"Black Coffee" is a

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

with music by

Sonny Burke Joseph Francis "Sonny" Burke (March 22, 1914 – May 31, 1980) was an American musical arranger, composer, Big Band leader and producer. In 1937, he graduated from Duke University, where he had formed and led the jazz big band known as the Duke ...

and words by Paul Francis Webster. The song was published in 1948. Sarah Vaughan charted with this song in 1949 on Columbia; arranged by Joe Lipman, it is considered one of the most notable versions. Peggy Lee recorded the song on May 4, 1953, and it was included on her first LP record '' Black Coffee''. It was included in the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

for the 1960

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

feature '' Let No Man Write My Epitaph'', recorded on Verve by

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

, also in 1960. The version by Ella Fitzgerald was a favourite song of Polish

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

laureate

Wisława Szymborska Maria Wisława Anna SzymborskaVioletta Szosta gazeta.pl, 9 February 2012. ostęp 2012-02-11 (; 2 July 1923 – 1 February 2012) was a Polish poet, essayist, translator, and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Prowent ( ...

who chose it as the song to be performed at her funeral.

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

"Black Coffee"'s first two measures are nearly identical to

Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, an ...

' 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 note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

s"). Williams felt that Burke and Webster plagiarized her composition, and reportedly considered taking legal action over the matter. 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: *

Ann Richards Dorothy Ann Richards (née Willis; September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995. A Democrat, she first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, w ...

on a single release with

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

(1955) *Martha Hayes on her album ''A Hayes Named Martha'' (1956) *

Pat Suzuki Pat Suzuki (born Chiyoko Suzuki; September 22, 1930) is an American popular singer and actress, who is best known for her role in the original Broadway production of the musical ''Flower Drum Song'', and her performance of the song " I Enjoy Bein ...

on her album ''Miss Pony Tail'' (1957). *

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

on his album '' The Great Ray Charles'' (1957) * Duke Pearson on his album ''

Profile Profile or profiles may refer to: Art, entertainment and media Music * ''Profile'' (Jan Akkerman album), 1973 * ''Profile'' (Githead album), 2005 * ''Profile'' (Pat Donohue album), 2005 * ''Profile'' (Duke Pearson album), 1959 * '' ''Profi ...

'' (1959) *

Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music. He started his career as a songwriter for Connie ...

on his album '' This is Darin'' (1960) * Julie London – '' Around Midnight'' (1960), ''The Ultimate Collection'' (2005) * Chris Connor – ''Double Exposure'' (with Maynard Ferguson) (1961) *

Jane Morgan Jane Morgan (born Florence Catherine Currier; May 3, 1924) is an American former singer of traditional pop. Morgan initially found success in France and the UK before achieving recognition in the US, receiving six Music recording certification, ...

- on her album ''What Now My Love?'' (1962). *

Earl Grant Earl Grant (January 20, 1931 – June 10, 1970) was an American pianist, organist, and vocalist popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Career Grant was born in Idabel, Oklahoma. Though he would be known later for his keyboards and vocals, Grant also p ...

on his albums ''Midnight Sun'' (1962) and ''In Motion'' (1968) * Rosemary Clooney on her album '' Thanks for Nothing'' (1964) *

Sonny Criss William "Sonny" Criss (23 October 1927 – 19 November 1977) was an American jazz musician. An alto saxophonist of prominence during the bebop era of jazz, he was one of many players influenced by Charlie Parker. Biography William Criss wa ...

– ''This Is Criss'' (1966) * Ruth Brown on the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis album '' The Big Band Sound of Thad Jones/Mel Lewis featuring Miss Ruth Brown'' (1968) *

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

on her album ''

The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener "The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener" is a song written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent which was a 1967-68 hit for Petula Clark. After working exclusively with producer/songwriter Tony Hatch following their 1964 breakout collaboration "Downt ...

