Moody's Mood for Love

"Moody's Mood for Love"
American Jazz Standard by James Moody
Writer(s)	Eddie Jefferson
Composer(s)	James Moody

"Moody's Mood for Love" is a 1952 song by Eddie Jefferson, whose melody is derived from an improvised solo by jazz saxophonist James Moody on a 1949 recording of the 1935 song "I'm in the Mood for Love". It gained widespread popularity after being recorded in 1954 by singer King Pleasure. 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.

James Moody created his improvised solo in 1949 on a visit to Sweden. Moody’s version clearly shows the influence of Charlie Parker. In 1952, jazz singer Eddie Jefferson wrote lyrics to this improvisation by Moody, a practice known as vocalese. This particular arrangement of the song did not come to be known by its now common title of "Moody's Mood for Love" until King Pleasure released a very popular vocal version in 1954. Following King Pleasure's successful hit version of "Moody's Mood for Love", Jimmy McHugh, 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. King Pleasure's version included vocals by Blossom Dearie as well as instrumental contributions from Teacho and Band.

The lyrics are often incorrectly attributed to King Pleasure because he was the first to record it. However, some sources report that when Pleasure was asked to write more lyrics to solos he confessed that he had not written this one. He had heard Jefferson perform it in a jazz club some years before and asked permission to reproduce it. James Moody later hired Jefferson to come on the road with him. Jefferson also appears on several recordings with Moody.

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