I've Gotta Be Me: The Best Of Sammy Davis Jr. - On Reprise [Best of, Original recording remastered]

Many of these songs are actually show tunes from such Broadway productions as Stop the World-I Want To Get Off, Oliver, The Roar of the Greasepaint-The Smell of the Crowd, and Golden Boy. "Yes I can" was Sammy's mantra, and as such this song best summarizes the spirit of this collection. Once in a Lifetime is filled with energy, encouragement, and self-realization, as is the gospel-based Gonna Build a Mountain. What Kind of Fool Am I? comes off not as a self-deprecating song of regret but as a beacon of self-realization and self-improvement. I've Gotta Be Me will forever stand as an anthem for those who refuse to subjugate their individualism to the fickle whims of the crowd. Any thoughts of brashness or inflated egotism on Sammy's part are beautifully banished by such tunes as Who Can I Turn To, Lush Life, As Long As She Needs Me, I Want To Be With You, and The Shelter of Your Arms. One particularly noteworthy track is Here's That Rainy Day, which comes from Sammy's album of songs performed to the accompaniment of the amazing Laurindo Almeida's guitar and nothing else. Stranger in Town is a wonderful jazz song written by Mel Torme. If I Ruled the World is the perfect way in which to end this album of diverse yet meaningfully related songs.

Sammy wasn't just an incredible singer and performer; his songs meant something, and the upbeat message of Sammy's music and life is a continuous source of inspiration and great pleasure to myself and to all those devoted to this man who showed us how to live life to the fullest, stand up for one's self, and, when encountering criticism, work even harder to prove the critics wrong. Sammy truly was the greatest entertainer to ever live, as this CD does much to prove.

The first two of those hits represents Davis as one of the definitive Broadway cover artists of the decade. "What Kind of Fool Am I" is one of several songs written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse recorded by Davis that were for the show "Stop the World--I Want to Get Off" (including "Once in a Lifetime" and "Gonna Build a Mountain" in this collection). For some reason nobody could ever since an Anthony Newley song like Sammy Davis, Jr. "As Long as She Needs Me" is a gender reversal of a song from "Oliver." The other songs represent the skills of Davis as a vocalist, showing what he can do with songs with greater depth. In the first half of the decade Davis was probably most associated with "What Kind of Fool Am I," but at the end of the decade "I've Gotta Be Me" was clearly his signature tune. In that transition you pretty much have the career of Sammy Davis, Jr. in that decades in a nutshell.

Yes, at times the songs have a little bit too much Vegas in them, but that is why as good as Davis was in a studio he was even better when you got him on stage with an audience. Therefore, the other album you most definitely want to check out from this period would be "Sammy Davis, Jr.: Live at the Cocoanut," which captures Davis at his height as a nightclub entertainer. Together with "I've Gotta Be Me" they are essential Sammy Davis, Jr. recordings for the simple reason they best capture his essence as the man considered the greatest entertainer of the world during the decade of the Sixties. Given the limiations that reflect what label he was recording with, you will not find an ultimate Sammy Davis, Jr. hits collection, so if you are forced to go with just one for some strange reason, this one would be the one you want.