Death of the World's Greatest Entertainer

Townhall.com ^ | July 16, 2009 | Larry Elder

[ETL]

The real ‘King’, Elvis, crossed-over gospel, rock, country, etc, etc, etc with hits in each.

Also Elvis could really sing. No one in their right mind would ever claim Jackson was more than a mediocre singer.

[Bobalu]

2 clips from my youtubes.

From the Dean Martin celebrity roast of Sammy.
Frank Gorshin entertains as Sammy, Dean and Rickles have a great time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OrE83eKGtk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEtDidm0pRE

[Venturer]

Pretty simply put, there are many stars more talented in more area’s than Michael Jackson, and most of them were decent human beings and not freaks.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Jackson wasn't a bad singer, just a very strange man, and certainly not as versatile as SDJ.

[NoLibZone]

Best of the best.

Imagine the current crop of “stars” such as Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Colin Farrel, etc being as multi- talented as any of of those in that pic!

PS where’s Joey?

[Captain Jack Aubrey]

I met Sammy once. It was under the grandstand at the Republican National Convention in Miami in 1972. Sammy was there as a Nixon supporter. He seemed very nice and genuine. It was quite a thrill.

[norge]

Before a show, Davis would pick out his first couple of songs, and then, after getting a feel for the audience, he would ad-lib the rest -- comedic patter, songs, impressions, playing the trumpet -- sensing what the crowd wanted. Boyar once accompanied Davis to a gig where the entertainer's band failed to show. "What are you going to do?" asked Boyar. Davis replied, "If I can't go out there with a comb and tissue paper and entertain those people, then I'm not the entertainer people say I am." Davis literally went onstage with a comb and tissue paper, captivating the audience for more than two hours. He did it, as always, without choreographers, directors, backup dancers or comedy writers.

I remember a performance in Cleveland in the late '60s, early 70's, Sammy had two shows on a Saturday night, the latter starting at 11. He did the whole thing, talked, danced, sang and chatted ad lib...until 3 AM.

It was the most memorable performance I have ever seen, and while I'm sure some people had to leave, there weren't many who did. He was captivating. My wife and I still talk about it.

[ETL]

[MJ] a very strange man

You can say that again...

"Living with Michael Jackson" [MJ on sleeping with children: It's very charming. It's very sweet]
MJHouse.com ^

Transcript of Bashir interview. Video of it also.

Excerpt:

Jackson: "When you say bed, you're thinking sexual, they make that sexual, it's not sexual." "We're going to sleep, I tuck them in and I put a little like, er, music on and when it's story time I read a book." "We go to sleep with the fireplace on. I give them hot milk, you know, we have cookies, it's very charming, it's very sweet, it's what the whole world should do."

[snip]

Bashir: "Did you ever sleep in the bed with them?"

Jackson: "No. But I have slept in a bed with many children. "I slept in a bed with all of them when Macauley Culkin was little: Kieran Culkin would sleep on this side, Macauley Culkin was on this side, his sisters in there...we all would just jam in the bed, you know. "We would wake up like dawn and go in the hot air balloon, you know, we had the footage. I have all that footage."

Bashir: "But is that right Michael?"

Jackson: "It's very right. It's very loving, that's what the world needs now, more love more heart."

Bashir: "The world needs a man who's 44 who's sleeping in a bed with children?"

Jackson: "No, you're making it - no, no you're making it all wrong ..."

Bashir: "Well, tell me, help me ..."

Jackson: "Because what's wrong with sharing a love? You don't sleep with your kids? Or some other kid who needs love who didn't have a good childhood?"

Bashir: "No, no I don't. I would never dream ..."

Jackson: "That's because you've never been where I've been mentally ..."

Posted on Friday, June 26, 2009 10:03:14 AM ET by ETL:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2279938/posts

[ETL]

[MJ] a very strange man

Jackson: "When you say bed, you're thinking sexual, they make that sexual, it's not sexual."

[4yearlurker]

PBS played a concert staring Bobby Darin. He could sing,dance,joke,play the harmonica & piano. I was quite impressed with his talent. Much more so than than the”King of Pop.”

[relictele]

Someone once said that Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire's famous dance partner, did everything he did -- except backward and wearing high heels.

Enough of this lazy, oft-repeated but inaccurate meme.

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

Fourth, if you look at the number of albums Michael Jackson sold versus the population and compared this to Elvis or the Beattles, you will see he was not that big of a hit.

All good points, but on this one I am going to call you. Although from a pure population viewpoint you are correct, it would be a statistical lie to assume that the correct number to use would be total population divided by number of records sold.

