Sammy Davis to Mama Cass: “Do your thing.”

“I was just thinking,” Sammy Davis muses, “about how beautiful it is when you just do your thing and you believe in it like you do.”

Bingo. Sam nails it on the nose. Mama Cass Elliot nods thoughtfully, graciously. Who wouldn’t?

This conversation is getting heavy. A little too heavy.

To lighten the mood, Sam changes the subject, as only Sam can. “Hey, incidentally, may I compliment you and may I say that that’s a beautiful outfit? Where did you get it?”

A fair question. It’s only natural for Sammy to wonder where Mama Cass bought her dress. Makes sense.

It is a beautiful outfit. Undeniably. Yet Cass makes an attempt at a weak joke about her body image. It appears that she got the dress in Hong Kong, and it was made, according to her (or The Hollywood Palace writers), by 10,000 exhausted serfs.

The audience burst into applause, their canned enthusiasm acknowledging that Cass is acknowledging her plus size, and brave enough to joke about it.

Not cool, Cass! Didn’t you just sing about making your own kind of music and singing your own special song? Well, didn’t ya? And didn’t Sammy reinforce that doing your own thing is beautiful? Then what’s with the cheap joke? You are above this. And I don’t think Sammy appreciated it either. And you don’t bring Sammy down.

Nevertheless, Sammy continues the uncomfortable exchange with an incredible proclamation and offer: “Hey, how about if we got something on? I dig this kind of sound, and this kind of music.”

Mama agrees semi-excitedly but sincerely: “Yeah, you do it good too. I was watching you in a couple shows. You really get it on.”

This is quite a compliment, coming from a genuine member of The Now Generation.

What comes next is natural, flowing, rational, even if it’s backed by a ring-a-ding, adult-oriented orchestra: “I Dig Rock and Roll Music.”

Together, they put a new dress on the old girl. They take the well-worn song up a notch, paying tribute to the likes of James Brown and Aretha Franklin. Love ya both, but take note: James and and Aretha are not rock and roll; they’re soul. But with these two talents onstage, who’s counting? Other than me, I mean.

It’s not as if Sammy needs to prove a damn thing to anybody, but he gets down and begs like James. Mama Cass keeps up. As Sammy would comment, it’s a beautiful thing.

The irony: the two of them are doing their own thing, but together. If you can follow that in any way.

In just one show, Sammy Davis and Cass Elliot have come so far in getting together, doing their own thing, and making it happen. Only moments earlier, Sammy introduced Cass this way:

“Ladies and gentlemen, you all know the most fantastic lady of The Now Sound: The inimitable Miss Mama Cass.”

The audience recognizes her inimitable-ness immediately and breaks into applause.

Sammy gives her an encouraging piece of advice before she offers up her song: “Do your thing.”

This advice he gives humbly, modestly, but with great sincerity.

The song Cass shares, called “Make Your Own Kind of Music,” offers timeless advice:

Nobody can tell you
There’s only one song worth singin’ *
They may try to sell ya **
‘Cause it hangs them up
To see someone like you.

And, if that weren’t enough to chew on, there’s more sage wisdom:

Just to do your thing’s the hardest thing to do.

Amen? Mama Cass, take your own advice and nix the fat jokes.

* Cass cuts the “g” off of “singing,” to make it sound more folksy, common, relatable, simple, humble.
** “You” becomes “ya.” See above note.