Michael Jackson “You were there” and Sammy Davis Jr performing “Bad”

In 1989, Michael Jackson performed a tribute called “You were there” to Sammy Davis Jr. Within the year Sammy Davis had performed his own BAD tribute in return!

Michael Jackson performed a new song dedicated and written for the entertainer Sammy Davis Jr on 13th November 1989. The show was at the Shrine Auditorium and the event was the Sammy Davis Jr.’s 60th Anniversary celebration. This was a truly star-studded event with performances from Michael, Whitney Houston and many more great artists. Michael, apparently said after the show that it was “Sammy’s song” and that he would never perform the song again (which he didn’t). The song was written by Michael especially about Sammy with Emmy award winning lyricist Alan ‘Buz’ Kohan.

Sammy Davis Jr – a trailblazer

Sammy Davis Jr. was born in 1925 in New York City. He started off in Vaudeville and went on to scale the heights of entertainment along with the Rat pack and Frank Sinatra. If you don’t know anything about him then you should start here. He was the first black artist to break boundaries in the, then, very racist United States and even in his life had many challenges which he had to overcome.

You were there

The song is quite self explanatory, so here are the lyrics:

You were there, before we came.
You took the hurt, you took the shame.
They built the walls to block your way.
You beat them down.
You won the day.
It wasn’t right, it wasn’t fair.
You taught them all.
You made them care.
Yes, you were there, and thanks to you
There’s now a door we all walk through.
And we are here, for all to see
To be the best that we can be.
Yes, I am here….
cause’ you were there

You really get a sense that the audience are listening to every word and they react to each word.

The Performance

We have seen Michael perform here before and this performance was short and sweet. Obviously, 100% live and beautifully executed. This was when Michael looked his best and performed his best. I remember watching this in 1990 on VHS and really, for the first time, seeing Michael with a different, whiter skin tone – I never really noticed so much before. Michael performed a couple of moves and the main move at the end which caused the crowd to go wild.

The Rehearsal

We are fortunate that a small section of Michael’s rehearsal was released. Sung a little bit faster, we see Michael in a large hat, less make up and the same costume

6 months after this tribute Sammy Davis Jr. died of Throat Cancer and two days later the lights of the Las Vegas were darkened in tribute to him.

Sammy Davis Jr. performs BAD in tribute to Michael!

Sammy Davis Jr, performed his own tribute to Michael just before Michael’s tribute to him. It was called “Frank, Liza & Sammy: The Ultimate Event” and was a concert in 1989 which was actually released on VHS. Sammy performed Michael’s hit “BAD!”. It was a kind of comedy sketch but, nevertheless a great performance:

In the introduction to the song Sammy talks about his relationship with Michael Jackson. He say’s that Michael is “more than a friend, like a son”.

I’ve known him since he was six years old and I’ve watched the growth in the man and how he’s grown as a performer, he’s fantastic, I don’t think he’s scratched the surface of where he’s gonna wind up in this business

Of course, he was right. Sammy Davis had a crazy life, so make sure to read up on him! Two classic performances by two classic entertainers.

By Anthony King (c)

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