and then remove when they did their job, they would remove the scar tissue. And so it up so that he had a functioning scalp again. Now, this never came out in the papers and people didn’t know. And and he said, but this is so painful, you have no idea. And I said, I know, I understand. But there’s one thing I want you to understand. I really believe you will never forgive yourself. This is the only opportunity you have to say thank you to this man. And if you don’t do it you will be sorry. And he said, All right, let me think about it. And I think as we left that night, he gave me a semi commitment.

And the night before the show. A van pulls up outside of the Shrine Auditorium and Michael gets out. And he says, What do you want me to do? Now, this is Michael who spends months. Finding the right sounds for everything. And this is the first time he’s ever heard the song. And he sits with me at a piano in this convention center, which is completely dark and completely empty. And it’s midnight. It’s close to midnight. And we sit there and I play him the thing, and he makes some adjustments on the melody. And finally Michael says, Okay, I think we can do this, but I need a xenon light, and he’s staging the damn thing. You know, while we’re talking at midnight there and he says, I’m going to wear this red thing. And the key is he says, I’ll be there tomorrow. What time you need me? I said, Well, I need you to hear the arrangement, which they’re about to do and make and copy overnight so that the orchestra can hear it. And you come in for dress rehearsal and in the afternoon and that’ll be it. You know, it’s one chorus. That’s all it is. That’s all I want you to do. One chorus and then walk over to Sammy, give him a hug, and you will have not only paid your dues, but you will have done the right thing."

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

@Agonum

You might be interested in this. It's from a transcript of a PBS interview with Buz Kohan where he talks about Sammy Davis Jr's career. I've copied and pasted this straight from the transcript; I've tidied it up a tiny bit but the layout is still a bit wonky! This is easily the most detailed version of the story of 'You Were There' that I've seen. The whole interview is worth reading (or listening to, I guess!).

Buz Kohan | Interview | American Masters | PBS

www.pbs.org

"But the real relationship was. My relationship with Michael and I went with George out to see Michael, who was recording out in the Valley and we went to convince Michael, who, by the way, hated to do television. Now, I know Michael, since he’s 12 and I worked with him all these years. I’ve written songs with him, I’ve done specials with him, concerts, and I knew. That Michael didn’t want to do television. And Michael prepares. I mean, he when Michael does an album, he’s got 40 songs mastered and done and prepared to the nth degree of perfection. And then they pick 13 for the album and the rest go on in a vault somewhere. So Michael is meticulous, and he’s also one of the very few out of the world geniuses that I knew.

And we went out to see Michael. And the reason I point up the fact that Michael spends so much time preparing these things is that he never wants to be unprepared. And we came to him. It was like a week before the show. And I had written something for for him. And I said. Michael, you must do this show. I said, this is a little something that I wrote that you and you can we can play with the music and fix it up. But it’s called You Were There. And basically what it says is that I am here because you were there. And it is so true you would not be here if not for Sammy Davis and all the things that he went through that opened doors and broke precedent and set up new patterns of civility. And Michael. I’m sure George told you he took us into a little back shower and he said. I want you to feel my head. And I said, okay. And I reached over and I felt his head and in under his scalp, there were two balloons. That were under the scalp as a result of the fire when he was doing the Pepsi commercial. He had burned his scalp so bad and there wasso much scar tissue that the procedure was to open up the scalp, put balloons in there to stretch the the scalp and then remove when they did their job, they would remove the scar tissue. And so it up so that he had a functioning scalp again. Now, this never came out in the papers and people didn’t know. And and he said, but this is so painful, you have no idea. And I said, I know, I understand. But there’s one thing I want you to understand. I really believe you will never forgive yourself. This is the only opportunity you have to say thank you to this man. And if you don’t do it you will be sorry. And he said, All right, let me think about it. And I think as we left that night, he gave me a semi commitment.

And the night before the show. A van pulls up outside of the Shrine Auditorium and Michael gets out. And he says, What do you want me to do? Now, this is Michael who spends months. Finding the right sounds for everything. And this is the first time he’s ever heard the song. And he sits with me at a piano in this convention center, which is completely dark and completely empty. And it’s midnight. It’s close to midnight. And we sit there and I play him the thing, and he makes some adjustments on the melody. And finally Michael says, Okay, I think we can do this, but I need a xenon light, and he’s staging the damn thing. You know, while we’re talking at midnight there and he says, I’m going to wear this red thing. And the key is he says, I’ll be there tomorrow. What time you need me? I said, Well, I need you to hear the arrangement, which they’re about to do and make and copy overnight so that the orchestra can hear it. And you come in for dress rehearsal and in the afternoon and that’ll be it. You know, it’s one chorus. That’s all it is. That’s all I want you to do. One chorus and then walk over to Sammy, give him a hug, and you will have not only paid your dues, but you will have done the right thing."

