Vocalist Sarah Vaughan.
A blues song written in 1948; music by Sonny Burke and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. Sarah Vaughan's 1949 recording on Columbia made the charts.
Perhaps the definitive bop version of this song is by Sonny Criss (alto saxophone):
www.last.fm/music/Sonny+Criss/_/Black+Coffee?autostart
Trivia: Lyricist Paul Francis Webster holds the record among lyricists for the most number of Academy Award nominations — sixteen.
I'm feeling mighty lonesome, haven't slept a wink.
I walk the floor and watch the door and in between I drink
Black coffee. Love's a hand me down brew.
I'll never know a Sunday in this weekday room.
I'm talking to the shadows from 1 o'clock til 4.
And lord, how slow the moments go when all I do is pour
Black coffee. Since the blues caught my eye
I'm hanging out on Monday my Sunday dreams to dry.
Now a man is born to go a lovin', a woman's born to weep and fret,
To stay at home and tend her oven
And drown her past regrets in coffee and cigarettes.
I'm moaning all the morning, and mourning all the night
And in between it's nicotine and not much heart to fight
Black coffee. Feelin' low as the ground.
It's driving me crazy just waiting for my baby
To maybe come around... around
I'm waiting for my baby to maybe come around.
My nerves have gone to pieces, my hair is turning gray
All I do is drink black coffee since my man's gone away.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another rendition by vocalist K.D. Lang
and saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr.
Showing posts with label K.D. Lang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label K.D. Lang. Show all posts
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
What a Wonderful World
George Adams (tenor sax)
Ben Sidran (piano)
Written by Bob Thiele (using the pseudonym George Douglas*) and George David Weiss**, What a Wonderful World was first recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1968. Intended as an antidote for the increasingly racially and politically charged climate of everyday life in the U.S., the song also has a hopeful, optimistic tone with regard to the future, with reference to newborn babies having much to look forward to. The song was not initially a hit in the United States, where it sold fewer than 1,000 copies, but was a major success in the UK, reaching number one on the singles chart, becoming the biggest-selling single of 1968. The song made Louis Armstrong the oldest male to top the UK charts, at sixty-six years and ten months old.
The song gradually became something of a standard and reached a new level of popularity. It was re-released in America shortly after Armstrong's death in 1971 and became a top ten hit. It is also a jazz standard, ranked number 945 at Jazzstandards.com.
*Some of the songs Thiele wrote are credited to George Douglas or Stanley Clayton. These are pseudonyms Thiele used, made from the names of his uncles, Stanley, Clayton, George, and Douglas. Thiele was a record producer and husband of singer Teresa Brewer.
**Weiss was president of the Songwriters Guild of America; among other notable songs he penned was Lullaby of Birdland.
Another rendition of this classic tune:
Duet by K.D. Lang & Tony Bennett
http://www.last.fm/music/Tony%2BBennett%2B%2526%2Bk.d.%2Blang/_/What+a+Wonderful+World?autostart
Ben Sidran (piano)
Written by Bob Thiele (using the pseudonym George Douglas*) and George David Weiss**, What a Wonderful World was first recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1968. Intended as an antidote for the increasingly racially and politically charged climate of everyday life in the U.S., the song also has a hopeful, optimistic tone with regard to the future, with reference to newborn babies having much to look forward to. The song was not initially a hit in the United States, where it sold fewer than 1,000 copies, but was a major success in the UK, reaching number one on the singles chart, becoming the biggest-selling single of 1968. The song made Louis Armstrong the oldest male to top the UK charts, at sixty-six years and ten months old.
The song gradually became something of a standard and reached a new level of popularity. It was re-released in America shortly after Armstrong's death in 1971 and became a top ten hit. It is also a jazz standard, ranked number 945 at Jazzstandards.com.
*Some of the songs Thiele wrote are credited to George Douglas or Stanley Clayton. These are pseudonyms Thiele used, made from the names of his uncles, Stanley, Clayton, George, and Douglas. Thiele was a record producer and husband of singer Teresa Brewer.
**Weiss was president of the Songwriters Guild of America; among other notable songs he penned was Lullaby of Birdland.
Another rendition of this classic tune:
Duet by K.D. Lang & Tony Bennett
http://www.last.fm/music/Tony%2BBennett%2B%2526%2Bk.d.%2Blang/_/What+a+Wonderful+World?autostart
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