"I'll Begin Again" - Sammy Davis, Jr. (1972)

"I'll Begin Again" (1972)

Now

Sammy Davis, Jr.

MGM Records

As mentioned last time, Sammy Davis, Jr. recorded a version of the Leslie Bricusse song "I'll Begin Again" from the 1970 movie "Scrooge."

Here it is, from his 1972 album "Now":

This particular album is noteworthy for featuring Sammy's astonishingly popular hit single of "The Candy Man," which was another Leslie Bricusse song this one co-written with Anthony Newley and from the movie "Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" (1971).

The flipside of "The Candy Man" was "I Want to Be Happy," a standard that first appeared in the Broadway show "No, No, Nannette" in 1925. What's interesting is that Tony Bennett included the song on his "Love Story" album. So, Tony Bennett and Sammy Davis, Jr. each had albums within a year of each other that contained both "I'll Begin Again" and "I Want to Be Happy." Hmmm...

Sammy's "I'll Begin Again" also appeared on this single from 1971:

But apparently his Ecology label for Motown didn't go anywhere and some tracks he had recorded for an unreleased album wound up over at MGM.

When I was a kid, it seemed that Sammy Davis, Jr. was everywhere. He popped up on every TV show in the manner of those famous-for-being-famous celebrities so prevalent in the 1970s.

As I got older, however, I came to appreciate the depth of his talent, which was astonishing.

In addition to singing and dancing, he could act and was a brilliant impressionist.

He handles songs like "I'll Begin Again" quite easily, but that's only the tip of his iceberg!