First of all, you need to account for the fact that certain age groups buy music and certain ones do not. There are a lot more 60-80 year-olds now than their were during Elvis/Beatles era as a percentage of the population and they tend to buy less music than 18 - 35 year-olds who were a larger portion of the population (baby boomers) when the other artists were recording. In addition you need to make an allowance for timeframe. My guess is running the numbers would have Jackson closer than you claim.

I don't dispute your overall point, but as a conservative, I think it is important to be honest with numbers and how they are logically derived.

[BallyBill]

After seeing MJ burned scalp in that video, I have a lot more sympathy for the guy. That was absolutely horrendous. I've lived in constant pain for well over 20 years and I would not trade pains with him even if I only had to endure that pain for 6 months.

[Hot Tabasco]

I had forgotten Sammy Davis Jr was black!

You know, I did too! In fact, this summer when I joined a new softball team where one of the managers is black, we were sitting at a picnic table following our first game and I made a stupid racist remark about a black kid I saw throwing rocks off an I-94 overpass in Detroit.

A teammate next to me kicked me under the table and that's when I realized Don the manager was sitting at the other end of the table when I made the remark. I don't know if he heard me or not but I felt absolutely awful. The point I'm trying to make here is that I never once considered Don as being black.........he's just a guy I'm playing ball for.

[reagan_fanatic]

Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis and Dean Martin were pros. The older I get the more I appreciate those guys.

Indeed.

The comedy bits involving Sammy, Frank and Dean were priceless. And they were funny - there was no need for crass sex jokes and profanity. When Berry Gordy referred to MJ as 'the greatest entertainer that ever lived', I winced. Apparently people like Sammy don't count.

[PGalt]

Great article, great link, great thread, OUTSTANDING entertainer...

Sammy Davis does Michael Jackson’s “Bad”...here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agYS1za9TNc&feature=related

R.I.P. Sammy Davis Jr.

[relictele]

First, his recording success was in a single genre....pop.

That's pop as in soul, rock, R&B, disco, etc. Hardly a single genre. He crossed many musical lines at different ages with different musicians and producers as a solo act and as part of an ensemble.

Second, Michael Jackson’s hits came right as the US was coming out of a deep recession and the Vietnam era. The country was hungry for something entertaining and Michael Jackson was absolutely that....at the time.

Nonsense. "I Want You Back" was release Dec 1969 and went number one in Jan 1970. The Vietnam War was still in full flower including Nixon's bombing campaign.

Did the country want entertainment? Don't they always? But the J5 came in on the tail end of Beatlemania, the British Invasion and an already-solid 5-6 years of nonstop Motown hits. Hardly a musical vacuum despite Colonel Tom Parker's attempts to ruin Elvis' career and musical legacy up until 1968.

Third, Michael Jackson’s hits were the last big hits of the non-download era

Napster was released in June 1999 and brought file-sharing to the masses. Fringe technologies aside, anything release prior to 1999 can be considered pre-download-era. Jackson's last #1 was 1995 and the one prior to that was in 1991 which means a gap of 4 or 8 years. Plenty of time for other #1 hits and artists. Let's pick one - Madonna - at random. It seems she has sold a record or two including 'big hits' well after MJ's last.

As for 'no more hit albums' tell it to AC/DC who have sold shedloads of their Black Ice album release in late 2008...mostly through Wal-Mart! As of May 2009 the album has SOLD 8 million copies worldwide - if that isn't a hit album what is?

Fourth, if you look at the number of albums Michael Jackson sold versus the population and compared this to Elvis or the Beattles, you will see he was not that big of a hit.

Ludicrous on its face.

The top 3 of all time are the Beatles with 1 Billion+, Elvis Presley with 1 Billion+, and in third place - wait for it - Michael Jackson with 750 Million! Definitely not that big of a hit eh? Sold a record or two to his friends and family, right? After all he's only in third place.

Just some ‘facts’.

Thank you for using quotes because those 'facts' are farcical, fanciful flights of your imagination.

[MarkL]

I remember thinking the VERY same thing when all the hoopla a about MJ being the “greatest performer, ever” was being bandied about.

I am young enough to remember seeing Sammy Davis, Jr on TV shows and specials, and when I was very young (only 6 or 8 at the time), I was lucky enough to see him live on stage. I don’t remember much about his show, other than the fact that I didn’t want to go (but my father made me), and that I was amazed at how entertaining he was, and how much I enjoyed the show. I was a fan from that point on.

Mark

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Great post!

[Carley]

I saw Sammy Davis,Jr. on Broadway in Mr. Wonderful.

And he was!