75 Years after Coleman Hawkins Records Body & Soul, What’s so Great about It?

75 years ago this month, Coleman Hawkins recorded what would become one of the most legendary jazz recordings.

I didn’t always like this recording.

When I first heard it, as a jazz newbie, all I noticed was the crappy recording quality, the hiss, crackle and pops. How “old” it sounded, etc. Now? I could listen to this on repeat all day long.

Why?

A few things stand out to me:

1. The track is 3 minutes long. That’s pop song length. And that’s what this was…in 1939. I find it tough NOT to hit the replay button as soon as the song ends. Contrast that with the swollen length of a typical 6-9 minute “jazz” recording. Part of the problem (IMO) with “jazz” recordings is that everyone gets a solo, which is hard for any average Jane or Joe to digest.
2. There’s one soloist. (See #1.)
3. The four bar piano introduction is tight, melodic and in time. It’s a perfect set-up.
4. There’s a backbeat. OMG!? In jazz? Yes. In jazz. The drummer is not exploring the space but keeping the time. The bass hits on down beats and the brushes lock in the 2 & 4, while the guitar chunks out quarter notes. This was POP MUSIC, friends. People DANCED to this. And yet, no one can deny the brilliance and artistry of WHAT Hawkins played over this pop backdrop.
5. The horn backgrounds don’t enter until the 2nd chorus. Again, this is pop music architecture. It’s somewhat of a rule in pop music that you layer elements in. You don’t start your guitar or sax fills, or that extra keyboard pad, all at once at the top. You save stuff for after the first 2 verses and first chorus have passed.

Keep in mind I’m not a professional critic. That’s just my opinion.

Here’s what Hawkins had to say about this recording:

“It’s funny how it became such a classic,” Hawkins mused. “Even the ordinary pubic is crazy about it. It’s the first and only record I ever heard of that all the squares dig as well as the jazz people, and I don’t understand how and why, because I was making notes all the way. I wasn’t making a melody for the squares. I thought nothing of it. I didn’t even bother to listen to it afterwards.”

And Johnny Green, the song’s composer…did he know he was writing a hit?

“I am interviewed a lot about ‘Body and Soul,’ John Green remarked, looking back on his biggest claim to fame, “… and these klutzes say, ‘Tell me, when you were writing “Body and Soul'” did you know that you were writing a classic?’ I say, ‘A classic? What are you talking about? I knew I was writing it for Wednesday.'”

I love that part! This is art as a blue collar job. He was writing it for a radio show and it had to be ready before airtime on WEDNESDAY!

This tune became a benchmark for tenor saxophonists, and as a teenager, to help me absorb the song, I dubbed a Body & Soul mixtape, which lived in my car stereo for years.

Here are a few of my favorites from that tape:

Not meant to be definitive, just recordings that were important to me. (Potter’s version from Sundiata is still my favorite. The bass clarinet version from Gratitude was not on my tape because it hadn’t yet been recorded; it’s just a bonus.)

Still with me? Here are more interesting things:

1. Dexter’s (not-so-smooth) version from the (not-so-great) movie ‘Round Midnight:

Sure makes jazz LOOK cool, though! *Yes, that’s a young Herbie Hancock on piano.

2. It’s interesting to compare multiple versions of Chris Potter playing this, if for nothing else than to see (hear) how he reuses certain phrases at specific parts of the tune. Might help you realize he’s human after all: