"Moody's Mood for Love" is a 1952 song by Eddie Jefferson, whose melody is derived from an improvised solo by
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
saxophonist James Moody (and a brief solo in the middle by pianist Thore Swanerud) on a 1949 recording of the 1935 song "
I'm in the Mood for Love
"I'm in the Mood for Love" is a popular song published in 1935. The music was written by Jimmy McHugh, with the lyrics by Dorothy Fields. The song was introduced by Frances Langford in the movie '' Every Night at Eight'' released that year.
I ...
". The song is structured as a duet, with a man proclaiming his love for a woman, and the woman (in the part of the melody corresponding to the piano solo) responding in kind.
The song gained widespread popularity after being recorded by singer King Pleasure, with the woman's part sung by
Blossom Dearie
Margrethe Blossom Dearie (April 28, 1924 – February 7, 2009) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She had a recognizably light and girlish voice. Profile at AllMusic/ref> Dearie performed regular engagements in London and New York City o ...
. The song helped to popularize the
vocalese
Vocalese is a style of jazz singing in which words are added to an instrumental soloist's improvisation.
Definition
Vocalese uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos, as opposed to scat singing, which uses nonsen ...
jazz singing style. It has since been covered by many artists. Moody himself adopted the song as his own, recording it with Jefferson on the 1956 album '' Moody's Mood for Love'' and often singing the song himself in concert.
History
James Moody created his improvised solo in 1949 on a visit to Sweden. Moody's playing clearly shows the influence of
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...
. The recording includes, in the middle, an eight-bar improvisation by Swedish pianist Thore Swanerud, who was part of the backing band.
At some point in the next few years,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
singer Eddie Jefferson wrote lyrics to this improvised melody, a practice known as
vocalese
Vocalese is a style of jazz singing in which words are added to an instrumental soloist's improvisation.
Definition
Vocalese uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos, as opposed to scat singing, which uses nonsen ...
, and added the song to his repertoire. Jefferson's lyrics include the piano solo, which is sung from the point of view of a woman ("What is all this talk about loving me, my sweet?"). It also references Moody himself at the end of the song ("James Moody, you can come on in and you can blow now if you want to"). King Pleasure heard Jefferson perform it in a jazz club and asked permission to reproduce it. Pleasure's recording, released in 1952, gave the song its now-common title of "Moody's Mood for Love". It included
Blossom Dearie
Margrethe Blossom Dearie (April 28, 1924 – February 7, 2009) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She had a recognizably light and girlish voice. Profile at AllMusic/ref> Dearie performed regular engagements in London and New York City o ...
singing the female part, and a band headed by
Teacho Wiltshire
George "Teacho" Wiltshire (born Audrick Gladstone Wiltshire; September 20, 1909 – September 29, 1968) was a Barbadian-born American R&B pianist, bandleader, arranger, A&R man, and songwriter, who had success in the 1950s and 1960s with mus ...
. The recording, King Pleasure's first, was a hit for the
Prestige
Prestige refers to a good reputation or high esteem; in earlier usage, ''prestige'' meant "showiness". (19th c.)
Prestige may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Films
* ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnet ...
label.
Following King Pleasure's successful recording,
Jimmy McHugh
James Francis McHugh (July 10, 1894 – May 23, 1969) was an American composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he is credited with over 500 songs. His songs were recorded by many artists, including Chet Baker, Ju ...
, who wrote the music for "I'm in the Mood for Love", sued for copyright infringement and won a partial victory in court. He and Moody eventually agreed to share the proceeds on sales of any versions of the tune.
Moody embraced the song, and later hired Jefferson to come on the road with him. Jefferson also appeared on a number of Moody's subsequent albums: '' Moody'' (1954), '' James Moody's Moods'', ''
Hey! It's James Moody
''Hey! It's James Moody'' is an album by saxophonist James Moody recorded in 1959 and released on the Argo label.Cookin' the Blues
''Cookin' the Blues'' is a live album by saxophonist James Moody recorded in San Francisco in 1961 and released on the Argo label in 1964.vocalese
Vocalese is a style of jazz singing in which words are added to an instrumental soloist's improvisation.
Definition
Vocalese uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos, as opposed to scat singing, which uses nonsen ...
song, it helped bring that music form to a much wider audience. Most notably, it helped start the career of vocalese pioneer
Jon Hendricks
John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and re ...
. Hendricks was sitting in a café when the King Pleasure recording of "Moody's Mood" came on the
jukebox
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to sele ...
. According to Hendricks, he had been writing "unpopular" songs for some time, but when he heard the recording and realized that it was a saxophone solo with words he decided to change his approach to songwriting. "I didn't have to stop at 32 bars. Now I could write lyrics for all the parts in the orchestra." He went on to collaborate with the singer and arranger Dave Lambert and the singer Annie Ross to form the vocalese group
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross were an American vocalese trio formed by jazz vocalists Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross. From 1962 to 1964, Ross was replaced by vocalist Yolande Bavan.
History
The group formed in 1957 and recorded their f ...
.
In the 1970s, New York City
urban contemporary
Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban conte ...
radio DJ Frankie Crocker played the King Pleasure recording of the song every night at the end of his show on
WBLS-FM
WBLS (107.5 MHz) is an urban adult contemporary formatted FM radio station, licensed to New York City. It is currently owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared services agreement, along with sister statio ...