'' (1968) *

The Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, bl ...

on the album '' That's a Plenty'' (1974) *

Roseanna Vitro Roseanna Elizabeth Vitro (born February 28, 1951) is a jazz singer and teacher from Arkansas. Biography Born Roseanna Elizabeth VitroScott Fredrickson and Gary W. Kennedy.Vitro (Wickliffe), Roseanna" In ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2 ...

on her debut album '' Listen Here'' (1984) *

Janis Siegel Janis Siegel (born July 23, 1952) is an American jazz singer, best known as a member of the vocal group The Manhattan Transfer. Musical career In 1965, Siegel made her recording debut with a group called Young Generation on Red Bird Records. A ...

on the album ''At Home'' (1987) *Vivian Lord on the album ''Route 66'' (1987) * k.d. lang on the album '' Shadowland'' (1988) *

Carmen McRae Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpre ...

on the album '' Sarah: Dedicated to You'' (1991) * Sinéad O'Connor on the album '' Am I Not Your Girl?'' (1992) *

Diane Schuur Diane Joan Schuur (born December 10, 1953), nicknamed "Deedles", is an American jazz singer and pianist. As of 2015, Schuur had released 23 albums, and had extended her jazz repertoire to include essences of Latin, gospel, pop and country music ...

on her covers album ''In Tribute'' (1992) *

Elkie Brooks Elkie Brooks (born Elaine Bookbinder; 25 February 1946) is an English rock, blues and jazz singer. She was a vocalist with the bands Dada and Vinegar Joe, and later became a solo artist. She gained her biggest success in the late 1970s and 198 ...

on her album '' Round Midnight'' (1993) *

Stanford Fleet Street Singers The Stanford Fleet Street Singers (Fleet Street) is a comedy a cappella group from Stanford University. The group performs original songs and sketch comedy, and wears a uniform of black vests and red bow ties. Fleet Street is perhaps best known ...

on their album ''What You Want'' (1994) *

Patricia Kaas Patricia Kaas (; born 5 December 1966) is a French singer. Her music is a mix of pop, cabaret, jazz, and chanson. Since the appearance of her 1988 debut album '' Mademoiselle chante...'', Kaas has sold over 17 million records worldwide. She h ...

on her album ''Café Noir'' (1996) *

Martina Topley-Bird Martina Gillian Topley-Bird (''née'' Topley; born 7 May 1975) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who first gained fame as the featured female vocalist on trip hop pioneer Tricky's debut album, '' Maxinquaye'' (1995). S ...

and Tricky on the album ''

Nearly God ''Nearly God'' is the unofficial second album by English rapper and producer Tricky. It was released in February 1996 under the pseudonym "Nearly God", which originated from an interview during which Tricky was asked "so how does it feel to be Go ...

'' (1996) *Alexia Vassiliou on her album ''In a Jazz Mood'' (1996) * Mary Coughlan on "Red Blues" album (2002) * Claire Martin on her album ''Too Darn Hot'' (2002) *Maria Muldaur on her album ''A Woman Alone With The Blues'' (2002) *

Nana Mouskouri Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( el, Ιωάννα "Νάνα" Μούσχουρη ) (born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer. Over the span of her career, she has released over 200 albums in at least twelve languages, including Greek, French, English, Germ ...

on her live album ''Nana Swings'' (2003) * Kimiko Itoh on her album ''Once You've Been in Love'' (2004) *Barbara Lusch on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

(2004) *

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

for her album '' Easy Come, Easy Go'' (2008) *Anita Eccleston on her album ''Anita Eccleston Jazz EP'' (2011) *April Hall on her album ''Room for Two'' (2012) *Caroll Vanwelden on her album ''Don't Explain'' (2013) * Clare Maguire on her EP ''Clare Maguire'' (2014)

References

{{authority control Songs with music by Sonny Burke Songs with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster 1948 songs Peggy Lee songs Torch songs Sarah Vaughan songs