Sammy gave me one of my first serious lessons in life, which was about death. He was on some show doing “Mr. Bojangles,” and I got the hang of it and sang along. After his performance, I had a little talk with my mother. There’s a lyric where he says that “his dog up and died,” and I was unclear on the concept. I had lost my grandparents at that point, but what did that mean, really? Where were they? She talked it through with me, and I understood, as best as I could at age 2 or whatever (which maybe is better than I understand it now, even).