Kurt Weill, music · Bertolt Brecht, German lyrics · Marc Blitzstein, English lyrics · From The Threepenny Opera, Berlin
Mack the Knife
Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht wrote it in 1928 as the opening ballad of The Threepenny Opera. Marc Blitzstein wrote the English words for a 1954 New York production, and most popular versions use them. Louis Armstrong recorded it in 1955, and Sonny Rollins, Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra followed.
Listen in this order
The path starts with the first record of the song, in German, then follows Louis Armstrong's English-language hit. It moves through a saxophone version, a pop number one, an organ trio, a live concert, a piano trio with a guest horn and Frank Sinatra.
1920sHarald Paulsen with the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm Ensemble1928
1930s
1940s
1950sLouis Armstrong1955
Sonny Rollins Quartet1956 · Cool jazz
Bobby Darin1958
1960sJimmy Smith Trio1960 · Bebop
Ella Fitzgerald1960 · Vocal
Oscar Peterson Trio with Clark Terry1964 · Bebop
1970s
1980sFrank Sinatra1986 · Fusion
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Hear the first record
Harald Paulsen with the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm Ensemble · 1928
“Die Dreigroschenoper: Moritat”, Moritat von Mackie Messer
Harald Paulsen played Macheath when The Threepenny Opera opened in Berlin on August 31, 1928, and the song was added just before the premiere because he wanted a stronger entrance. He made the first record of it that September.
Sung versions
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A man's voice and a band sing in German for a little over two minutes. The tune is short and plain, and every later version on this page keeps it.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody with the record, one phrase at a time. Once you know it, play it again with the from a chart.
Louis Armstrong and his All Stars recorded the song in New York on September 28, 1955, two days before a three-month European tour. The released single joins an instrumental take and a vocal take, and Lotte Lenya, who starred in the 1954 production, was at the session.
Sung versions
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Armstrong sings the English words with his band behind him, and he calls out Lotte Lenya by name. The record runs a little over three minutes.
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Play the melody with the record, then play it alone with the from a chart. Pick one and play it a little louder than the one before.
Sonny Rollins recorded this on June 22, 1956 at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, with Tommy Flanagan, Doug Watkins and Max Roach, under the title Moritat. It runs over ten minutes and came out on the Prestige LP Saxophone Colossus in 1957.
Saxophone leads
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Sonny Rollins plays the tune on tenor saxophone, then keeps making up new music on it for over ten minutes, with piano, bass and drums behind him.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody with the record. Soloing over the chart takes more skill; a smaller version is to play the melody again with a different rhythm each time.
Bobby Darin recorded this on December 19, 1958, in an arrangement by Richard Wess with Doc Severinsen on trumpet, Milt Hinton on bass and Don Lamond on drums. It came out as a single in August 1959 and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Sung versions
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Listen for
A singer with a band, a little over three minutes long. The music steps up to a higher pitch several times as the verses go on.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody in B♭, then again in B, then in C, moving up as the verses go on in the record. If changing is new to you, play it twice, in B♭ and then B.
Jimmy Smith recorded this on January 4, 1960 at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, with Quentin Warren on guitar and Donald Bailey on drums. Blue Note issued it on a single and on the LP Crazy! Baby.
Organ trio
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Jimmy Smith leads on organ, with a guitar and drums beside him. The organ carries the tune and the solos.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody with the record, then try the first four with in your left hand and the tune in your right.
Ella Fitzgerald recorded this live at the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin on February 13, 1960, with Paul Smith, Jim Hall, Wilfred Middlebrooks and Gus Johnson. She forgot the words and made up new ones, and the album won Grammys in 1961.
Sung versions
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Ella Fitzgerald sings with a piano, guitar, bass and drums in front of a live audience in Berlin. She forgets the words partway through and makes up new ones.
Try it on your instrument
Sing or play the melody over the , then change one phrase of your own, the way Ella changes the words. A new rhythm counts as a change.
Oscar Peterson Trio with Clark Terry · 1964 · Bebop
Oscar Peterson Trio + One, Clark Terry
Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen recorded this with Clark Terry in New York in August 1964 for the Mercury LP Oscar Peterson Trio + One, Clark Terry.
Piano trio
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Oscar Peterson's trio, with Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums, plays with Clark Terry's horn out front. The track runs a little over five minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the 16 with in your left hand and the tune in your right. Then play only the chords and let someone else play or sing the tune.
Frank Sinatra first recorded the song for his 1984 album L.A. Is My Lady, produced and conducted by Quincy Jones. The CD version joins the 1984 band track to a vocal he recorded again on October 30, 1986.
Sung versions
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Sinatra sings with a jazz band and calls out the names of musicians in the words, among them Quincy Jones, George Benson and Bobby Darin. Bassist Major Holley scats over the opening .
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody with the record, one phrase at a time, then play it alone with the from a chart.
Weill and Brecht add the song to The Threepenny Opera just before its Berlin opening in August 1928. Harald Paulsen, who played Macheath, makes the first record that September.
1950s
Marc Blitzstein's English words, written for a 1954 New York production, become the basis for most popular versions. Armstrong records them in 1955, Rollins plays the tune without words in 1956, and Darin records his in December 1958.
1960s
Jimmy Smith plays it on organ in January, and Ella Fitzgerald sings it live in Berlin in February, making up words after forgetting them. In 1964 Clark Terry joins the Oscar Peterson Trio for a five-minute version.
1980s
Frank Sinatra records the song for the first time on his 1984 album L.A. Is My Lady, with Quincy Jones. The CD edition uses a vocal he re-recorded in 1986, in which he calls out the names of musicians.
More great versions
4 more, from 1955 to 1959. Tap a cover to play it here.
1950sLotte Lenya with Roger Bean's orchestra1955 · Vocal
“Moritat vom Mackie Messer (Mack the Knife)”, Lotte Lenya Sings Kurt Weill: Berlin Theatre Songs
Lotte Lenya, who appeared in both the 1928 Berlin production and the 1954 New York one, recorded an album of Kurt Weill songs in Hamburg in July 1955. This is her German version of the ballad from it.
“Moritat vom Mackie Messer”, Lotte Lenya: American Theater Songs
Producer George Avakian recorded Lenya singing the German words with Turk Murphy's band on September 22, 1955, six days before Armstrong's session. Murphy's arrangement was then used for Armstrong.
Lou Donaldson led a sextet with Blue Mitchell, Horace Parlan, Laymon Jackson, Dave Bailey and the conga player Ray Barretto at Van Gelder Studio on October 31, 1959. Blue Note issued it on The Time Is Right in 1960.
Kenny Dorham recorded this with Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers and Arthur Taylor at Van Gelder Studio on November 13, 1959. It appears on the album Quiet Kenny.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
B♭ majorusual key
16 barsA form
B♭ majorkey centers
A16 bars
B♭
The chart has 16 in one section, A, in , and the tune goes round again for every . Bars 1 and 2 sit on , bars 3 and 4 on , bars 5 and 6 on , and bars 7 and 8 return to B♭6. Bars 9 and 10 move to , bars 11 to 13 stay on Cm7, bar 14 adds F7 on its second half, and bars 15 and 16 close on B♭6. Bobby Darin's record starts in B♭ and moves up through B, C, D♭ and E♭ as the verses go on.