A White Sport Coat

"A White Sport Coat" is a 1957 country and western song with words and music both written by Marty Robbins. It was recorded on January 25, 1957, and released on the Columbia Records label, over a month later, on March 4.^[1] 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 scored and conducted by Conniff in October, 1956.

Robbins recalled writing the song in approximately twenty minutes while being transported in a standard automobile.^[2] 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.

The song reached No. 1 on the U.S. country chart becoming Marty Robbins' third No. 1 record,^[3] the song reached No. 2 on the Billboard pop chart in the U.S.^[4] and No. 1 in the Australian music charts in 1957. 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'n'Roll singer Terry Dene, and also for The King Brothers. The Terry Dene version reached #18 in the UK Charts, while The King Brothers' recording peaked at #6, both in early summer 1957.

Jimmy Buffett's 1973 album A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean spoofs the title of the song.

References

External links

• AllMusic