"Rum and Coca-Cola" is a popular calypso song composed by Lionel Belasco with lyrics by

Lord Invader Lord Invader (Rupert Westmore Grant; 13 December 1914 – 15 October 1961) was a prominent calypsonian with a very distinctive, gravelly voice. He was born in San Fernando, Trinidad. He became active in calypso in the mid-1930s, and was consi ...

. The song was copyrighted in the United States by entertainer

Morey Amsterdam Moritz Amsterdam (December 14, 1908 – October 28, 1996) was an American actor, comedian, writer and producer. Between 1948 and 1950, he hosted his own TV sitcom ''The Morey Amsterdam Show''. He played Buddy Sorrell on CBS's ''The Dick V ...

and was a hit in 1945 for

the Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (1911–1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (1916–1995), and mezzo ...

History

The song was published in the United States with Amsterdam listed as lyricist and Jeri Sullivan and Paul Baron as composers. The melody had been previously published as the work of Venezuelan calypso composer Lionel Belasco on a song titled "L'Année Passée," which was in turn based on a folk song from

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

. The lyrics to "Rum and Coca-Cola" were written by Rupert Grant, another calypso musician from

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

who used the stage name

. The song became a local hit and was at the peak of its popularity when Amsterdam visited the island in September 1943 as part of a U.S.O. tour. Although he claimed never to have heard the song during the month he spent on the island, the lyrics to his version are clearly based on the Lord Invader version, with the music and chorus being virtually identical. However, Amsterdam's version strips the song of its social commentary. The Lord Invader version laments that U.S. soldiers are debauching local women who "saw that the Yankees treat them nice/and they give them a better price." Its final stanza describes a newlywed couple whose marriage is ruined when "the bride run away with a soldier lad/and the stupid husband went staring mad." The Amsterdam version also hints that women are prostituting themselves, preserving the Lord Invader chorus which says, "Both mother and daughter/Working for the Yankee dollar." The Andrews Sisters also seem to have given little thought to the meaning of the lyrics. According to Patty Andrews, "We had a recording date, and the song was brought to us the night before the recording date. We hardly really knew it, and when we went in we had some extra time and we just threw it in, and that was the miracle of it. It was actually a faked arrangement. There was no written background, so we just kind of faked it." In under ten minutes they made a record that sold seven million units and sat at number one on the ''Billboard'' magazine chart for seven weeks. Maxine Andrews recalled, "The rhythm was what attracted the Andrews Sisters to 'Rum and Coca-Cola'. We never thought of the lyric. The lyric was there, it was cute, but we didn't think of what it meant; but at that time, nobody else would think of it either, because we weren't as morally open as we are today and so, a lot of stuff—really, no excuses—just went over our heads." Some stations refused to play the song because it mentioned rum, and alcohol couldn't be advertised on the air, or because it mentioned the brand name

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

, which was perceived as advertising for the soft drink (in some later covers, the title and associated line is changed to the more generic ''drinking rum and

cola Cola is a Carbonation, carbonated soft drink flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, citrus essential oil, oils, and other flavorings. Cola became popular worldwide after the American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, a trademarked br ...

''). In the ''Songs That Won The War Vol. 8 Swing Again, Yes Indeed!'' CD program notes, Edward Habib writes, "'Rum and Coca Cola' has naughty lyrics but not quite naughty enough to deny its hit status...During the forties, comedians as songwriters was the norm,

Phil Silvers Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly 60 years. He achieved major popularity w ...

Joey Bishop Joseph Abraham Gottlieb (February 3, 1918 – October 17, 2007), known professionally as Joey Bishop, was an American entertainer who appeared on television as early as 1948 and eventually starred in his own weekly comedy series playing a Talk ...

and

Jackie Gleason Herbert John Gleason (born Herbert Walton Gleason Jr.; February 26, 1916June 24, 1987), known as Jackie Gleason, was an American comedian, actor, writer, and composer also known as "The Great One". He developed a style and characters from growin ...

all had a part in writing hit songs. While there were a number of records of 'Rum and Coca Cola', the Andrews Sisters' version was far and away the most popular." After the release of "Rum and Coca-Cola", Belasco and Lord Invader sued for

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...

of the song's music and lyrics, respectively. In 1948, after years of litigation, both

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...

s won their cases, with Lord Invader receiving an award of $150,000 in owed royalties. However, Morey Amsterdam was allowed to retain copyright to the song. Lord Invader also wrote a follow-up song to "Rum and Coca-Cola", titled "Yankee Dollar". Calypsonian and Calypso Monarch winner Devon Seale, first premiered his tribute to Lionel Belasco entitled "Lio", at the Calypso Revue tent in 1999. That year, he would take it to the annual Calypso Monarch finals. In the tribute, Seale references the Andrews Sisters' recording of "Rum and Coca-Cola" and the winning copyright case. He sings, "I bring evidence quick to show them that I write the song in 1906", and "thirty years later Invader changed the lyrics ... I am Lio-Lionel Belasco." Since the Andrews Sisters' release, many other artists have shared their renditions of the popular tune, including American singer-songwriter

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

Chart performance

"Rum and Coca-Cola" spent ten weeks at the top of the ''Billboard'' Pop Singles chart.Joel Whitburn, ''Billboard Pop Hits, Singles & Albums, 1940–1954'', Record Research, 2002. On the

Harlem Hit Parade The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

chart, it went to number three.

References

External links

Legal opinion by New York District Judge Simon Rifkind
{{Authority control 1945 singles Calypso songs Trinidad and Tobago songs The Andrews Sisters songs Songs about alcohol Coca-Cola in popular culture Songs involved in plagiarism controversies Songs of World War II Songs written by Lionel Belasco Songs written by Lord Invader Rums

History

Chart performance

References

Further reading

External links