Sammy Davis Jr – I’ve Gotta Be Me / Bein’ Natural Bein’ Me 45 (Charly) 7″ Vinyl

In February 1968, a new musical titled Golden Rainbow opened on Broadway, starring showbiz couple Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé. Lawrence’s character Larry Davis, a down-on-his-luck Las Vegas hotelier, sings a rousing Act I closer titled “I’ve Gotta Be Me”. Lawrence recorded this number for his label Calendar but encouraged his friend Sammy Davis, Jr. to record it as well, later saying: “I thought this song would be great for Sammy Davis on so many levels. The lyric was now interpreted by a black man in society at that time, this man who is different than anybody else. It was a bigger statement coming from him than it was from me.”