Body and Soul (Joe Jackson album)

Producer David Kershenbaum met with Jackson about the project, first discussing it over sushi in mid-1983.[10] Kershenbaum had "discovered" Jackson in 1978, and helped him produce 1979's Look Sharp! and I'm the Man albums. At the time of their meeting, Jackson was working to finish the soundtrack of Mike's Murder, and he told Kershenbaum he was weary of the artificiality of much modern music, recorded piecewise in dead acoustic isolation. He wished for a return to classic musicianship, with a well-rehearsed band playing together in the same space. Countering Jackson, Kershenbaum expressed a desire to move Jackson into the modern digital age, embracing the recent debut of the compact disc.[10]

The soundtrack to Mike's Murder was released in September 1983, but the associated film was delayed because of a dispute between the director and the studio.[5] Despite this setback, in December 1983 the soundtrack's single "Memphis" rose to No. 85 on the Hot 100,[11] and the instrumental track "Breakdown" was nominated for a Grammy Award, the winner to be announced in late February 1984.[12] While this was happening in late 1983, Jackson and Kershenbaum scouted potential locations for the Body and Soul recording sessions. Their aim was to find a reverberant performance space that was not "sterile" or lifeless.[10]

They found the appropriate acoustics in Manhattan's Masonic Hall, which was next door to Vanguard Studios, and used by Vanguard for classical recordings. The hall's reverberant acoustics were captured by a matched stereo pair of expensive Neumann M50 microphones. Kershenbaum and Jackson set the band up to play together, with each instrument close-miked for individual focus as needed. To update Vanguard's equipment for a fully digital recording path, Kershenbaum oversaw the assembly of a new control room in an existing office at Vanguard, with wiring to connect to the Masonic. The initial tracking of the voices and instruments was laid down on a recently developed 3M 32-channel digital recording system. Most of the basic tracks were captured with the full band performing simultaneously, but for some songs the piano or the horn section was recorded separately, to get a cleaner mix. All the vocal parts were recorded separately, with Jackson backed by himself, Ellen Foley and Elaine Caswell; Caswell and Jackson sang as a duet on "Happy Ending". The musicians were at the Masonic for three weeks, then Jackson, Kershenbaum and Rik Pekkonen mixed the songs for a week at Atlantic Studios, and the master tapes were finished by Bernie Grundman on 7 February 1984. Kershenbaum said that he and Jackson had intended to finish the project faster, but getting the digital gear together took extra time, and a total of five weeks for the album was "a step in the right direction" after earlier excesses.[10]

The album was released on 14 March 1984. The compact disc carried the SPARS code "DDD", signifying an album that had been recorded, mixed and mastered digitally, without an analog conversion.[10] On 25 May, the album peaked in the US at No. 20 on the Billboard 200,[4] whereas in the UK the album rose higher sooner, peaking at No. 14 on 7 April, staying on the chart for 14 weeks.[13]

Rolling Stone's Don Shewey reviewed the album in May 1984, giving it four out of five stars. Shewey said the album demonstrated a maturation of Jackson's musicality, comparing him to Paul Simon and Randy Newman who shared an interest in "bridging the gap between pop music and serious music".[2] Shewey was less impressed with the Motown-derivative song "Go For It", which sounded to him like an Elvis Costello track from the Get Happy!! project (1980). Shewey thought Jackson's hit song, "You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)", was "a bracing, sophisticated tune that successfully incorporates pop lyricism, a tight funk band and jazz compositional structures".[2]

At the end of the associated world tour in July 1984, Jackson took a lengthy break. The tour had been, he later wrote, "the hardest I ever did; it came too soon after the last one, and by the end of it I was so burned out I swore I'd never tour again".[5]

In retrospective reviews, AllMusic first assigned the album three stars out of five, publishing in the 2002 book All Music Guide to Rock. Chris Woodstra called out the song "Be My Number Two" as "beautiful".[14] When AllMusic moved online, Mike DeGagne re-appraised the album at 3.5 stars in a 2008 review, describing it as "Jackson at his smoothest", delivering an album dedicated to exploring aspects of jazz.[1]

The album contains original pop songs written by Jackson, half of which were composed and arranged with a Latin flair. Latin elements heard on the album include salsa, cha-cha-chá, bolero, and instrumental canción. The musicians obtained Latin percussion sounds the same way they did live on stage, with Gary Burke emulating timbales on his normal drum kit, augmented by Ed Roynesdal on güiro and Tony Aiello on claves.[10] Jazz elements are also found on the album, including instrumental solos such as Michael Morreale's haunting flugelhorn solo on "Not Here, Not Now", and Vinnie Zummo's bebop-style jazz guitar in "You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)", which followed a funk bass solo by Graham Maby.[8][9] Soaring above Jackson's piano, Aiello played alto saxophone on the smoky jazz theme to "Loisaida", an instrumental tune evoking the nightlife of New York's Lower East Side. Other styles on the album include post-disco on "You Can't Get What You Want",[15] "Go For It"'s Motown-flavoured production,[2] and the 1960s pop sound of "Happy Ending", modernised for the 1980s with Elaine Caswell singing the lyric "It's '84 now."[10]

The first song on the album, "The Verdict", was inspired by the 1982 film The Verdict, featuring Paul Newman as an alcoholic attorney making good.[9] Three tracks on the album showed Jackson's affinity for film music: "The Verdict", the atmospheric instrumental "Loisaida", and the closing cut "Heart of Ice" – the latter starting as an instrumental, building slowly in intensity, and joined by harmony voices in the final affirmation of acceptance and hope.[2][7][10]

All songs written and arranged by Joe Jackson.[3] Produced by Joe Jackson and David Kershenbaum.

Musicians

• Joe Jackson – vocals, piano, saxophone
• Graham Maby – bass
• Vinnie Zummo – guitar
• Ed Roynesdal – keyboards, violin, güiro
• Tony Aiello – saxophones, flute, claves
• Michael Morreale – trumpet and flugelhorn
• Gary Burke – drums
• Ellen Foley – backing vocals
• Elaine Caswell – backing vocals, duet on "Happy Ending"

Production

• Joe Jackson – arrangements, producer
• David Kershenbaum – producer
• Rik Pekkonen – recording engineer
• Bernie Grundman – mastering engineer
• Dan Nash – mixing engineer
• Charles Reilly – photography

• Body and Soul album information at The Joe Jackson Archive