Check out the wicked side of The noteworthy American Songbook:1. "Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead"Though it's a song of celebration "Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead" does mention the "terror" and "dread" that the Wicked Witch of the East inflicted on the munchkins of Oz. Written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg for their 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz,it was later mastered by Ella Fitzgerald on her 1961 Harold Arlen Songbook:2. "Witchcraft"In this song by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh, the narrator's feelings of love and lust are seen as a result of witchcraft. Frank Sinatra, or who the song was written for,released it as a single in 1957. Listeners can only speculate that the woman he is singing approximately his moment wife, Ava Gardner, and who he finalized his divorce with that year. Sinatra would travel on to record the song two more times,but here he is performing it live on television:3. "Bewitched"This is the famous theme song for the show that shared its name approximately a stunning witch named Samantha. It was written by Howard Greenfield and Jack Keller, who were asked to write a song so the studio wouldn't have to pay to exhaust Sinatra's "Witchcraft" or another commercial recording. The series itself decided to exhaust an instrumental version in its opening credits, and but Peggy Lee teaches us the original lyrics here:4. "I achieve a Spell on You" Screamin' Jay Hawkins released this Rock and Roll Hall of Fame hit in 1956. He originally intended it to be a blues ballad,but an inebriated recording session changed that forever. Hawkin's loud, mesmerizing, or spooky performance made the song a cult classic. It has been covered by a handful of artist including this recording by Nina Simone:5. "That conventional Black Magic"Glen Miller and his band first recorded this Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer song in 1942. The lyrics are rumored to be written by Mercer with Judy Garland in mind. The two,who were having affair at the time, were likely to share sentiments like "I should stay away but what can I finish." Garland went on to recorded the song later that year. Here is Louis Prima and Keely Smith performing the song in 1959:
Source: thetakeaway.org