Did the procedure work to fix his scalp? How long did this take. All the way in 1990?

 

[Agonum]

@Agonum

You might be interested in this. It's from a transcript of a PBS interview with Buz Kohan where he talks about Sammy Davis Jr's career. I've copied and pasted this straight from the transcript; I've tidied it up a tiny bit but the layout is still a bit wonky! This is easily the most detailed version of the story of 'You Were There' that I've seen. The whole interview is worth reading (or listening to, I guess!).

Buz Kohan | Interview | American Masters | PBS

www.pbs.org

"But the real relationship was. My relationship with Michael and I went with George out to see Michael, who was recording out in the Valley and we went to convince Michael, who, by the way, hated to do television. Now, I know Michael, since he’s 12 and I worked with him all these years. I’ve written songs with him, I’ve done specials with him, concerts, and I knew. That Michael didn’t want to do television. And Michael prepares. I mean, he when Michael does an album, he’s got 40 songs mastered and done and prepared to the nth degree of perfection. And then they pick 13 for the album and the rest go on in a vault somewhere. So Michael is meticulous, and he’s also one of the very few out of the world geniuses that I knew.

And we went out to see Michael. And the reason I point up the fact that Michael spends so much time preparing these things is that he never wants to be unprepared. And we came to him. It was like a week before the show. And I had written something for for him. And I said. Michael, you must do this show. I said, this is a little something that I wrote that you and you can we can play with the music and fix it up. But it’s called You Were There. And basically what it says is that I am here because you were there. And it is so true you would not be here if not for Sammy Davis and all the things that he went through that opened doors and broke precedent and set up new patterns of civility. And Michael. I’m sure George told you he took us into a little back shower and he said. I want you to feel my head. And I said, okay. And I reached over and I felt his head and in under his scalp, there were two balloons. That were under the scalp as a result of the fire when he was doing the Pepsi commercial. He had burned his scalp so bad and there wasso much scar tissue that the procedure was to open up the scalp, put balloons in there to stretch the the scalp and then remove when they did their job, they would remove the scar tissue. And so it up so that he had a functioning scalp again. Now, this never came out in the papers and people didn’t know. And and he said, but this is so painful, you have no idea. And I said, I know, I understand. But there’s one thing I want you to understand. I really believe you will never forgive yourself. This is the only opportunity you have to say thank you to this man. And if you don’t do it you will be sorry. And he said, All right, let me think about it. And I think as we left that night, he gave me a semi commitment.

And the night before the show. A van pulls up outside of the Shrine Auditorium and Michael gets out. And he says, What do you want me to do? Now, this is Michael who spends months. Finding the right sounds for everything. And this is the first time he’s ever heard the song. And he sits with me at a piano in this convention center, which is completely dark and completely empty. And it’s midnight. It’s close to midnight. And we sit there and I play him the thing, and he makes some adjustments on the melody. And finally Michael says, Okay, I think we can do this, but I need a xenon light, and he’s staging the damn thing. You know, while we’re talking at midnight there and he says, I’m going to wear this red thing. And the key is he says, I’ll be there tomorrow. What time you need me? I said, Well, I need you to hear the arrangement, which they’re about to do and make and copy overnight so that the orchestra can hear it. And you come in for dress rehearsal and in the afternoon and that’ll be it. You know, it’s one chorus. That’s all it is. That’s all I want you to do. One chorus and then walk over to Sammy, give him a hug, and you will have not only paid your dues, but you will have done the right thing."

Wow, such a lovely story. Thanks for sharing!

 

[zinniabooklover]

Did the procedure work to fix his scalp? How long did this take. All the way in 1990?

Don't know. I've seen various quotes here and there about this but they all say pretty much the same thing. I remember reading something that said the lupus made the procedure more difficult. But I don't know. I never want to delve too deeply into this. I mostly just focus on Michael as a performer. That said, I do sometimes wonder how on earth he coped with this. I don't mean painkillers, I just mean in general, how did he cope? It must have been so tough for him.

Wow, such a lovely story. Thanks for sharing!

This is definitely the best version of the story that I've seen, so much fabulous detail. Sammy died only a few weeks after the 60th celebration took place so the whole thing is quite magical.

I also enjoyed reading the whole transcript. Sammy Davis Jr gets overlooked a lot, imo.

 

[Agonum]

[…]

This is definitely the best version of the story that I've seen, so much fabulous detail. Sammy died only a few weeks after the 60th celebration took place so the whole thing is quite magical.

I also enjoyed reading the whole transcript. Sammy Davis Jr gets overlooked a lot, imo.

Quite magical indeed. So glad Michael decided to go for it. As Buz said, I don’t think he would have forgiven himself otherwise.