Rum & Coca-Cola🍹History of the Song ♫ 🥃

🍹 Rum & Coca-Cola 🥃

"Rum and Coca-Cola" is the title of a popular calypso. Originally composed by Lord Invader and Lionel Belasco, it was copyrighted in the United States by entertainer Morey Amsterdam and became a huge hit in 1945 for the Andrews Sisters, spending ten weeks at the top of Billboard's U.S. Pop Singles chart.

Although the song was published in the United States with Amsterdam listed as the lyricist and Jeri Sullavan and Paul Baron as musical composers, the melody had been previously published as the work of Trinidadian calypso composer Lionel Belasco on a song titled "L'Année Passée," which was in turn based on a folksong from Martinique.

 

The original lyrics to "Rum and Coca-Cola" were written by Rupert Grant, another calypso musician from Trinidad who went by the stage name of Lord Invader. (The true credits for music and lyrics were restored in a plagiarism lawsuit won by famous attorney Louis Nizer, the account of which can be read in his book, My Life in Court.)

According to Lord Invader, "Calypso is the folklore of Trinidad, a style of poetry, telling about current events in song. Back home in the West Indies, Trinidad, where I'm from, it's a small island, I'm proud of it. I was traveling on a bus, someplace they call Point Cumana, a bathing resort, and I happened to see the G.I.s in the American social invasion in the West Indies, Trinidad. You know the girls used to get the candies and stuff like that, and they go to the canteens with the boys and so on, have fun. So I noticed since the G.I.s came over there, they really generally chase with soda, ordinary soda, but their chaser was Rum and Coke. They drink rum, and they like Coca-Cola as a chaser, so I studied that as an idea of a song, and Morey Amsterdam had the nerve to say that he composed that song back here."

The song became a local hit and was at the peak of its popularity when Amsterdam visited the island in September 1943 as part of a U.S.O. tour. Although he subsequently claimed never to have heard the song during the month he spent on the island, the lyrics to his version are clearly based on the Lord Invader version, with the music and chorus being virtually identical. However, Amsterdam's version strips the song of its social commentary. The Lord Invader version laments that U.S. soldiers are debauching local women, who "saw that the Yankees treat them nice / and they give them a better price." Its final stanza describes a newlywed couple whose marriage is ruined when "the bride run away with a soldier lad / and the stupid husband went staring mad." The Amsterdam version also hints that women are prostituting themselves, preserving the Lord Invader chorus which says, "Both mother and daughter / Working for the Yankee dollar."

 

The Andrews Sisters

Rum and Coca Cola

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The Andrews Sisters have recorded the song at least 3 times for different labels: Decca Records in 1945, Capitol Records in 1956, and DOT Records in 1961.
During their final TV appearance as a trio, The Andrews Sisters performed the song as part of a medley with Dean Martin on The Dean Martin Show on September 29, 1966 and replaced the lyric "Go down Point Koomahna" with "Too much rum, no cola", poking fun of Martin's drinking.

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 Lord Invader

Rum and Coca Cola  (1943)

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After hearing it in Trinidad in 1943, Morey Amsterdam copyrighted the song in the U.S. in 1944 and it eventually became a huge hit for The Andrews Sisters. However, because it was copyrighted without the permission of Lord Invader, the result was a lawsuit. 
To further complicate matters, during the lawsuit a music publisher, Maurice Baron, claimed that “Rum and Coca Cola” infringed upon a copyright that he held i.e. the melody of “Rum and Coca Cola” was similar to his copyrighted song “L'Année Passée“.
This particular song was an adaptation of a Martiniquan folk song by Trinidadian composer and pianist, Lionel Belasco. In 1943, Baron published the song in the U.S. for Belasco. 
The final result was two successful lawsuits against Amsterdam; Lord Invader for the lyrics, and Baron for the music. In the end, the absurdity amidst all the settlements was that Morey Amsterdam was allowed to keep the copyright for the song.

Listen to the The Andrews Sisters' cover here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtcYp...

Here is a performance by Trinidadian calypsonian, Lord Invader, at the Town Hall in New York in 1946. The concert was hosted by archivist, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and all-round culture preserver, Alan Lomax.

Arielle Dombasle

Rhum and Coca Cola

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Arielle Dombasle

Rhum and Coca Cola

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Lord Invader

Rum & Coca-Cola

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The name of the place referred to in the calypso is Point Cumana. Point Cumana, a fishing village and with several sheltered beaches, is located in Trinidad.  The calypso was plagiarized, modified and given to the Andrew sisters. The thief was Morey Amsterdam. The song became a huge US hit for the Andrew Sisters denying, initially, Lord Invader royalties. He eventually won his royalties.

   

Calypso Rose
Live at the Africa Festival in Würzburg

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Rum & Coca-Cola

Performed by the Islanders,

NOT  Belafonte!!

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*Words: Morey Amsterdam  -   Music: Jeri Sullavan / Paul Baron
If you ever go down Trinidad    They make you feel so very glad   Calypso sing and make up rhyme   Guarantee you one real good fine time.    

Drinkin' rum and Coca-Cola   Go down Point Koomahnah  Both mother and daughter Workin' for the Yankee dollar. It's a fact, man, it's a fact...
From Chicachicaree to Mona's Isle   Native girls all dance and smile  Help soldier celebrate his leave  Make every day like New Year's Eve.
Oh, you vex me, you vex me...
In old Trinidad, I also fear   The situation is mighty queer   Like the Yankee girl, the native swoon   When she hears the Bingo croon.   It's a fact, man, it's a fact...
Out on Manzanella Beach  G.I. romance with native peach  All night long, make tropic love  Next day, sit in hot sun and cool off.
Drinkin' rum and Coca-Cola  Rum and Coca-Cola Workin' for the Yankee dollar.

 
Chubby Checker

Rhum & Coca Cola

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Gigliola Cinquetti

"Rum & Coca-Cola"1975

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Tim Tim
Rum'n' cocacola
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Rum And Coca-Cola
The Barberettes

 
Andrew sisters
Rum & Coca-Cola
(jojo effect remix)

If you ever go down Trindad They make you feel so very glad Calypso sing and make up rhyme Guarantee you one real good fine time Drinkin' rhum and Coca-Cola Go down "Point Koo mah nah" Both mother and daughter Workin' for the Yankee dollar Oh, beat it man, beat it 
Since the Yankee come to Trinidad They got the young girls all goin' mad Young girls say they treat 'em nice Make Trinidad like paradise Oh, you vex me, you vex me From Chicachicaree to Mona's Isle Native girls all dance and smile Help soldier celebrate his leave Make every day like New Year's Eve It's a fact, man, it's a fact 
In old Trinidad, I also fear The situation is mighty queer Like the Yankee girl, the native swoon When she hear der Bingo croon Out on Manzanella Beach G.I. romance with native peach All night long, make tropic love Next day, sit in hot sun and cool off It's a fact, man, it's a fact Rhum and Coca-Cola Rhum and Coca-Cola Workin' for the Yankee dollar

The Andrews Sisters

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Playall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v0ValW8Yqg&list=PLiyWaRqW7RXwE1Q4F9YjTS4OQaGmVZ43P