"THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC" STILL HAS US IN IT'S SPELL

" That Old Black Magic"  -- Still has us in it's spell !" In 1942,  Arlen and Mercer now turned their attention to a new film assignment, Star Spangled Rhythm. America was now fully engaged in a massive war effort and Hollywood complied by invoking patriotic themes in their lighter musical offerings. Arlen biographer,Edward Jablonski, pointed out these films were " Virtually plotless, were morale builders, many of which fell under the category of the cliché " star-studded."  For a dance production number , Arlen played a potential melody for Mercer who suggested that with some additional bars of music, Mercer could fashion a narrative " story" instead of a conventional romantic film song. Jablonski adds thatMercer took the additional bars of music away with him." When he returned he had a song entitled
" That Old Black Magic." In the film, the song was performed by Johnny Johnson, a former band and radio singer who played a soldier who dreams about a ballerina, played by Vera Zorina. She was the wife of George Balanchine, the noted choreographer who created the film's ballet sequence.
Alec Wilder pointed out that Arlen used his octave drop device in three places and " Never resorted to the repeated note as much as he does in this song, which may dampen my ardour somewhat." (Note-Wilder had an abhorrence of too may repeated notes and was critical of George Gershwin's tendency to use repeated note motifs.) 

Here are two contrasting versions of the song. Sarah Vaughan sings in a relatively restrained manner which is attractive in contrast to  many over-heated versions, especially Billy Daniels excessive" showmanship" at the expense of the song itself.
Tony Bennett, in a rare pairing with the Dave Brubeck quartet, provides a swinging jazz version which still conveys the essence of the lyrics which Arlen felt needed " to tell a longer story in order to make it's point with sufficient drama and thereby a better song was written."


Sara Vaughan Link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82r9VQuet_k

Tony Bennett Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEQBXxfHa3g