Body And Soul

Body and Soul

I'm revising this tree and I'm having some trouble verifying the info.

Music: Johnny Green

Lyrics: Robert Sour, Edward Heyman, Frank Eyton

According to Jazz Standards and others, the first version was a vocal version by Jack Hylton & His Orchestra in 1930 on HMV.

According to The Originals and others, the first version was an instrumental by Carroll Gibbons & The Playmates in 1929 on HMV. This is how it's currently entered in the database.

I did some research and this is what I found so far:

1930-02-07 Jack Hylton And His Orchestra - HMV B5777 - Vocals by Pat O'Malley

1930-02-19 Carroll Gibbons (not with Playmates) - HMV B3347 - Instrumental

1930-09-12 Ruth Etting - Columbia 2300 D - Vocals by Ruth Etting

1930-10-07 Annette Hanshaw - Harmony 1124 - Vocals by Annette Hanshaw

1930-10-09 Louis Armstrong And His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra - Okeh 41468 and others - Vocals by Louis Armstrong

1930-10-10 Paul Whiteman - Columbia 2297 D - Vocals by Jack Fulton

1930-10-15 Libby Holman performance on the opening night of the Broadway show "Three's a Crowd"

1930-11-17 Vee Lawnhurst - Perfect 12666 - Vocals by Vee Lawnhurst

I can't find a 1929 version of Carroll Gibbons but as he performed an early version it may be possible. Another source suggesting this is the book Classes and Cultures.

So does anyone know of an earlier version than Jack Hylton?

Quote from Denis

I can't find a 1929 version of Carroll Gibbons but as he performed an early version it may be possible. Another source suggesting this is the book Classes and Cultures.

No, this reference is talking about a version by Jack Ambrose, Decca M 118, reissued as M 402. http://www.jabw.demon.co.uk/brow~1.htm says this was recorded on 1930-02-08 with vocals by Sam Browne, one day after Jack Hylton. There is a picture of M 402 at http://www.jabw.demon.co.uk/ambrose.htm.

According to http://karaokejazz.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=74 (pdf file, repeated at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0338004/bio), Jack Hylton's recording was made eleven days before the song was copyrighted, so to me this makes a 1929 recording unlikely. I have not been able to confirm the copyright.

As it seems the song was written for Gertrude Lawrence, perhaps a case could be made for her version being the first. According to http://www.wicn.org/song-week/body-and-soul-1930, "In February of 1930 the song was copyrighted first in England and Lawrence sang it on British radio but never recorded it. Thanks to the wireless, it became very successful and the most popular bandleader in Britain, Jack Hylton, made the first recording." So, I guess it would depend on when in February she sang it on the radio...

There is also an early version from March 1930 by Spike Hughes and his Decca-Dents, Decca F 1703, vocals by Val Rosing, http://www.memorylane.org.uk/previous_articles.htm

Last edit: 2009-03-08 18:20:50 UTC by baggish

I changed Hylton into the original for now and removed Gibbons version until we have more information.

Quite perfect, Denis...

http://koffieleutjes.com/category/view/muziek-en-showbizz

Carroll Gibson and The Playmates, UK, December 1929.

Hem! Gibbons... - Whatever was I thinking of ?

Last edit: 2012-07-29 14:19:38 UTC by Stephan Koenig

Look at the matrix numbers, they are ultimate proof that Gibbons's was recorded prior to Hylton's.

Carroll Gibbons and his Playmates recorded the first (instrumental) version at the end of 1929 in the UK for the HMV-label: B-3347 (Matrix-number Bb 18368-2).

Jack Hylton & His Orchestra recorded the first vocal version of "Body and Soul" on February 7, 1930, also on the HMV-label : B-5777 (Matrix-number Bb 18652-3)

The reason this was a "British first":

"While working as accompanist to GERTRUDE LAWRENCE, Johnny Green co-wrote the popular "Body and Soul" as special material for her in 1929. She took the unpublished manuscript to England, where she sang it over BBC."

Je voudrais bien savoir ce que j'ai à faire avec cette chanson...

Si oui, ça date de très longtemps et je ne m'en souviens plus.

A part les 2 versions des Shake Spears sur Philips en 1963 et Ronnex à l'été 1964...

Last edit: 2012-07-27 13:20:42 UTC by Stephan Koenig

Quote from Denis

I changed Hylton into the original for now and removed Gibbons version until we have more information.

Denis, can you re-enter Gibbons' original please?

Have a look at my previous message. Anymore info needed?

Although they usually are, matrix numbers are not "ultimate" proof IMO. According to several sources, Gibbons recorded it during a session on February 19, 1930. Jack Hylton recorded it almost two weeks earlier. Isn't it possible that someone wrote the numbers down wrong?

I share your mistrust with typos, human errors, but not here. Even if they screwed up the matrixes, look at the cat nrs, they also indicate an earlier release for Gibbons. I'm convinced here.

Can you remember where you saw the February 19, 1930 date?

Bb 18638-2 was recorded on February 19 1930: Charm

Click the little + buttons for details.

And, check HMV [His Master's Voice] or even http://www.jabw.demon.co.uk/rpmhmv.htm: there is no real sequence to the B cat nos at all.

Charm also tells us something interesting about the Jack Hylton version. Bb 18652-1 and Bb 18652-2 were recorded on February 7 1930 as stated in this discussion, but Bb 18652-3 which is the one on HMV B-5777 was not recorded until February 14. So, a matrix number is lasting a week...

According to my earlier posting, this makes the Jack Ambrose/Sam Browne version recorded on February 8 to be the earliest recording to be released (or, to be more correct, the earliest recording that we have found). Unfortunately I can't find this version in Charm.

Edit: Bert Ambrose, not Jack

Last edit: 2012-04-25 19:38:54 UTC by baggish

Denis, do you mind if we change the recording date of Jack Hylton from Feb 7 to Feb 14, as the Feb 14 recording is the one that was released, based on what I found in Charm?

Be my guest, I never mind edits on my entries.

Quote from Denis

Be my guest, I never mind edits on my entries.

Yep, I know, but in this case it was worth asking as there has been quite a long discussion and you might have found different info somewhere. Anyway, updated.