Carroll Coates

Carroll Coates (23 September 1929 – 21 October 2023) was a British-American songwriter, composer and lyricist whose works were produced commercially from the 1950s to the 1990s. His songs have been recorded by Frank Sinatra, Carmen McRae, Tony Bennett, Shirley Horn, Mel Tormé, Nancy Wilson and others. His jazz ballad "You'll See" has been recorded by more than a dozen artists. Coates wrote at least nine songs for film, including Sunday in New York.

Biography

Carroll Coates was born in Uxbridge, England on 23 September 1929.^[1] In 1996, he reportedly lived in the San Francisco Bay Area.^[2]

Following Sarah Vaughan's death in April 1990, Coates composed a song in tribute to her, called "Sarah". In a tribute concert for Sarah Vaughan on 25 June 1991, the Shirley Horn Trio performed "Sarah". Reviewing the concert, The New York Times reported:

Carroll Coates's affectionate tribute...praises Vaughan as one who "could do more with a melody than a hip whippoorwill." The final verse imagines Vaughan in heaven, in a quartet with Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington and Bessie Smith, where instead of squabbling over roles she says to Smith, "I'm new here, you lead."^[3]

On 28 April 1996, Coates was honoured in a concert called "Songfest: A Songwriters Celebration", held in Larkspur, California. Before the event, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that "Coates will introduce the vocalists who will sing his songs, among them Rebecca Parris, Faith Winthrop, Shanna Carlson, Buddy Conner and Amy Dondy."^[2]

Coates died at his home in Carmel, California, on 21 October 2023, at the age of 94.^[1]

Works

Work for film

Year	Film	Song	Notes
1956	Teenage Rebel	"Cool It, Baby"	Sung on soundtrack by Dick Lory, (Dick Glasser)
A Kiss Before Dying	"A Kiss Before Dying"[4]	Lyricist
	The Last Wagon	"Theme From The Last Wagon"[5]	Lyricist
The Girl Can't Help It	"Cool It, Baby"[6]	Lyricist	Performed by Eddie Fontaine
1957	The Way to the Gold	"The Drive-In Rock"[7]	Lyricist
		"Strange Weather"[8]	Lyricist
	No Down Payment	"The Drive-In Rock"	Lyricist
	Kiss Them for Me	"Kiss Them For Me"[9]	Lyricist
1959	Blue Denim	"The Drive-In Rock"	Lyricist
1960	Let's Make Love	"Cool It, Baby"	Lyricist
1963	Sunday in New York	"Sunday in New York"[10]	Lyricist
1965	The Cavern	"The Cavern"[11]	Composer/Lyricist
1990	Havana	"London By Night"[12]	Composer/Lyricist

