"The Candy Man" | ||||
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Single by Sammy Davis, Jr. | ||||
from the album Sammy Davis Jr. Now | ||||
B-side | "I Want to Be Happy" | |||
Released | April 1972 | |||
Format | 7" | |||
Recorded | 1971 | |||
Genre | Vocal jazz, swing, traditional pop | |||
Length | 3:10 | |||
Label | MGM | |||
Writer(s) | Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley | |||
Producer(s) | Don Costa, Michael Viner, Mike Curb | |||
Sammy Davis, Jr. singles chronology | ||||
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"The Candy Man" (or alternatively, "The Candy Man Can") is a song which originally appeared in the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. It was written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley specifically for the film. Although the original book by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) contains lyrics adapted for other songs in the film, the lyrics to "The Candy Man" do not appear in the book. The soundtrack version of the song was sung by Aubrey Woods, who played Bill the candy store owner in the film.
The song is best known through Sammy Davis, Jr.'s version, which appears on the Sammy Davis Jr. Now album. Though he admitted to hating the song, finding it too saccharine, it became his only number-one hit, spending three weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart starting June 10, 1972 and two weeks at the top of the easy listening chart.Billboard ranked it as the No. 5 song for 1972. The track featured vocals by the Mike Curb Congregation, who had earlier released their own unsuccessful version of the song. It is recognized as one of Davis's signature songs, and "The Candy Man" came to be his moniker later in his career.
In the 1980s the tune was adapted as a commercial jingle ("The Sunshine Baker Man", sung by Davis) for Sunshine Biscuits.
Sloppy Seconds included a cover of the song on their 1989 LP Destroyed.