"That Old Black Magic Sinatra" Frank Sinatra, also known as Ol' Blue Eyes, was a legendary American singer and actor who captivated audiences with his silky voice and charismatic stage presence. One of his most famous songs, "That Old Black Magic," became an enduring classic that showcased his incredible talent. Released in 1961, "That Old Black Magic" was originally written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for the film "Star Spangled Rhythm" in 1942. Sinatra's rendition of the song took it to a whole new level, elevating it into a timeless masterpiece. The song tells the story of the hold that love has over a person, describing it as a bewitching and irresistible force. Sinatra's smooth vocal delivery, combined with the lush arrangements, perfectly captured the essence of the lyrics, immersing the listener in a world of enchantment and desire.

That old black magic sinatra

This gem of a song, “That Old Black Magic,” written by composer Harold Arlen and lyricist Johnny Mercer for the 1942 film Star-Spangled Rhythm was played behind the opening credits and sung by relative unknown Johnny Johnston. Susan Sackett in Hollywood Sings! An Inside Look at Sixty Years of Academy Award-Nominated Songs says, “In a routine that centered mostly around a dance number performed by ballerina Vera Zorina (choreographed by her then-husband, the legendary George Balanchine) Johnston introduced the song.”

The movie was a “feel good” musical intended to entertain troops. With little plot, the movie featured Paramount Studio contract players such as Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Veronica Lake, Paulette Goddard, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Dick Powell and more. The film also introduced another memorable song from the duo of composer Harold Arlen and lyricist Johnny Mercer, “Hit the Road to Dreamland.”

Max Wilk in They’re Playing Our Song: Conversations with America’s Classic Songwriters tells a behind-the-scenes story of how Mercer got the idea for his lyric from Cole Porter’s “You Do Something to Me.” “That one came from one of the early Cole Porter songs I heard when I first came to New York,” Mercer says. “. It had a phrase in it--‘do do that voo -doo that you do so well.’. Anyway, that thing about voodoo must have stuck with me, because I paraphrased it in ‘Old Black Magic.’”

“That Old Black Magic” enjoyed several trips to the charts over an eighteen year period. The Miller aggregation took it to number one for a week in 1943, and it remained on the list for another 18 weeks. Two other band versions charted that same year, one by boogie woogie pianist Freddie Slack that hovered at #10 and the other by Horace Heidt, pianist and radio/TV personality, who took it to #11:

• Glenn Miller and His Orchestra (1943, Skip Nelson and the Modernaires, vocal)
• Freddie Slack and His Orchestra (1943, Margaret Whiting, vocal)
• Horace Heidt and His Orchestra (1943, instrumental)
• Sammy Davis, Jr. (1955, # 13)
• Louis Prima and Keely Smith (1958, #18)
• Bobby Rydell (1961, #21)

The song was nominated for a Best Song Oscar in 1943; however, Jerome Kern’s “The Last Time I Saw Paris” with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II won. Kern thought the Arlen/Mercer song should have won because it was created specifically for a film while his song was interpolated into The Fleet’s In . According to David Ewen in his book Great Men of American Popular Song , Kern felt strongly enough that he urged the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to change the rules, which they did. Subsequently, only songs composed expressly for the screen would be eligible.

In 1959 the Grammy awards were started by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Several categories were established to represent different branches of the industry. The Louis Prima/Keely Smith version of “That Old Black Magic” was voted the Best Performance by a Vocal Group.

Perhaps more than anyone else, singer, night club performer, and Broadway/film star Billy Daniels brought attention to “That Old Black Magic” which he sang in the 1950 movie When You’re Smiling. His up tempo reading of the torch song became his signature song. Others who have performed the song on film include Bing Crosby in Here Come the Waves (1944), Frank Sinatra in Meet Danny Wilson (1952), and Marilyn Monroe in Bus Stop (1956).

Spike Jones and His City Slickers, a profoundly goofy band popular in the ‘40s, desecrated many of the most popular songs of the day to the great amusement of their fans. “Chloe,” “Cocktails for Two,” “Holiday for Strings,” and “That Old Black Magic” were among the songs receiving the Jones touch of madness that included animal sounds, special effects such as breaking glass or jarring bursts from whistles or pistols. Their costumed, on-stage antics were worthy of the best circus clowns. And once a song had been through a Jones arrangement, it was uncertain if it could be taken seriously thereafter.

