Black Coffee (1948 song)

Last updated

"Black Coffee" is a song with music by Sonny Burke and words by Paul Francis Webster. The song was published in 1948.

Contents

Sarah Vaughan charted with this song in 1949 on Columbia; arranged by Joe Lipman, it is considered one of the most notable versions. [1]

Peggy Lee recorded the song on May 4, 1953, [2] and it was included on her first LP record Black Coffee .

It was included in the soundtrack for the 1960 Columbia Pictures feature Let No Man Write My Epitaph , recorded on Verve by Ella Fitzgerald, also in 1960. The version by Ella Fitzgerald was a favourite song of Polish Nobel Prize laureate Wisława Szymborska who chose it as the song to be performed at her funeral. [3]

Relationship to song "What's Your Story, Morning Glory?"

"Black Coffee"'s first two measures are nearly identical to Mary Lou Williams' 1938 piece "What's Your Story Morning Glory", and both songs share melodic motifs drawn from blues (including a strong melodic emphasis on the flat third and flat seventh intervals, known as "blue notes"). Williams felt that Burke and Webster plagiarized her composition, and reportedly considered taking legal action over the matter. [4] The two songs have significant melodic and rhythmic differences after the first two measures of their respective 'A' sections, and "Black Coffee" has a unique bridge section that has no parallel in "Morning Glory". However, during her piano solo, Williams plays both the identical feel and harmonies that appear on "Black Coffee," with dominant chords moving up and down by half steps in lieu of staying on the tonic chord. While not a carbon copy, Burke and Webster arguably picked sections of "What's Your Story Morning Glory" to string together to create a new song. Coincidentally, jazz trumpeter Paul Webster (no relation to lyricist Paul Francis Webster) was given co-writer credit for "Morning Glory" by Williams when she published her song in 1938.

Other Recordings

Other versions of "Black Coffee" were performed by:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Witherspoon</span> American jump blues singer

James Witherspoon was an American jump blues singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thad Jones</span> American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader

Thaddeus Joseph Jones was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader who has been called "one of the all-time greatest jazz trumpet soloists".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mel Lewis</span> American drummer

Melvin Sokoloff, known professionally as Mel Lewis, was an American jazz drummer, session musician, professor, and author. He received fourteen Grammy Award nominations.

"All of You" is a popular song written by Cole Porter and published in 1954.

<i>Black Coffee</i> (Peggy Lee album) 1956 studio album by Peggy Lee

Black Coffee is the first album by Peggy Lee. It was released in the 10-inch format in 1953 by Decca. In 1956, at the request of the record label, Lee recorded four more songs for a reissue of the album in the 12-inch LP format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Grey</span> American jazz trombonist

Al Grey was an American jazz trombonist who was a member of the Count Basie orchestra. He was known for his plunger mute technique and wrote an instructional book in 1987 called Plunger Techniques.

"That's All" is a 1952 song written by Alan Brandt with music by Bob Haymes. It has been covered by many jazz and blues artists. The first recording, by Nat King Cole in 1953, achieved some popularity but was not among that year's top 20 songs. It was Bobby Darin's version from his 1959 album of the same title that introduced the song to a wider audience, and it has since become a jazz standard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny "Hammond" Smith</span> American jazz organist (1933–1997)

John Robert "Johnny Hammond" Smith was an American soul jazz and hard bop organist. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he was a renowned player of the Hammond B-3 organ so earning "Hammond" as a nickname, which also avoided his being confused with jazz guitarist Johnny Smith though this could lead to him being confused with Jimmy Smith (musician), another Hammond great.

Richard Francis Wyands was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, best known for his work as a side-man.

James "Osie" Johnson was a jazz drummer, arranger and singer.

<i>Around Midnight</i> 1960 studio album by Julie London

Around Midnight is an LP album by Julie London, released by Liberty Records under catalog number LRP-3164 as a monophonic recording in 1960, and later in stereo under catalog number LST-7164 the same year. It was released a number of times on CD from 1998.

"Mean to Me" is a popular song with music by Fred E. Ahlert and lyrics by Roy Turk, published in 1929. Hit versions that year were by Ruth Etting and by Helen Morgan. Ben Bernie and the Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra also recorded what might be the first male version in February 1929 with vocals by Scrappy Albert.

Georges Arvanitas was a French jazz pianist and organist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Jones (pianist)</span> American jazz pianist

James Henry Jones was an American jazz pianist and arranger.

<i>This Is Criss!</i> 1966 studio album by Sonny Criss

This is Criss! is an album by saxophonist Sonny Criss recorded in 1966 and released on the Prestige label.

"I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me" is a 1926 popular song composed by Jimmy McHugh, with lyrics by Clarence Gaskill.

<i>Wisława</i> (album) 2013 studio album by Tomasz Stańkos New York Quartet

Wisława is an album by Polish jazz trumpeter and composer Tomasz Stańko's New York Quartet. Dedicated to poet and Nobel Prize-winner Wisława Szymborska, the album was recorded in 2012 and released on the ECM label the following year.

<i>This Is Darin</i> 1960 studio album by Bobby Darin

This Is Darin is an album by Bobby Darin, released in 1960. It was on the Billboard charts for 50 weeks and peaked at number six, his highest charting album. It also reached number four in the United Kingdom. Richard Wess arranged and conducted the material for the album.

<i>At Newport 63</i> (Joe Williams album) 1963 live album by Joe Williams

At Newport '63 is a 1963 live album by jazz singer Joe Williams, recorded at the 1963 Newport Jazz Festival.

References

  1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 . Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p.  431. ISBN   0-89820-083-0.
  2. ↑ "Peggy Lee Discography". peggyleediscography.com. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  3. ↑ PAP (corporate author) (February 2012). "Wisława Szymborska spoczęła na Cmentarzu Rakowickim". Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish).{{cite journal}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  4. ↑ Friedwalk, Will (2017). The great jazz and pop vocal albums. Pantheon Books. ISBN   978-0-30-737907-8.
  5. ↑ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. 1962. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  6. ↑ "1995 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award Winners". The Contemporary A Cappella Society. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  7. ↑ "Kimiko Itoh – Once You've Been in Love (2004, Digipak, CD)". Discogs . 25 November 2004.
  8. ↑ "Anita Eccleston Trio - Jazz".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.