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Body and Soul

(Edward Heyman/Robert Sour/Frank Eyton/Johnny Green)

With the lyrics written by Johnny Green and the music by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour and Frank Eyton, this song was written in 1930 for Gertrude Lawrence.  The first British recording of it was by Jack Hylton and His Orchestra but it became popular when it was recorded by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra, with Jack Fulton on vocals, and retained No. 1 in the UK charts for six weeks following its 11th October 1930 release.

It appeared in Three’s a Crowd on Broadway on 15th October 1930 with the song performed by Libby Holman and danced to by Clifton Webb.  The Libby Holman recording reached No. 3 in the US charts but the song was banned for a year on radio because of its suggestive lyrics.  Notwithstanding this ban the song was recorded 14 times over the 1930s and 1940s alone, by artists that included the Benny Goodman Trio, Ruth Etting, Billy Eckstine and Louis Armstrong.

The song has featured on the soundtracks of at least 15 movies, 3 stage productions and 2 television programmes.  The Library of Congress chose it as one of the year’s 50 elected recordings to be added to the National Recording Registry in 2004.

This version is the B-side of The Manhattan Transfer chart song “Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone” and appears on their album Extensions

The Manhattan Transfer Recordings
Atlantic: K11476 B (UK45)

Sources:

  1. http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/bodyandsoul.htm
  2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_and_Soul_%28song%29