Sammy Davis sang sharp??
Loudon Briggs
Many years ago, I had a question about Sammy Davis' singing. Although
I was OK with what he did, I mentioned to a fairly well known musician
that when I listened to Davis, his voice had a little jarring effect
on me. I was told that that was the result of Davis' singing slightly
sharp. I accepted that as true.
A few months ago, I mentioned this on a music List I monitor. Today, a
person who has been a musician/singer for over 40 years, took issue
with what I had said. I'll reply to him with my explanation of where I
heard it but, I thought I'd ask on this forum, if anyone has heard it
was a fact, or if, in your opinion, he did or did not sing sharp.
--
Loudon Briggs lar...@bbz.net Phoenix, Arizona, USA)
PT
He may have sang sharp, but at least he didn't sing out of tune
Best regards
Pete Thomas
"Not enough tension can create too much tension"
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ansermetniac
wrote:
Sammy had perfect pitch. There are many factors other than pitch that
may make it seem like his pitch is sharp. He sounds fine to me
Abbedd
JC Martin
wrote:
Perfect pitch has to do with note and key recognition, not how in tune one
sings. Sammy could sing both sharp and flat at times, but I think his
jarring style has more to do with his cabaret like appoach to singing.
-JC
WWise72606
> may make it seem like his pitch is sharp. He sounds fine to me
Perfect pitch has to do with note and key recognition, not how in tune one
sings. Sammy could sing both sharp and flat at times, but I think his
jarring style has more to do with his cabaret like appoach to singing.
-JC
>><BR><BR>
I worked with Sammy Davis, he sang in a very musical way. Sam had great pitch,
rhythm and a sense of the lyrics that was easily equal to Sinatra's. His charts
were written by the best of the day. His was a fun act to play trumpet on.
The guy did it all!
Wilmer
JC Martin
I absolutely agree Wilmer. But Sammy also had a unique style in which he
played around slightly with pitch. He also got a little lazier in the
70's when he started sing pop and blaxploitation sides.
-JC
--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/
WWise72606
played around slightly with pitch. He also got a little lazier in the
Check out Sammy with Basie.
Wilmer
Mark Bradley
friend that was raving about him and I must amdmit that I had an
attitude that many people (especially of the baby boom generation) may
have of Sammy... sort of a novelty act, Vegas fluff, all the hokey
stuff about being in the rat pack baloney-- not to be taken that
seriously as a performer, not the least of which is because how most
people remember him... as the person that tortured us with "The Candy
Man" (now used as an interrogation device in Iraqi prisons, I
believe). But-- the more I heard him he started making a believer
out of me. The guy could indeed sing his butt off! Argueably one
of greatest singers of his generation. Check out the compilation "The
Wham of Sam" on Warner Bros. It's an awesome display of talent.
Bobby Knight
wrote:
>
I did several albums with him. Once in a while his pitch varied a
little, but one shouldn't say that he consistantly sang sharp. He
didn't have perfect pitch, but he had good ears and swung his ass off
(what there was of it).
bk
PIANORUTH
80's...he knocked me out! In fact, I have often mentioned to other musician
friends
how his voice was better in person than on recordings...talk about pitch! He
was
a marvel!
You quote an old addage...
"you had to be there"!
Frank D
Exactly. Some people interpret a bright timbre with being sharp, and a
dark sound with being flat.
Hans Christian Dörrscheidt
Mark Bradley <mtbr...@sbcglobal.net> schrieb in im Newsbeitrag:
a94cda4c.0408...@posting.google.com...
[snip]
> Check out the compilation "The
> Wham of Sam" on Warner Bros. It's an awesome display of talent.
I'll second that. Great compilation! Band swings like crazy (Marty Paich
combo with Mel Lewis on drums and all those other good guys), and Sammy's
singing is great, too.
HCD
nine...@grandecom.net
his voice was better in person than on recordings...talk about pitch!
I've found this to be true of so many musicians. It's enough to make one
hate recordings, though I do love listening to them.
I can only imagine based on the difference in Dexter Gordon, Sarah Vaughan,
Count Basie, Sonny Rollins, Billy Eckstine, Joe Williams, etc.,
live vs. their recordings how good people like Louis, Fats and Billie
Holiday must have been.
It's most depressing when you confront the nagging issue that many people
feel CDs are music. I was stunned to discover an adult college student
in my Intro to the Fine Arts class who had never listened to any piano music
in person in her life. Needless to say, she was more than a bit stunned.
I don't intend this to start a war or anything of the sort. I just maintain
that CDs are one thing, and music in person is quite another.
Jazzcorner
Is there any information available from which album the track "I`m a
brassband" comes from?
It was reissued on a compilation CD on the Garland label (GRZ 018)
It clearly shows he was the fastest gun in the RATPACK.
Nobody could challenge himin doing such songs..
W.B.
"Hans Christian Dörrscheidt" <clarin...@gmx.de> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:2o46ldF...@uni-berlin.de...
WWise72606
brassband" comes from?
It was reissued on a compilation CD on the Garland label (GRZ 018)
It clearly shows he was the fastest gun in the RATPACK.
Nobody could challenge himin doing such songs..
Sammy's band when I played with them-
George Rhodes-Music Director
Mike Silva-Drums
Renauld Jones,Jr- Trumpet
Johnnie( "One More Tine") Mendoza- Congas
It was more than 40 years ago...............I remember it well:-}
Wilmer
PAUL MACCA
>that CDs are one thing, and music in person is quite another.
>
Of course, you're right. I think the misconception that John Q. Public faces
is a what constitutes a "live music" experience. Is it going down to their
local concert hall to hear an unamplified jazz festival? Or, if it is as I
suspect, a growing number of people whose idea of "concert sound" is what they
hear at an arena/stadium show? (Gawd, I can remember how awful Steely Dan
sounded on their last tour.) Or the heavily processed surround sound they get
from watching a concert DVD on their home theater system?
Zoot
i think it's fantastic what we can do with electronics from recording
to midi to synth sampling but when the space ships land and it becomes
my job to impress the little greenies how worthwhile we are our first
stop will be at a 9' grand.
PIANORUTH
I have! He was breathtaking...one of the all time greats!!! I have often
commented
on that live concert at SPAC in Saratoga, New York. He had just gotten over
a case of pneumonia, and sounded
out of this world! I will never forget this
outdoor concert! This was back in the
late 70's, and to this day, I consider
Sammy one of best singers I have ever
heard live!