''Sammy Davis Jr. Now'' is a 1972 album by

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

The album features the number one hit "

The Candy Man "The Candy Man" (or alternatively, "The Candy Man Can") is a song that originally appeared in the 1971 film ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory''. It was written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley specifically for the film. Although the ori ...

", a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-nominated song. The rest of the album is made up of standards, big ballads and soul tracks.

Reception

Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar when he was eleven or twel ...

of AllMusic rated ''Sammy Davis Jr. Now'' one-and-a-half out of five stars. He stated that "there are tracks enough on this album that are painful to sit through", but also said that "The Candy Man" "surely will retain its historical value simply for being about the closest music has ever come to being pure excrement." He concluded his review by stating that "it is big enough for the artist himself to hide behind".

Track listing

# "

" – 3:10 (covered from the film, ''

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1971 American musical fantasy film directed by Mel Stuart and starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. It is an adaptation of the 1964 novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' by Roald Dahl. The film ...

'') (

Leslie Bricusse Leslie Bricusse OBE (; 29 January 1931 – 19 October 2021) was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films ''Do ...

Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leading ...

) # "This is My Life" – 3:23 (

Bruno Canfora Bruno Canfora (; 6 November 1924 – 4 August 2017) was an Italian composer, conductor, and music arranger. Life and career Born in Milan, Canfora studied piano at an early age, then studied oboe at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan. D ...

) # "I am Over 25 - But You Can Trust Me" – 3:24 (

Mack David Mack David (July 5, 1912 – December 30, 1993) was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning the period between the early 1940s and the early 1970s. David was credited with writing ...

Mike Curb Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American musician, record company executive, motorsports car owner, philanthropist, and former politician. He is also the founder of Curb Records where he presently serves as the chairman. Curb also ...

) # "Have a Little Talk with Myself" – 3:26 (

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as novelty ...

) # "Willoughby Grove" – 3:58 (R.W. Scott, Danny Meehan) # "Take My Hand" – 4:20 (J. O'Brien, B. James) # "I'll Begin Again" – 2:35 (covered from the film, '' Scrooge'') (Leslie Bricusse) # "

I Want to Be Happy "I Want to Be Happy" is a song with music by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Irving Caesar written for the 1925 musical '' No, No, Nanette''. Musical The song is used several times throughout the musical as a running theme representing the attempts ...

" (

Vincent Youmans Vincent Millie Youmans (September 27, 1898 – April 5, 1946) was an American Broadway composer and producer. A leading Broadway composer of his day, Youmans collaborated with virtually all the greatest lyricists on Broadway: Ira Gershwin, Ot ...

Irving Caesar Irving Caesar (born Isidor Keiser, July 4, 1895 – December 18, 1996) was an American lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for numerous song standards, including " Swanee", "Sometimes I'm Happy", "Crazy Rhythm", and " Tea for Tw ...

) – 2:45 # "

MacArthur Park MacArthur Park (originally Westlake Park) is a park dating back to the late 19th century in the Westlake, Los Angeles, Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. In the early 1940s, it was renamed after General Douglas MacArthur, and later designated ...

" (

Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "MacArthur Park", "Wichita Lineman", "Worst ...

) – 7:30 # "Time to Ride" – 2:28 (

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

, Mack David) # "

John Shaft John Shaft is a fictional character created by author/screenwriter Ernest Tidyman for the 1970 novel of the same name. He was portrayed by Richard Roundtree in the original 1971 film and in its four sequels, ''Shaft's Big Score!'' (1972), ''Shaf ...

" – 3:49 (covered from the film, '' Shaft'') (

Issac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

)

References

1972 albums Sammy Davis Jr. albums MGM Records albums Albums produced by Jimmy Bowen Albums produced by Don Costa Albums produced by Mike Curb {{1970s-R&B-album-stub