Something for Everyone

AMG Review of Something for Everyone

Andrew Hamilton
All Music Guide

Sammy Davis, Jr. and other MOR artists signed by Motown, failed to chart. The label didn't release any singles from this LP and that didn't help. A bigger problem, however, was that other than carrying the Motown logo, the platter had nothing to do with the Motown sound. The label made no attempt to craft songs for Sammy like Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff later did for Jerry Butler, Joe Simon, the O'Jays, Wilson Pickett, Dusty Springfied, and others. This is a typical Easy Listening album, produced by Jimmy Bowen that's not remotely related to Motown. When Gamble & Huff produced Lou Rawls the tracks differed from anything Rawls had done, but they tailored them to his voice and style, and used the same musicians and arrangers that they used for Archie Bell & the Drells, and others - this wasn't even recorded at Motown. Still, Something For Everybody is no dog, it's just not innovative. Sammy smokes "Spinning Wheel," "Wichita Lineman," and "In The Ghetto," in his impressive, brassy masculine tenor. He does a couple of Motown remakes, the popular "You Made Me So Very Happy," and "For Once In My Life." The most adventurous cut is a rendition of Tommy Tuckers' "Hi-Heel Sneakers."