He was born in New York City (but grew up in New Haven, Connecticut) and began learning the saxophone when he was 15 and by age 16, had begun to tour with a band. He reached Hollywood the first time, as a sideman with Irving Aaronson's band in 1931, performing at the famous Orange Blossom Room (site of the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929). Returning to New York City in1932, he became a highly in-demand session musician, working for example as one of just a handful of accompanists to Bing Crosby's first signature radio show for William S. Paley's already powerful and influential CBS radio network. Ultimately, Artie (who was known strictly as "Art" Shaw until his fortuitous Summer, 1938 contract with RCA Victor records' Bluebird label commenced) organized and led five, full-time touring orchestras that were all extremely popular -save the last, from 1949, with its be-bop oriented book. Ironically, that final Shaw-led big band (populated with players like Al Cohn), is considered by most jazz critics to have been Artie's best. With time out to lead a Navy service band (in the Pacific combat theater) during WWII, Shaw's actual big band- leading career lasted less than a decade overall -yet, it was a remarkably productive one, populated with some fourteen "Gold" records. These included such mega-hits as "Begin the Beguine", "Stardust", "Frenesi", "Moonglow", "Temptation", "Dancing In The Dark" and "Summit Ridge Drive" -the latter by his famous quintet billed as the Gramercy 5.
Shaw was known for being an innovator in the big band idiom, pioneering strings with jazz and using unusual instrumentations. His Summer, 1935 piece "Interlude in B-flat" was one of the earliest examples of what would be later dubbed "third stream". In 1938 he convinced Billie Holiday to be his band's vocalist, becoming the first white bandleader to hire a full-time black female singer. This 1938-1939 orchestra became phenomenonally successful and appeared in the movie "Dancing Co-ed" which also featured one of his future wives, Lana Turner, in the cast. Artie's clarinet playing, had by now reached a level that was arguably the greatest in jazz, easily rivaling that of Benny Goodman. Longtime Duke Ellington clarinetist Barney Bigard, himself a highly talented musician -cited Shaw (in 1940) as his "favorite" clarinet player. Literally abandoning his famous 1938-1939 band at the absolute peak of its' fame and earning power (Artie, just himself alone pulling down more than $10K per week) in late November, 1939, Shaw "abdicated" to Acapulco, Mexico. Returning to the U.S. he organized an entirely new orchestra, with full string section in the Summer of 1940. A truly stellar aggregation, it lasted until mid-1941, featuring stars Billy Butterfield, Johnny Guarneiri, Nick Fatool and Ray Conniff as principal arranger. This outfit can be prominently seen in the RKO film "Second Chorus" starring Fred Astaire and Paulette Goddard. The final pre-war Shaw band, started in late, 1941, had Davey Tough and Hot Lips Page and big hits on St. James Infirmary Blues and Blues In The NIght. Artie broke this outstanding unit up shortly after Pearl Harbor so he could "enlist" in the Navy -refusing an offered commission. Back from the Navy, Shaw put together a new band that featured Roy Eldridge and an ambitious library stocked with arrangements by Eddie Sauter, Buster Harding, Ray Conniff and others. Hit records for this band included "Little Jazz" and "S'Wonderful" and by now Artie was married to Ava Gardner. His final public performances (as a clarinetist) took place in 1954, including with a sublime quartet in an extended Las Vegas booking. Apparently, he last picked up and played his fabled clarinet in about 1960 at his beach house in Spain (as recounted in final wife actress Evelyn Keyes' autobiography) and resisted all lucrative offers to return to the stage until finally fielding a "ghost" band under the highly capable aegis of outstanding clarinetist Dick Johnson in 1985. For about the first year, Artie often appeared on stage with this very fine orchestra at certain, prestigious bookings, but soon tired of the "grind" -and not to Dick Johnson's dismay. This now true "ghost" band is still appearing during Summer seasons (with much of the original Shaw "books"), principally in the New England area (Johnson lives in Boston) and is well worth seeing. Although he had more wives (8) than bands, Artie fell one wife short of Charlie Barnet's record (for a famous bandleadrer) of nine.
