HEART AND SOUL
Larry Clinton
(words by Frank Loesser, music by Hoagy Carmichael)
3 versions charted in 1939: Larry Clinton (# 1); Eddy Duchin (# 12); and Al
Donohue (# 16)
Later charted as # 11 in 1952 by The Four Aces
Also charted by Larry Maddox (1956, #57); The Cleftones (1961, #18); and
Jan and Dean (1961, # 25)
Heart and soul, I fell in love with you
Heart and soul, the way a fool would do, madly
Because you held me tight
And stole a kiss in the night
Heart and soul, I begged to be adored
Lost control, and tumbled overboard, gladly
That magic night we kissed
There in the moon mist
Oh! but your lips were thrilling, much too thrilling
Never before were mine so strangely willing
But now I see, what one embrace can do
Look at me, it's got me loving you madly
That little kiss you stole
Held all my heart and soul
>From the Reader's Digest "Treasury of Best Loved Songs":
"During a brief period in the Swing Era, the Hollywood film
studios produced a series of "short subjects" featuring dance
bands, usually playing their established hits. But only one
"short", A Song Is Born (1938), effectively introduced a hit.
The band was Larry Clinton's, with vocalist Bea Wain and the
song was "Heart and Soul", Carmichael and Loesser's first
collaboration. Carmichael was an established composer at the
time, but Loesser - later a creator of both words and music -
was still only a lyricist. Carmichael told the Digest that
the song kicked around the back rooms of Paramount Pictures
for a month before it was assigned to any picture. During that
period "the best use the song got was for Anthony Quinn's
voice practice". This was before Quinn became a star. The
writers were disappointed when their song was launched in a
minor production, but the disappointment was short-lived as
Clinton's recording became a big seller."