Heart and Soul (1938 song)

"Heart and Soul" is a popular song, with music by Hoagy Carmichael and lyrics by Frank Loesser, published in 1938. The original 1938 version was performed by Larry Clinton & his Orchestra featuring Bea Wain.

In 1939, three versions charted: Larry Clinton (reaching #1 on the chart), Eddy Duchin (reaching #12), and Al Donahue (reaching #16). The song later charted as #11 in 1952 by The Four Aces, and as #57 in 1956 by Johnny Maddox. Two separate cover versions charted in 1961, with The Cleftones reaching #18 and Jan and Dean reaching #25. Many other versions have been recorded. The song has been used in many advertisements, such as for an iPad Mini television commercial.

Musical format
The song's A-section is often simplified as a repeating I-vi-IV-V progression and taught to beginning piano students as an easy two-hand duet. Much like the piece "Chopsticks", this (somewhat inaccurate) version became widely known, even to those who have never studied piano. The chord progression, often referred to as the "'50s progression", later became very common in the doo-wop hits of the 1950s and 1960s.

The Cleftones version
The Cleftones had success with a rhythm and blues rearrangement of the song in 1961. After being released on April 17, 1961, "Heart and Soul" reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July of that year, making the song The Cleftones' most successful work. In 1973, the song was used in American Graffiti.

In 1959, the Cleftones' manager, George Goldner, convinced the group that their future resided in re-recording existing songs that already had an established popularity. By this time, Charles James had become more proficient on the guitar, and the group and Goldner used that to develop a new arrangement of the piece.

At that time, a local prominent disc jockey set up a recording session in Rochester, New York to record "Heart and Soul" and had arranged for singer Pat Spann's boyfriend Panama Francis to play drums and 15-year old/future Grammy Award winner Duane Hitchings to play keyboards on the song. At the recording session, the group was presented with a rearrangement of Heart and Soul song that was somewhat more formal than they had practiced. From that, the group imparted a variety of unexpected rhythms to give the song a syncopated feel. At some point during the recording session, the drummer caught singer Pat in the closet with base guitar player Warren, which abruptly ended the recording session. As a result, the last track recorded at the session was used as the "Heart and Soul" record.

"Heart and Soul" sat undistributed until 1961. In early April of that year, Roulette Records president Morris Levy reactivated New York-based American record label Gee Records as a division of Roulette Records and made "Heart and Soul" the reactivated label's first release. That same month, American news magazine Bilboard Music Week review panel listed "The Cleftones; Heart and Soul (Famous, ASCAP) (1:52) Gee" as one of seventeen "Pick Hits" from all songs released in the week of April 17, 1961. Under its "Spotlight Winners of the Week" column, Billboard identified the song as having the strongest sales potential of all records reviewed for the week, commenting about The Cleftones and "Heart and Soul," "This was a hit group a few seasons back and this rendition could bring them back into the action. It's the standard tune and it's done in rocking, teen-slanted fashion with a swinging beat. This could happen. Flip is "How Do You Feel" (Tyrol, BMI) (2:00) Gee 1064.""

On July 3, 1961, "Heart and Soul" reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 rhythm and blues chart. The song eventually sold approximately 350,000 copies for Gee/Roulette. In 1973, the song was used in American Graffiti.

Music critic Terry Atkinson of the Palm Beach Post observed in 1990 that "Heart and Soul" is the song for which the Cleftones are best remembered. In 1999, American music critic Dave Marsh listed The Cleftones' "Heart and Soul" as No. 913 in his book, The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. In 2012, American author and essayist Ray Schuck noted that the lyrics, "Well, I know that you're in love with him, 'cause I saw you dancing in the gym/You both kicked off your shoes - man, I dig those rhythm and blues."—from Don McLean's song "American Pie could be a vaguely disguised reference to the Cleftones' 1961 rhythm and blues song, "Heart and Soul." In his essay, Schuck argued that such as reference would "segue nicely into the verses comprising the remainder of this stanza, albeit with a disappointing outcome."

Jan and Dean version
Jan and Dean released a version of the song at the same time as the version by the Cleftones was on the chart. They intended for it to be released on Liberty Records, who balked, and it was released on Gene Autry's Challenge Records instead. It reached #25 on the charts. Liberty, noting the success, signed them, but none of Jan and Dean's following releases were as successful.

Other recorded versions
The following artists have registered a recording of this song with ASCAP.


 * The Four Aces
 * Beegie Adair
 * The Ames Brothers
 * Blue Barron
 * Hoagy Carmichael
 * Frank Loesser
 * Betty Carter
 * The Cleftones
 * Larry Clinton
 * Floyd Cramer
 * Crystal Gayle


 * Ella Mae Morse
 * Forever Plaid
 * Skitch Henderson
 * Jan and Dean
 * Johnny Maddox
 * Glenn Miller
 * Tony Mottola
 * Sue Raney
 * Jan Savitt
 * The Spaniels
 * The Top Hatters
 * Mel Torme