Don't Take Your Love from Me
Artie Shaw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the sky feels blue
Tear a petal from a rose
And the rose weeps, too
Take your heart away from mine
And mine will surely break
My life is yours to make
Would you take the wings from birds
So that they can't fly?
Would you take the ocean's roar
And leave just a sigh?
All this, your heart won't let you do
This is what I beg of you
Don't take your love from me
Don't take your love from me
The opening lines of Artie Shaw's song "Don't Take your Love from Me" use metaphors to explain the feelings of the singer towards the lover. The singer compares the lover's love for him with stars and roses, two beautiful things that lose their quality when missing a part. When one tears a star from the sky, the sky feels blue, and when one tears a petal from a rose, the rose weeps, too. These comparisons mean to say that the singer's love is incomplete without the lover's love, and he would feel lost and unhappy if it were to be taken away.
The second verse continues the same metaphorical theme, asking if the lover would take the wings from birds or silence the ocean's roar. However, the singer knows that his lover would never do these things because, just like these examples, his lover's heart won't let her take away her love from him. The chorus that follows is a plea to the lover not to take her love away from him. The singer understands the power his lover's love has over his life and asks her to keep the spark awake as his life is hers to make.
Overall, the song expresses the singer's deepest emotions and fears about losing the love of his life. He compares their love to beautiful things in nature and emphasizes its importance to him, and ultimately, he begs his lover to never take it away.
Line by Line Meaning
Tear a star from out the sky
Removing a star from the sky causes sadness and grief as indicated by the blue color of the sky
And the sky feels blue
Indicates the expression of sadness and grief as blue is often associated with sadness
Tear a petal from a rose
Removing a petal from a rose leads to tears and sadness expressed through the drooping of the rose
And the rose weeps, too
Shows the sadness expressed through the sight of a drooping rose
Take your heart away from mine
Separating hearts will lead to the heartbreak of the person left behind
And mine will surely break
Breaking of the individual's heart is a symbol of the hurt and pain they will experience
My life is yours to make
The person asking not to have their love taken is deeply invested and vulnerable in their relationship
So please keep the spark awake
The plea to the other person to work together to keep the flame of their love alive
Would you take the wings from birds
Questioning if someone would do something as cruel as taking away an essential part of an animal, like wings, which are natural and necessary for them to fly and survive
So that they can't fly?
Emphasizes the cruelty of taking away something that is essential to someone's being
Would you take the ocean's roar
Asking if the other person would take away something as powerful as the roar of the ocean, which is a natural beauty and a symbol of freedom
And leave just a sigh?
Asking if the other person would mute something that naturally expresses power and might to just a pathetic sigh
All this, your heart won't let you do
The belief that the other person is not cruel or heartless enough to do any of the above cruel actions
This is what I beg of you
The person is begging that the other person does not hurt them by taking their love away
Don't take your love from me
Overall message that the person is begging not to have their love taken away
Lyrics © INDANO MUSIC COMPANY, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Henry Nemo
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@swingman5635
A voice like velvet....❤️
@Telcom100
Good background information on this marvelous recording, Professor.
@uni-verse5807
God. How has the world gone from this to absolute chaos? I'll never know.
@scotnick59
Lena herself didn't care for her own singing during this period. I cannot for the life of figure that one out
@jayyoung4534
Had Horne continued in this musical format, we might have heard more of a commercial Lena Horne, and she'd have been better known by the public. Instead, Horne's recordings weren't that much a commercial attraction. But she was more a visual stylist in her singing career. Anyone?
@scotnick59
Very well-daid
@nelsoncordeiro1007
Carl Stalling used this song in "Hare Splitter", Over the title cards☺️
@uni-verse5807
Singing begins 1:36
@jayyoung4534
Interesting. Life's full of twists and turns. For example, Shaw was once married to Lana Turner, who later in her life married Steve Crane, owner of the Luau in Beverly Hills, where Horne was the target of a racist rant as she dined out that evening with her husband, Lennie Hayton, musical director for MGM.
@xfhghe
In addition, Lennie Hayton wrote many arrangements for including Dancing in the Dark and Stardust. Shaw wrote this arrangement though.