That Old Black Magic

"That Old Black Magic"
78 single
Single by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra with Skip Nelson and The Modernaires
B-side"A Pink Cocktail For a Blue Lady"
ReleasedJanuary 1943
RecordedJuly 15, 1942
GenreSwing, jazz, popular
Length3:03
LabelRCA Victor
Songwriter(s)Harold Arlen (music), Johnny Mercer (lyrics)

"That Old Black Magic" is a 1942 popular song written by Harold Arlen (music), with the lyrics by Johnny Mercer. They wrote it for the 1942 film Star Spangled Rhythm, when it was sung by Johnny Johnston and danced by Vera Zorina. The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1943 but lost out to "You'll Never Know".

It was first recorded by Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra on July 9, 1942. Shortly thereafter, on July 26, 1942, Judy Garland recorded her own version, which was released as a single in January 1943 – just after the movie's release on December 30, 1942. Five other recordings (also made in 1942) were released as singles within the next two weeks.

Composition

The song was published in 1942 and has become an often-recorded standard, with versions that include the original single release by Glenn Miller, by the singers Margaret Whiting, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Mercer himself, and others. Mercer wrote the lyrics with Judy Garland in mind. Garland recorded the song for Decca Records in 1942. Mercer recalled wanting to write a song about magic, and while composing, asking Arlen to write more music so the song could go on longer, but that they still wrote the whole song in about three hours. Billy Daniels recorded the song in 1949 and it became his trademark recording.

Recordings

Parodies

  • As part of his album My Name is Allan, Allan Sherman sang a parody of this song called "That Old Back Scratcher".

Popular culture


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