Ok, so last week I caught cold at the same time my allergies went out of control, which aggravated my asthma. Needless to say, I was miserable. But I still had time to listen to the music that I assigned myself.
Last week’s album was Sammy Davis, Jr. & the Mike Curb Congregation – Best of.
First off let me explain why I picked this up in the first place. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I’m a huge fan of television theme songs. I’ve got all of those TVT compilations. Anyway, my best friend Jason and I became completely infatuated with the theme song for Baretta. Basically, it’s just an abbreviated version of Sammy singing “Keep Your Eye on the Sparrowâ€, but it’s the hardest Sammy’s ever sounded. The song rocked.
Plus it ended posing the question “where can I go where the cold wind won’t blow?†And I really needed to know the answer.
Flash forward to me, flush with cash, at The Soundgarden. I see this album, check the track listing and see “Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow’ clocking in at 2:14! I was so there!
Now onto the actual album.
With eleven tracks, no track is over four minutes long and only three break the three-minute mark. It’s a very brief affair.
Obviously “Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow†is the high point of the album. But Sammy also includes two other TV themes, making for a TV theme trifecta. “Movin’ on Up†(a.k.a. the theme to The Jeffersons) is pretty much a paint-by-numbers affair. Yeah, it’s jazzed up (or rather discoed up), but it’s really nothing new.
“Those Were the Daysâ€, the theme to All in the Family, is a nutty thing to hear. It’s weird because hearing Sammy joyfully singing the words really shows what a schmuck Archie Bunker was. I know it’s his character, but Archie was saying some really gully stuff in that theme.
Nothing else really stands out. Except for the disco version of “That Old Black Magic.†That sucked. As a guy who digs TV theme songs (and dreams of having a TV theme cover band) I dig the album, but it’s hard to find anything redeeming here.
I really hope I bought this used.
