"That Old Black Magic" is a popular song. The music was
written by Harold Arlen, with the lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The
song was published in 1942 and has become an often-recorded
standard with versions by Glenn Miller, the singers Margaret
Whiting, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Mercer himself, and
others. Mercer wrote the lyrics with Judy Garland in mind, who
was, on occasion, an intimate partner. Garland recorded the
song for Decca Records in 1942.
The Glenn Miller recording was released by RCA Victor
Records as catalog number 1523. It charted in 1943, spending 14
weeks on the Billboard magazine charts, peaking at position
#1.
The Margaret Whiting recording (with the Freddie Slack
Orchestra, which got top billing on the label) was released by
Capitol Records as catalog number 126. It charted in 1943,
spending 1 week at #10 on the Billboard chart.
Ella Fitzgerald recorded this on her 1961 Verve double-album
"Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook".
The Frank Sinatra recorded the song twice: once as a ballad
for Columbia, and again in 1961 in a lightly swinging
arrangement for Capitol (featured on
Come Swing With Me.) Sinatra also sang a slightly
altered version of the song titled, "That Old Jack Magic" at
the inaugural gala he held for John F. Kennedy the night before
Kennedy was inaugurated as the thirty-fifth President of the
United States.
A 1950 recording on Mercury Records by Billy Daniels gave
him the moniker "The Old Black Magic Man" for the rest of his
career.
The Sammy Davis, Jr. recording was released by Decca Records
as catalog number 29541. It charted in 1955 and spent 6 weeks
on the
Billboardcharts, peaking at position #16. Sammy Davis,
Jr. performs "That Old Black Magic" during a guest appearance
on the television series
I Dream of Jeannie.
Marilyn Monroe famously sang the song in her film
Bus Stop, in 1956. Her character Cheree is singing the
song (somewhat out of key) to an audience who is not listening
and talking loudly, until Don Murray quiets them all down.
The duet recorded by Louis Prima and Keely Smith was
released as a single in 1958 on the Capitol label. It reached a
peak of eighteen on the Billboard Hot 100.
Bobby Rydell had his version released as a single on Cameo
in 1961. It reached number twenty-one on the Hot 100.
Johnny Mercer recorded his version in 1974 for his album
My Huckleberry Friend.
The tune was featured as background music in the movie,
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
It was featured twice on
Star Trek: Voyager. It was sung by Seven of Nine during
a simulation of World War II on the first part of the episode
"The Killing Game". The second time it was performed by The
Doctor and Harry Kim and his jazz band called 'Harry Kim and
the Kimtones' in the episode "Virtuoso".