Baretta's Theme

Music that was used to soundtrack tv shows and movies in the seventies just has some extremely funky and unique grooves. Sammy Davis Jr’s version of Eye on the Sparrow aka the theme from Baretta is a great example of the type of bangers that were being pumped out by the likes of David Axelrod, Lalo Shifrin, Dennis Coffey etc.

PS. And since we’re getting close to MLK day here’s some extra history for you from the fine folks at Wikipedia:

The theme song [for Baretta], “Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow”, was written by Dave Grusin and Morgan Ames; initially an instrumental, lyrics were added in later seasons that were sung by Sammy Davis, Jr. Every episode of Baretta began with the song, which contained the motto, “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.” According to [Robert] Blake, studio executives did not want Davis’s vocals for the theme song for fear that audiences would think Baretta was a black series. Blake threatened to leave production if Davis’s recording was rejected. His bosses relented.