Sammy Davis Jr. appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show many times in his career, but none were quite like this. In a newly shared clip, the musician and his band take the stage for a jam session with Davis swinging behind the drum set.
“I asked Mr. Sullivan if we could do the kind of thing that we do at a nightclub or in theaters,” Davis tells the audience at the top of the clip. From there, he gives his band some light ribbing: “Sinatra might be my leader, but I’m your leader,” the musician quips to conductor and pianist George Rhodes before hopping behind the drum set. Always the showman, Davis switches from drumsticks to brushes before abandoning the set and moving over to the vibraphone—all in under four minutes.
Davis’ appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show saw him showcase a range of his many gifts. Other times he sang, and at least one time he performed a tap dance with his father and uncle. But Davis’ second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1951 was a moment that helped launch him into the supernova he became. “In the middle of our spot, the coaxial cable broke for the first time in television history and every screen in America was blacked out. Only the sound remained on. We didn’t find out about it until we were off the air,” the musician wrote in his autobiography.
Luckily, that night’s act showcased Davis’ impressions, and the tech issue only increased his notoriety. “Ed Sullivan told us he’d book us again, which was gravy, and the next day’s papers were full of stories about what happened. People all over the country were saying, ‘Some guy was on Ed Sullivan’s program when the picture went off, and I’d have sworn it was James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart talking to Edward G. Robinson.’” That was the beginning of a relationship that would take Davis back to The Ed Sullivan Show multiple times throughout the 1950s and 60s, including this clip here.
Watch all the archival videos from The Ed Sullivan Show on the program’s official YouTube channel.