Fortunately, Arlen’s dramatic and bluesy melody and the exotic nature of Mercer’s lyrics have enabled “That Old Black Magic” to survive Jones’ nutty arrangement. In his book Listening to Classic American Popular Songs Allen Forte points out how well Mercer’s lyrics fit the melody. “The poetic devices flow with the music and even seem often to drive it. The key phrase ‘black magic’ inspires the elevator and tide metaphors and the more immediate physical responses expressed by ‘icy fingers,’ aflame,’ and ‘burning,’ while the unforgettable images of motion, ‘down and down’ and ‘round and round’ perfectly match the melodic contours with which they are associated.” Forte elaborates on how the rhythm of the repeated notes in the song suggests incantation, a perfect fit with Mercer’s “witchcraft” theme. As Philip Furia says in The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: A History of America’s Great Lyricists , “Arlen’s music is rife with repeated notes and octave drops, and Mercer’s phrasing makes the lyric mime the musical motion. ”

Mercer himself recorded a delightful rendition of the song as did vocalists Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Shirley Horn, and most recently Holly Cole. Jazz instrumentalists who have recorded “That Old Black Magic” include Dizzy Gillespie, Erroll Garner, Lionel Hampton, Dave Brubeck, and even expatriate harmonica player Larry Adler (who preferred to call his instrument a mouth organ).

That Old Black Magic

"I played the melody for John. He went away." Mercer took seventy-two bars of music with him and when he returned, he had a song entitled "That Old Black Magic." [some accounts suggest Mercer took those seventy-two bars with him in his head only, having a fantastic retentiveness for music.]

I've always loved Porter--those early songs of his were so clever, and later on his melodies became so rich and full. Anyway that thing about voodoo must have stuck with me, because I paraphrased it in "Old Black Magic" (Wilk, p. 151, soft cover revised edition) .

After we got a script and the spots for the songs were blocked out, we'd get together for an hour or so every day. While Johnny made himself comfortable on the couch, I'd play the tunes for him. He has a wonderfully retentive memory. After I would finish playing the songs, he'd just go away without a comment. I wouldn't hear from him for a couple of weeks, then he'd come around with the completed lyrics (Furia, Skylark, p. 129) .

It sounds as if the words are . . . taking their time, and . . . the melodist is just supplying notes to accommodate Mercer's long-winded poem. But if you separate the elements, you'll see that Johnny is the one who's vamping, virtually ad-libbing extra lines, and the tunesmith is the one writing the poem and providing the continuity and momentum (Sheed, pp. 87-88, hard cover ed.) .

For you're the lover I have waited for,
The mate fate had me created for.

The exquisite multisyllabic end rhymes ("waited for / created for") reinforce the internal rhyme of "mate" and "fate" and lead to the kiss that captures the lover's heart. It is that rare song that conveys all the romantic enchantment of falling passionately in love at the same time that it hints at the tyrannical nature of Eros" (Lehman, p. 87) .

So The Kid got the best kind of coaching, and then I was brought into the studio. It took maybe an hour and a half to set up the mechanics. And there were a few decisions to be made: Put The Kid into an isolation booth. Get her away from the band. Get her a little closer. Now let's go for a take. We did it in three . . . I got seventy -five dollars a side, and no royalties. But I did get split billing with the band. Because Capitol was Johnny's company, this record came out immediately before "My Ideal" [which she had already recorded with Billy Butterfield]. I was not prepared for my reaction. The first time I heard the record was on the radio. Al Jarvis was the big disc jockey in Los Angeles at the time. I heard him talking with Artie Shaw, who was a guest on his program, about the new Arlen-Mercer song, which he proceeded to play. And then I heard my own voice, and I thought with horror, What have they done to the record? I don't sound like that. They've speeded it up. No, they've slowed it down. What is that phrasing? I never phrased that way. That's not my voice And then I thought with even more horror, Oh yes it is. That is your voice and it sounds terrible. My response was immediate. I dashed into the bathroom and threw up in the toilet. The record was over and Artie Shaw began to speak. He could be ruthless, although accurate, in his criticism. I heard him say words like "an instant standard--a great record . . ." And when I heard that, I lifted my face from the toilet bowl and thought, Well, maybe. Then the phone rang and it was Paul Weston, calling to congratulate me. "Is that how I sound?" I wailed. "I think it's terrible!" "Yes, that's how you sound," Paul said,, "and you're crazy. It's great."

