Details

One of Sammy Davis, Jr.’s favourite places to travel to was Australia. He visited twice in 1959, returned in 1963, then visited again for tours in 1970, 1977 and 1979. In 1978 he attended the 20th Annual Logie Awards (the Australian equivalent of the Emmys) and presented the Gold Logie for the Most Popular Personality on Australian Television to the host of Blankety Blanks, Graham Kennedy. Throughout the 1980s Sammy was a regular visitor, and assisted with the long-running Channel Seven Perth Telethon in both 1982 and 1983.

In 1977 Sammy had recorded a live album from his performances at the Sydney Opera House (released on RCA internationally as In Person: Australia ’77 and on Warner/Curb in the United States as A Live Performance Of His Greatest Hits). Sammy evidently appreciated the experience of recording the album in Sydney because two years later in late October 1979, he arranged for another live album to be recorded from his shows at the Opera House. The album was titled Hearin’ Is Believin’ and was released by RCA in Australia, Japan and Europe.

On this release, Sammy’s more familiar repertoire of songs were eschewed for different material. The choice was eclectic instead, ranging from jazz classics like “Bye Bye Blackbird”, to standards like “Begin The Beguine”, numbers from musicals like “After Today” from Dr. Dolittle, pop songs such as Barry Manilow’s hit “I Write The Songs”, and the pop rock of Blood, Sweat & Tears’ “Holy John”. Unfortunately, similar to his 1977 live album, there were no monologue and little of Sammy’s patter with the audience was captured.

By far the most impressive and noteworthy inclusion on the album is the eight-minute-long tribute medley to The Beatles. It was the only time Sammy ever laid down anything by the Fab Four on vinyl, although he had been including a Beatles medley in his live act on-and-off since 1970. Tastefully arranged by Sammy’s musical director George Rhodes, the medley is built around George Harrison’s “Something” and finishes with a lengthy denouement in which Sammy scats and whistles back-and-forth with the flute soloist.

Whenever he was down under, Sammy would regularly perform on a talk/variety show hosted by Don Lane, an American-born performer who had come to know Sammy personally while appearing as a headline act in Las Vegas in the early 1970s. Lane moved to Australia in 1975 and The Don Lane Show became a permanent fixture on Australian television for the next eight years. Sammy’s appearances (sometimes surprising Lane himself) became infamous for running long. Often the show would be pushed well past midnight as Sammy would choose to sing, tap, play instruments or duet with Don – for however long he wanted. 

A week after the concert from which these recordings were taken, Sammy performed at Festival Hall in Melbourne. Australia’s Nine Network broadcast a television special of his performance there, hosted by Don Lane, which has been released on DVD as Sammy Davis, Jr. Live In Australia 1979. It is indicative of the comprehensive nature of Sammy’s repertoire at the time that there is precious little overlap between the content of the two performances, despite them being only a week apart. A listener to Hearin’ Is Believin’ would have received a totally different experience to the viewer on TV. 

It was no exaggeration that you could attend a Sammy Davis, Jr. performance every night of the week and never see the same show twice – this was one of the many factors that went into making Sammy a peerless live performer throughout his career. Hearin’ Is Believin’ is a curious and rewarding snapshot of that talent at work in 1979.