''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, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician. At age two, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which t ...

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 or ...

", a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-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, Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar wh ...

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 film, musical fantasy film directed by Mel Stuart from a screenplay by Roald Dahl, based on his 1964 novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory''. It stars Gene Wilder as chocol ...

'') (

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 '' D ...

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

) # "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 politician, record executive, and philanthropist who served as the 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California, lieutenant governor of California from 1979 to 1983. He is the founder of Curb Recor ...

) # "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 music, country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian. He is best known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "M ...

) # "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, ...

Irving Caesar Irving Caesar (born Isidor Keiser, July 4, 1895 – December 17, 1996) was an American lyricist and composer primarily for theater who wrote lyrics for numerous song standards, including " Swanee", " Sometimes I'm Happy", " Crazy Rhythm", ...

) – 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, California. In the early 1940s, it was renamed after General Douglas MacArthur, and la ...

" (

Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He achieved success at an early age, winning the Grammy Award for Song of the Year at the age of 21. During his career, he established himself as one of Am ...

) – 7:30 # "Time to Ride" – 2:28 (

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

, Mack David) # "

John Shaft John Shaft is a fictional private investigator 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!'' ...

" – 3:49 (covered from the film ''

Shaft Shaft may refer to: Rotating machine elements * Shaft (mechanical engineering), a rotating machine element used to transmit power * Line shaft, a power transmission system * Drive shaft, a shaft for transferring torque * Axle, a shaft around whi ...

'') (

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records in the 1960s, serving as an in-house songwr ...

)

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