Sam's 'Mood to Be Wooed' Plus Singles

With this LP, one of the most dynamic of all performers, Sammy Davis, Jr., turned reflective for the first time. For Mood to Be Wooed, a 1957 Decca release, the singer is backed only with a solo guitar, played by noted studio musician Mundell Lowe.

Davis returned to this concept in 1966 for a better-known Reprise album, albeit with a new song list. There, he was accompanied by Laurindo Almeida.

This post combines the Decca LP with six single sides from the same label that haven't had an official re-release for several decades.

Mundell Lowe

For his Decca repertoire, Davis turned to his great friend Frank Sinatra for inspiration. Most of the songs on the LP are associated with Frank. He had recorded one number ("Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered") only a few months earlier in conjunction with his lead role in the film of Pal Joey. Jimmy Van Heusen wrote "I Could Have Told You" for a 1953 Sinatra single. Frank had featured three of the other songs on his moody 1955 LP In the Wee Small Hours - including "This Love of Mine," which he co-wrote. And he had recorded several of the other numbers back in the 1940s.

I also suspect, without any evidence, that Davis' sparse accompaniment was inspired by Sinatra's chamber music LP, Close to You, recorded in 1956 with the Hollywood String Quartet and a few winds and brass.

Sam had an extroverted style, so even in Mood to Be Wooed he never seems as inward as Frank was in the latter's more subdued recordings during this period. In "What Is There to Say" (not really a ballad anyway), Davis can't resist belting out "what is there to DO-HEE-YOU-HOO-HOO" in the climax of the song. A similar use of melisma, a stylistic trademark of his, pops up several times in this collection.

But don't let me make too much of these matters. Mood to Be Wooed is a very good record, well sung and nicely accompanied by a talented guitarist. (FYI - two Mundell Lowe LPs appeared here in 2019, courtesy of David Federman.)

Davis at about the time the LP was recorded

Bonus Singles

The bonus singles all date from 1955. I remastered the files from lossless originals found on Internet Archive. These are all fast-paced numbers with big-band backings, and provide quite a contrast to the Davis-Lowe LP.

"It's Bigger Than You and Me" was a Styne-Robin song written for the musical film version of My Sister Eileen. There it was introduced by Jack Lemmon, who made several albums as a singer and pianist. He is, however, no match for Sammy, who is fully in his element, and enjoying terrific backing by Sy Oliver. This single was apparently released before the film, which the label identifies with its working title, Here Comes Eileen.

The flip side of "It's Bigger" was a cover of an early Gilbert Becaud song with new English lyrics, called "Back Track!" The exclamation point is fully warranted as Davis is at his exuberant best.

Bob Russell's "Circus" is a standard pop number of the time, well backed by Oliver. Another ephemeral number is "Dangerous," which was co-written by guitarist Billy Mure. The bombastic arrangement is by Morty Stevens.

Davis returned to Sinatra territory with his cover of "Adelaide," which Frank sang in the then-current film version of Guys and Dolls. This piece is much better suited to the Voice in character as Nathan Detroit than to Mr. Entertainment.

The final number is "All About Love," which Josef Myrow and Mack Gordon wrote for Eddie Fisher to perform in Bundle of Joy, the film Fisher made with then-wife Debbie Reynolds. It's a tricky melody, which Davis just about negotiates successfully. In truth, the performance and the Morty Stevens arrangement are better than the song.

The sound on the LP and singles is good; please forgive some slight background noise at the opening of the album. The download includes several short reviews and a vintage ad.

My friend John Morris asked for this transfer a while back; happy to provide it for him and anyone else interested.