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Credits

• Carmen McRae: vladimirsmartins
• Johnny Johnston: hozkarinn007
• Marilyn Monroe: graziadebora
• Louis Prima and Keely Smith: Michael Koreli
• Frank Sinatra (1943 radio): Jamesmac30
• Frank Sinatra 1961: Sinatra Fan and paraphrased text are cited. Such content is used under the rules of fair use to further the educational objectives of CafeSongbook.com. CafeSongbook.com makes no claims to rights of any kind in this content or the sources from which it comes.

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The Cafe Songbook
Record/Video Cabinet:
Selected Recordings of

"That Old Black Magic"

(All Record/Video Cabinet entries below
include a music-video
of this page's featured song.
The year given is for when the studio
track was originally laid down
or when the live performance was given.)

• Johnny Johnston (1942)*
• Margaret Whiting (1942-43)
• Glenn Miller (1942)*
• Frank Sinatra (1946*, 1961*)
• Billy Daniels (1947, 1951)*
• Marilyn Monroe (1956)
• Sarah Vaughan (1957)
• Louis Prima and Keely Smith (1958)*
• Ella Fitzgerald (1958)*
• Dave Brubeck and Tony Bennett (1962)*
• Carmen McRae (1986)*
• Nancy Lamott (1992)
• Roberta Gambarini (2009)

1942
Glenn Miller and His Orchestra
(vocal by Skip Nelson and The Modernaires)
album: Greatest Hits

same track as on album referenced above

1942
Margaret Whiting
(with the Freddie Slack Orchestra)
album: Capitol Collectors Series

same track as on album referenced above

Notes: Although the track of "That Old Black Magic" on this album was originally released in February of 1943, the recording was made on July 31, 1942. For Whiting's acount of the making of the recording and the recording itself, see below.

1946/1961
Frank Sinatra

1946
album: The Best of the Columbia Years
1943-1952

1961
album: Come Swing with Me

Notes: Sinatra recorded "That Old Black Magic" twice, the 1946 Columbia version on the first album above arranged by Axel Stordahl; and the 1961 Capitol studio recording arranged by Heinie Beau with orchestra conducted by Billy May for the 1961 album Come Swing With Me . (During this same year, Sinatra, who was enamored of the new President Kennedy, sometimes changed the lyric when singing it live to "That old Jack magic" -- but not on the album. See Will Friedwald, Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art , p. 307, hardcover Ed. ).
Video 1: Sinatra sings "That Old Black Magic" on the radio, New Years Eve 1943, the year after the song was introduced in the wartime movie Star Spangled Rhythm, but three years before he recorded "That Old Black Magic" for Columbia. This is, as he tells us, like his later Columbia recording of the song, an Axel Stordahl arrangement. It's interesting to note that his characteristic habit of crediting the songwriters and arrangers of the songs he sings dates as far back as this. (He closes his show "Songs by Sinatra" with its theme, "Put Your Dreams Away."

1947, 1951
Billy Daniels
album: Around Midnight

same track as on album referenced above

1957
Sarah Vaughan
album: Sarah Vaughan

same track as on album referenced above

1958
Louis Prima and Keely Smith
with Sam Butera (on tenor sax) and The Witnesses
album: Keely Smith
The Essential Capitol Collection

same track as on album referenced above

1958
Ella Fitzgerald
albums: Ella in Rome --
The Birthday Concert

same track as on album referenced above

1962
Dave Brubeck and Tony Bennett
album: Bennett and Brubeck The White House Sessions

same track as on album referenced above

1992
Nancy LaMott
Album: Come Rain or Come Shine

same track as on album referenced above

Notes: "As an interpreter, Nancy LaMott shunned extremes . . . . And so her tribute to lyricist Johnny Mercer typically avoids emotional extremes, exploring instead subtle in-betweens . . . . She basically engages in duets with carefully selected instruments (an acoustic guitar and a stand-up bass, respectively)" --Elisabeth Vincentelli, Amazon Editorial reviewer.

