The song of the day for Saturday, January 18, 2014 is “Body and Soul.”
About This Song
“Body and Soul” was written in 1930 by Johnny Green, with lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour and Frank Eyton. The song was originally written for Gertrude Lawrence, the British actress and singer. It was introduced in the United States in 1930 in a Broadway revue called Three’s a Crowd.
The importance of “Body and Soul” as a jazz standard is unsurpassed; it ranks #1 on the jazz standards.com website. It has been recorded by the greats of jazz: Coleman Hawkins, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Bill Evans, John Coltrane among many others.
About This Version
One might think that Tony Bennett has sung “Body and Soul” for decades, but his first released recording of this song wasn’t made until 1989, for the 1990 album Astoria: Portrait of the Artist. In 1994, he sung this song on MTV Unplugged, which not only won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Performance but also Album of the Year. His next recording, the duet with Amy Winehouse for Duets II, won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance; Duets II won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. I would hazard a guess that this song has been very good for Mr. Bennett.
http://open.spotify.com/track/6yqbGOlhxaX8iVLkpIoPHd
“Body and Soul,” as well as Astoria: Portrait of the Artist, is available from iTunes.
And as it’s YouTube Saturday, The Year of Tony Bennett is pleased to present this video of Tony Bennett and the late Amy Winehouse singing their Grammy Award-winning duet of “Body and Soul.”
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