A White Sport Coat
{{more citations needed|date=August 2009}}
{{Infobox song
| name = A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)
| cover = Marty Robbins - A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation) (1957) Columbia.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Marty Robbins
| album = Marty's Greatest Hits
| B-side = Grown-Up Tears
| released = March 1957
| recorded = January 25, 1957
| studio = Bradley Studios, Nashville, Tennessee{{cite magazine|last=Snoddy|first=Glen|title=Nashville, The Recording Center|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/72/Record-World-Country-Music-Who%27s-Who-1972_428.pdf|magazine=Country Music Who's Who|publisher=Record World|date=1972|access-date=10 May 2024}}
| venue =
| genre = Country
| length = 2:31
| label = Columbia 40864
| writer = Marty Robbins
| producer = Mitch Miller
| prev_title = Knee Deep in the Blues
| prev_year = 1957
| next_title = Please Don't Blame Me
| next_year = 1957
}}
"A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)" is a 1957 country and western song with words and music both written by Marty Robbins. It was recorded at the Bradley Studios in Nashville, Tennessee on January 25, 1957, and released on the Columbia Records label on March 4.{{cite book |title= The Ray Conniff Recordings: The Columbia Years, Part 1: The Backings and New York* Recordings |last=Thoenicke |first=Manfred |page=18}} The arranger and recording session conductor was Ray Conniff, an in-house conductor/arranger at Columbia. Robbins had demanded to have Conniff oversee the recording after his earlier hit, "Singing the Blues", had been quickly eclipsed on the charts by Guy Mitchell's cover version, which was scored and conducted by Conniff in October 1956.
The song reached No. 1 on the US country chart, becoming Marty Robbins' third No. 1 record.{{cite book |title= The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=293}} It reached No. 2 on the Billboard pop chart,Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 532. and No. 1 in the Australian music charts. In Canada it was ranked No. 7 for 2 weeks on the first 2 CHUM Charts.{{cite web|url=http://chumtribute.com/chart-57-05-27.jpg| title=CHUM Hit Parade - May 27, 1957}} Billboard ranked it as the No. 17 song for 1957.Billboard year-end top 50 singles of 1957
Background
Robbins recalled writing "A White Sport Coat" in approximately twenty minutes, while being transported in a standard automobile.{{Pop Chronicles |10 |2 |Marty Robbins}} He is said to have had the inspiration for the song while driving from a motel to a venue in Ohio, where he was due to perform that evening. During the course of the journey, he passed a local high school, where its students were dressed ready for their prom.{{citation needed|date=June 2013}}
In the song, the narrator was hoping to go to the prom with a certain girl, wearing a white sport coat and a pink carnation. However, the girl decided to go to the prom with another guy, putting the narrator in a blue mood.
Cover versions
- A version by Johnny Desmond received some play also, peaking at No. 62 on the U.S. pop charts.
- In UK the song was a notable hit for the English rock and roll singer Terry Dene, which reached No. 18 in the UK Charts. A recording by the King Brothers peaked at No. 6. Both of these versions were hits in early summer 1957.
In popular culture
- The song is mentioned in Don McLean's song "American Pie" (1971), with just the lyric about the "Pink Carnation".
- Jimmy Buffett's 1973 album A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean spoofs the title of the song.
- The song is featured in the opening credits of the 1997 film Going All the Way.
- The song can be heard during the bowling-alley scene in Martin Scorsese's 2019 film The Irishman.
- Paul McCartney famously dressed in a white sport coat in homage to the song on July 6, 1957, the day of the Woolton Village Fete when he was introduced to John Lennon.
References
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External links
- [{{AllMusic|class=song|id=t845414|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic]
{{Marty Robbins}}
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Category:Number-one singles in Australia
Category:Songs written by Marty Robbins
Category:Columbia Records singles
Category:Song recordings produced by Mitch Miller
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