2009
Roberta Gambarini
album: So In Love

same track as on album referenced above

Notes: It seems incredible that Roberta Gambarini didn't win the Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocal Competition but she was new to the U. S., having just arrived from her native Italy. But with each new release, she has demonstrated that she is easily the most accomplished vocalist of the competitors for the prize. Pianist Hank Jones, who knows a thing or two about great singers, refers to her as the "greatest vocalist to come along in the past 60 years." On 2009's SO IN LOVE, with a rhythm section rotating among three talented up-and-coming pianists (Tamir Hendeman, Eric Gunnison, and Gerald Clayton), Gambarini works her magic with familiar standards and a few unexpected choices. She has a love of Cole Porter's songs, opening with a touching, richly textured version of the title song. She also restores the oft-omitted verse to "Get Out of Town," then delivers a driving rendition that shows off her gift for interpreting a song that has likely been recorded by all jazz vocal greats before her, accentuated this time by the soft tenor sax of James Moody. Gambarini is also comfortable looking outside of jazz for material, adapting Willie Nelson's "Crazy," with subtle trumpet added by Roy Hargrove. She has equal success with a medley of Beatles songs, including a moving "Golden Slumbers" that segues into a breezy "Here, There and Everywhere." (from CDUniverse.com Product Description)

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That Old Black Magic

"That Old Black Magic" is a song that was featured in Frank Sinatra's second studio album, his Columbia album Songs by Sinatra.

Sinatra later re-recorded this song for his 1961 album Come Swing with Me! under Lyrics [ ]

That old black magic has me in its spell
That old black magic that you weave so well
Icy fingers up and down my spine
The same old witchcraft when your eyes meet mine
The same old tingle that I feel inside
When that elevator starts its ride

Down and down I go, round and round I go
Like a leaf that's caught in the tide
I should stay away but what can I do
I hear your name, and I'm aflame

Aflame with such a burning desire
That only your kiss can put out the fire
You are the lover that I've waited for
The mate that fate had me created for

And every time your lips meet mine
Baby down and down I go, all around I go
In a spin, loving the spin that I'm in
Under that old black magic called love

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Sinatra's smooth vocal delivery, combined with the lush arrangements, perfectly captured the essence of the lyrics, immersing the listener in a world of enchantment and desire. Named one of Sinatra's signature songs, "That Old Black Magic" showcased his unique ability to infuse each word with emotion, effortlessly drawing the listener into the narrative. His impeccable phrasing and control over his voice allowed him to emphasize certain phrases, enhancing the song's dramatic effect.

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Sinatra's interpretation of "That Old Black Magic" also showcased his versatility as an artist. He effortlessly switched between soft, intimate moments and powerful, soaring notes, demonstrating his mastery of dynamics and his ability to connect with the emotions of the song. The song's enduring popularity can be attributed to Sinatra's timeless interpretation and the enduring themes it explores. The lyrics resonate with listeners of all generations, reminding us of the magnetic power that love can exert over our hearts and minds. "That Old Black Magic" has become a staple in Sinatra's discography and a beloved favorite among his fans. It serves as a testament to his iconic status as a singer and performer and continues to enchant audiences with its timeless charm. In conclusion, "That Old Black Magic" Sinatra is a shining example of his musical genius and his ability to bring out the magic in any song. His captivating performance and emotional delivery cemented this song as an enduring classic that will continue to bewitch listeners for generations to come..

Reviews for "Sinatra's Haunting Melody: The Melancholy of That Old Black Magic"

1. John - 2/5 - I found "That old black magic sinatra" to be extremely underwhelming. Sinatra's vocals lacked the charm and charisma that I usually associate with his music. The instrumentation was also lacking, with a mediocre band accompanying him. Overall, the performance felt lackluster and failed to capture the essence of the song. I was disappointed and expected much more from Sinatra.

2. Emily - 1/5 - As a fan of Frank Sinatra, I had high expectations for "That old black magic sinatra," but unfortunately, it left me utterly disappointed. Sinatra's voice sounded tired and strained throughout the entire performance, unable to hit the high notes that he was once known for. The energy and passion that I love about his music were entirely absent here. The arrangement of the song was also lackluster and failed to create a captivating atmosphere. I would not recommend this rendition to any Sinatra enthusiast.

3. David - 3/5 - "That old black magic sinatra" had its moments, but overall, it fell short for me. Sinatra's voice, although displaying some of his signature nuances, lacked the smoothness and control that I love about his music. The backing band did a decent job, but the arrangement of the song felt uninspired. While it was not a complete disaster, it failed to live up to the high standards set by Sinatra's other performances. I would consider other live recordings or studio versions of this song instead.

4. Sarah - 2/5 - I was excited to listen to "That old black magic sinatra," but unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. Sinatra's voice lacked the passion and emotion that I associate with his music. The performance felt rushed and lacked the finesse displayed in his other recordings. Additionally, the mixing and sound quality were subpar, making it difficult to fully enjoy the song. Overall, I was left feeling disappointed and would not recommend this particular rendition of the song.

The Magic of Arrangement: Sinatra's Collaborators on That Old Black Magic