Black Coffee

"Black Coffee" is a 1948 torch song by Sonny Burke with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster, built on a slow, bluesy groove. This page has the Black Coffee chords and a backing track you can slow down, speed up and transpose for a singer.

Who wrote "Black Coffee"

Sonny Burke wrote the music and Paul Francis Webster the lyrics. The song was published in 1948. Sarah Vaughan recorded it the following year, and it became one of her early hits; Peggy Lee made it the title song of her 1953 album, and from there it passed into the repertoire of singers everywhere.

Recordings that made it a standard

• Sarah Vaughan (1949) — the first hit version, a dark, slow vocal.
• Peggy Lee, Black Coffee (1953) — a small-group album that made the song her own.