Audio recordings

Song	Recording Artist	Album
Afterglow	Chanticleer	Lost in the Stars[13]
	Cleo Laine	Blue & Sentimental[14]
	Kendra Shank	Afterglow[15]
"Better To Have Loved"	Ida Zecco	Better To Have Loved[16]
"Between An Old Love and a New Love" (Lyrics; Music by Hub Atwood)[17]	Johnny Holiday	Holiday For Lovers[18]
"City Lights"	Contemporary Jazz Orchestra	Trench Heroes[19]
"Cool It, Baby" (Lyrics; Music by Lionel Newman)<	The Treniers	Cool It, Baby[20]
"Daughter, Dear!"	Jim Porcella	Life Is So Pecualiar[21]
"The Holiday Song"	Ida Zecco	A Song for Christmas[22]
"I Am A Man (He Is A Man)" (Lyrics; Music by Ronnie Selbey)[23]	Lizabeth Scott With Henri René And His Orchestra	Lizabeth[24]
"I Have A Feeling"	Lynda Jamison	You and the Night and the Music[25]
	Ida Zecco	Better To Have Loved[16]
"I Still Believe in You"	Sarah Vaughan	The Divine Sarah Vaughan[26]
"Kiss Them For Me" (Lyrics; Music by Lionel Newman)[27]	Joan Crawford	The Best of Everything[28]
	Lionel Newman and His Orchestra	Kiss Them For Me (Soundtrack)[29]
"Later for Love"	Rebecca Parris & The Kenny Hadley Big Band	A Beautiful Friendship[30]
"London By Night"	Singer Pur	Herztöne – Lovesongs
	Charly Antolini	Right On[31]
	Tony Bennett	The Good Things in Life[32]
	Rebecca Parris	Love Comes and Goes[33]
	Ronnie Ross	It's a Wonderful World[34]
	Frank Sinatra	Come Fly With Me[35]
	Various Artists	The Golden Age of Light Music: Going Places[36]
	John Williams	Echoes of London[37]
Cleo Laine	Blue & Sentimental[14]
"Love Comes and Goes" Raquel Bitton I wish you love Album, 1996	Cleo Laine	Blue & Sentimental[14]
	Rebecca Parris	Love Comes and Goes[33]
"Love Is Letting Go"	Jim Porcella	Life Is So Peculiar[21]
"A Miracle"	Frank Mantooth Jazz Orchestra	A Miracle[38]
"More in Love" (Lyrics; Music by Peter Nero)[39]	Rosie Carlino	What Matters Most[40]
"Music Is My Life"	Jim Porcella	Life Is So Peculiar[21]
	Diane Schuur	Music Is My Life[41]
"No One Ever Tells You" (with Hub Atwood)	Shirley Bassey	The Fabulous Shirley Bassey
	John "Buddy" Conner	Can't Hide Love![42]
	Rebecca Parris	Love Comes and Goes[33]
	Jim Porcella	Life Is So Peculiar[21]
	Ian Shaw and Cedar Walton	In a New York Minute[43]
	Frank Sinatra	A Swingin' Affair! The Nearness of You[44]
"Now I Live With You"	Jim Porcella	Life Is So Peculiar[21]
"One for Monterey"	Black Market Jazz Orchestra	Art Attack[45]
	Richie Cole	Profile[46]
	Dave Costa	Impassioned[47]
	De Paul University Jazz Ensemble	Shade Street[48]
	Rebecca Parris	Love Comes and Goes[33]
	Frank Mantooth Jazz Orchestra	A Miracle[49]
"Park & Ride"	Richie Cole	Profile[46]
"Sarah"	Richie Cole	Profile[46]
	Carmen McRae	Sarah—Dedicated To You[50]
"So I Love You"	Shirley Horn	Close Enough For Love[51]
	Rebecca Parris	Love Comes and Goes[33]
"Soft Sands" (Lyrics; Music by Lou Stein)[52]	The Chordettes	The Best of the Chordettes[53]
	Oscar Peterson	Soft Sands[54]
"A Song For Christmas"[55]	Charles Brown	Charles Brown's Cool Christmas Blues[56]
	Laura Fygi	The Very Best Time of Year[57]
	Nancy LaMott	Just in Time For Christmas[58]
	Ida Zecco	A Song For Christmas[59]
	Cantabile – The London Quartet	A Song For Christmas
"Sunday in New York" (Lyrics; Music by Peter Nero)	Doc Anello	Doin' It Our Way[60]
	Ernestine Anderson	Be Mine Tonight
	Bobby Darrin	Ultra Lounge: Wild, Cool & Swingin'
	Keely Smith	I'm in Love Again[61]
	Mel Tormé	Mel Tormé Sings Sunday in New York & Other Songs About New York
	Stanley Turrentine	In Memory Of
	Libby York	Sunday in New York[62]
"The Swing Song"	Shanna Carlson	Swing High, Swing Low[63]
	Lucy Reed	Basic Reeding[64]
"Too Much in Love To Care" (Lyrics; Music by James J. Kriegsmann)[65]	Carmen McRae	The First of Carmen McRae – The Bethlehem Years[66]
"We Can Only Try" (Lyrics; Music by Peter Daniels)	Lainie Kazan	Body & Soul[67]
	Diane Schuur	Pure Schuur[68]
"Where Did the Summer Go?"	Rebecca Parris	Love Comes and Goes[33]
"You'll See"	Misty Bade	Touching You Touching Me[69]
	Rosie Carlino	What Matters Most
	Kelly Houston	"Songs of Love"
	Beth Logan	Time After Time
	Greta Matassa	I Wanna Be Loved[70]
	Rebecca Parris	Love Comes and Goes[33]
	Jackie Ryan	Doozy
	Diane Schuur	Love Songs
	Carol Sloane	Heart's Desire[71]
	Paula West	Temptation
	Weslia Whitfield	Beautiful Love
	John B. Williams	Gratitude
	Nancy Wilson	R.S.V.P.
	Susan Winter	Love Rolls On
"You're So Far Above Me"	The Four Freshmen	The Complete Capitol Four Freshmen Fifties Sessions[72]

Awards

Along with co-writers Peter Nero and Roland Everett, Coates was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1964 for composing the song "Sunday in New York" for the film of the same name.^[73]