Studio Album · No. 4
Body and Soul Songwriting Credits by Billie Holiday
Produced by Norman Granz
Holds writing credit on 0 of 8 tracks
Authorship Breakdown 0 / 8 documented
Scored across the 8 tracks with documented writers, by whether Billie Holiday carries a lyricist or composer credit.
Share of the 8 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.
By the Numbers
Billie Holiday writes none of this record. Body and Soul is an interpreter's album, eight standards from the American songbook sung in her weathered late-career voice. The composer column belongs to the songwriters she covers, and it reads as a roll call of Tin Pan Alley and Broadway names: Johnny Green (legal name John Waldo Green), the Gershwin brothers, Jimmy Van Heusen (Edward Chester Babcock), Sam H. Stept (Samuel Howard Stept), and Don Redman (Donald Matthew Redman). Norman Granz produced every track. Holiday's authorship is purely in the phrasing, not the pen.
Body and Soul is a studio album by Billie Holiday, recorded in Los Angeles across four sessions in January 1957 and released on Verve Records the same year. Produced by Norman Granz, it is a set of eight ballads and standards backed by a small band of top West Coast and swing-era players. Ben Webster's tenor saxophone, Harry "Sweets" Edison's muted trumpet, and Jimmy Rowles's piano frame Holiday's late-career voice, with Barney Kessel on guitar and Red Mitchell on bass. Alvin Stoller and Larry Bunker split the drum chair across the sessions. The program leans on classic American songbook material, including three Gershwin songs and the title standard, and it is one of the more relaxed and warmly recorded dates of Holiday's Verve years.
Track Listing & Credits 8 tracks
| # | Title | Lyricist(s) | Composer(s) | Producer(s) | Performers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Body and Soul
|
Edward HeymanRobert SourFrank Eyton | John Waldo Green | Norman Granz | Billie Holiday (Vocals)Ben Webster (Tenor Saxophone)Harry Edison (Trumpet)Jimmy Rowles (Piano)Barney Kessel (Guitar)Red Mitchell (Bass)Alvin Stoller (Drums) |
| 2 |
They Can't Take That Away From Me
|
Ira Gershwin | Jacob Gershwine | Norman Granz | Billie Holiday (Vocals)Ben Webster (Tenor Saxophone)Harry Edison (Trumpet)Jimmy Rowles (Piano)Barney Kessel (Guitar)Red Mitchell (Bass)Larry Bunker (Drums) |
| 3 |
Darn That Dream
|
Eddie DeLange | Edward Chester Babcock | Norman Granz | Billie Holiday (Vocals)Ben Webster (Tenor Saxophone)Harry Edison (Trumpet)Jimmy Rowles (Piano)Barney Kessel (Guitar)Red Mitchell (Bass)Alvin Stoller (Drums) |
| 4 |
Let's Call the Whole Thing Off
|
Ira Gershwin | Jacob Gershwine | Norman Granz | Billie Holiday (Vocals)Ben Webster (Tenor Saxophone)Harry Edison (Trumpet)Jimmy Rowles (Piano)Barney Kessel (Guitar)Red Mitchell (Bass)Larry Bunker (Drums) |
| 5 |
Comes Love
|
Lew BrownCharles Tobias | Samuel Howard Stept | Norman Granz | Billie Holiday (Vocals)Ben Webster (Tenor Saxophone)Harry Edison (Trumpet)Jimmy Rowles (Piano)Barney Kessel (Guitar)Red Mitchell (Bass)Alvin Stoller (Drums) |
| 6 |
Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You
|
Andy Razaf | Donald Matthew Redman | Norman Granz | Billie Holiday (Vocals)Ben Webster (Tenor Saxophone)Harry Edison (Trumpet)Jimmy Rowles (Piano)Barney Kessel (Guitar)Red Mitchell (Bass)Larry Bunker (Drums) |
| 7 |
Embraceable You
|
Ira Gershwin | Jacob Gershwine | Norman Granz | Billie Holiday (Vocals)Ben Webster (Tenor Saxophone)Harry Edison (Trumpet)Jimmy Rowles (Piano)Barney Kessel (Guitar)Red Mitchell (Bass)Larry Bunker (Drums) |
| 8 |
Moonlight in Vermont
|
John Blackburn | Karl Suessdorf | Norman Granz | Billie Holiday (Vocals)Ben Webster (Tenor Saxophone)Harry Edison (Trumpet)Jimmy Rowles (Piano)Barney Kessel (Guitar)Red Mitchell (Bass)Alvin Stoller (Drums) |