"Body and Soul" - What was the original key?

Recently I spent several lessons with a student analyzing transcriptions of John Coltrane's version of "Body and Soul," as played on the "Coltrane's Sound" album.

As often happens, that effort brought up some questions. One was, why do we play it in Db? Was that really the original key? 

One of my college teachers, Eddy Flenner, who had been an arranger in the 1930s, told me that the tune was originally written in the key of C, but was often taken up a half step “to brighten it up.” This idea seemed questionable to me, as it would assume that most listeners can somehow perceive the difference in keys. I don't think that people generally have perfect pitch, even subliminally.

It turns out that the 1930 sheet music was indeed in the key of C (click to enlarge):

"Body and Soul" was originally written for the British singer Gertrude Lawrence, but she apparently never recorded it.

The website jazzhistoryonline.com lists 17 early versions of “Body and Soul,” all from the year 1930, with sound files of each recording. Five are in Db, 3 in C, 3 in Bb, 2 in Eb, 2 in F, and one each in G and Ab (I'm leaving out some modulations within the arrangement). 

True, different keys would have often been chosen to fit a vocalist’s range, or could be the result of inaccurate recording speed or playback speed. But with the sheet music in C, and with so many early recordings in Db, I have to consider that perhaps Eddy was right after all.

In one of these 1930 versions, Louis Armstrong begins in Eb with trumpet, modulates to C for his vocal, and finishes in F#. Louis uses a different set of lyrics, as explained in the article:

Some other early jazz versions:

Red Allen	1934	solo in C, modulates to Ab
Benny Goodman	1935	Db
Django Reinhardt	1937	Eb
Chu Berry and Roy Eldridge	1938	C (Chu), to Db (Roy), back to C
Coleman Hawkins	1939	Db
Art Tatum	1938, 1940, 1941	B
Art Tatum	1937, 1943	Db
Art Tatum	1953	C
Billie Holiday	1940	Ab
Charlie Parker	1942	Db
Charlie Parker	1943	Db

On the Chu Berry/Roy Eldridge recording, guitarist Danny Barker plays an intro that strongly resembles the piano vamp intro in the Coltrane’s Sound recording. I could believe that Coltrane’s intro referenced Chu Berry's. I should also mention that the modulation up a half step for Roy's trumpet solo (from C to Db) would definitely have a "brighten it up" effect within the arrangement:

Tatum’s key of B may seem to have been a glitch in recording speed or playback speed, but that's how it sounds on three different recordings. Tatum would have had no problem with that key, or any other. In 1937 he recorded it in Db, in 1953 he recorded it in C.

The key of Db for jazz versions was set in stone with Coleman Hawkins’ definitive 1939 recording, a jazz version that was also a best-seller:

In Lewis Porter’s John Coltrane: His Life and Music, there is an interesting quote from Jimmy Heath:

We were talking about the fact that the older tenor players like Hawkins and Webster played in the key of D-flat because it was the heaviest key for tenor - gets the best sound. “Body and Soul,” all those tunes were in D-flat…Trane said, “I’m going to practice in D-flat.” Being who he was, he would zoom in and practice in D-flat for the next six months.

It’s true that concert Db is a fat-sounding key on tenor, especially on the lower notes. However, though Hawkins played the head to “Body and Soul” in the lower register; Coltrane favored the higher register of the tenor, and played the head an octave higher than Hawkins did.

In the next post, I'll discuss John Coltrane's recordings of "Body and Soul" from 1960, 1962, and 1965.

To close, here's Billie Holiday in 1940. I'm including this just because it's so nice.