Once in a while a musician comes along with impecca… Read Full Bio ↴Beegie Adair Bio
Once in a while a musician comes along with impeccable technique, deep understanding of the jazz repertoire, an innate tendency to swing and the rare ability to communicate the heart and soul of a tune to listeners. That musician is Beegie Adair.
About her music Adair says, “Falling in love with jazz is like falling in love with a person, except with jazz you never get over it.” About Beegie (say B-G) Adair, what do others say?
Jazz great Helen Merrill salutes her “inventive jazz sense, her wonderful sense of time and improvised melody.”
Christopher Louden of Jazz Times magazine says Adair is “an accomplished artist with a delicate touch.”
The Los Angeles Times calls her music “Elegant.”
Entertainment News writes, “Beegie Adair is one of the finest piano players in the world.”
Intrigued? So are thousands of jazz fans, who agree with critics about Adair’s sophisticated and listenable jazz performances, and who have made her recordings among the biggest sellers in the jazz world.
Citing George Shearing, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson and Erroll Garner among her influences, Adair has recorded 24 CDs, ranging from Cole Porter standards to Frank Sinatra classics to romantic World War II ballads. Her 6-CD Centennial Composers Collection of tunes by Rodgers, Gershwin, Kern, Ellington, Carmichael and Berlin became an instant collectible classic when it was released in 2002.
Kentucky born and raised, Adair lives and records in Nashville – something of a surprise to people who associate the city solely with country music. In fact Nashville lives up to its “Music City” nickname by hosting a vibrant jazz scene, in which she has been a leading light for decades. A sought-after studio musician in her early days there, Adair accompanied such legendary performers as Chet Atkins, Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash – and also worked with Lucille Ball, Dinah Shore, Mama Cass Elliott and Peggy Lee.
Her guests on Improvised Thoughts, Beegie’s radio talk/music show on the local NPR affiliate, included such greats as Tony Bennett, Joe Williams, Marian McPartland, Benny Golson and Helen Merrill. She has guested on McPartland’s Piano Jazz show and has performed with Nat Adderley, Bill Watrous, Lew Tabackin, Terry Clarke, Urbie Green and Jim Ferguson, among many others.
When she’s not in the studio or appearing in clubs and concert halls around the country, Adair wears a variety of hats, from adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University to teacher and mentor at the Nashville Jazz Workshop. Recently she co-wrote and scored an innovative theatrical production, Betsy, which in April 2006 premiered off-Broadway in New York.
She has recorded eight projects for Village Square Records in Nashville; her most recent CDs are Sentimental Journey, a popular collection of World War II-era songs, and a solo piano recording, Quiet Romance.
She performs solo and with the Beegie Adair Trio, whose members include drummer Chris Brown, a veteran of the Maynard Ferguson ensemble, and bassist Roger Spencer, who has played with the Les Brown Band, Ray Conniff, the Page Cavanaugh Trio and Pete Jolly. They are, she says, “my main guys. They’re so tuned into the way I visualize music that it’s effortless to play with them.”
In clubs and concert venues from Los Angeles to New York, Beegie and her “main guys” win kudos from audiences and critics alike who appreciate her unique take on classic jazz. She fell in love with the music a long time ago, and indeed she’s never gotten over it -- a love affair the jazz world is much the better for.
Eleanor Rigby
Beegie Adair Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ah look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby, picks up the rice
In the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face
That she keeps in a jar by the door
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Father McKenzie, writing the words
Of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near
Look at him working, darning his socks
In the night when there's nobody there
What does he care
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Ah look at all the lonely people
Ah look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby, died in the church
And was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie, wiping the dirt
From his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
The Beatles' song “Eleanor Rigby” delves into the lives of two lonely people - Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie – who exist within the confines of their routines with no connection to others. The song opens with a depiction of Eleanor Rigby picking up rice after a wedding in the church where she resides. She lives in a dream world and spends her days waiting by the window in a face which she keeps in a jar by the door. McCartney sings, “Who is it for?” indicating that she is waiting for someone who might never come. The second verse begins with the introduction of Father McKenzie, the preacher of the church who spends his time writing sermons that nobody will hear. He is alone even in the dead of night when he darns his socks.
The chorus of “All the lonely people, where do they all come from? /All the lonely people, where do they all belong?” poignantly portrays the theme of loneliness, isolation, and sadness. Interestingly, neither of the characters interacts with each other throughout the song. However, they share a tragic end by dying alone. In the final verse, Eleanor Rigby dies in the church and is buried alone, and nobody comes to her funeral. Father McKenzie then walks from her grave, wiping the dirt from his hands, with nobody saved. The song then ends with the final chorus, indicating that the cycle of loneliness continues.
Line by Line Meaning
Ah look at all the lonely people
Observe all the individuals who are bereft of companionship
Eleanor Rigby, picks up the rice
Eleanor Rigby tends to menial work in the aftermath of a wedding
In the church where a wedding has been
This church has recently hosted a matrimonial ceremony
Lives in a dream
Eleanor Rigby has few aspirations, and engages little with reality
Waits at the window, wearing the face
Eleanor Rigby stands idly by the window, expressing fabricated feelings to onlookers
That she keeps in a jar by the door
Eleanor Rigby stores a physical reminder of her facade
Who is it for
Who is the intended recipient of the persona that Eleanor projects?
Father McKenzie, writing the words
Father McKenzie struggles to write his sermon
Of a sermon that no one will hear
No one will be listening to his sermon
No one comes near
No one approaches Father McKenzie
Look at him working, darning his socks
Father McKenzie is seen busy fixing his socks
In the night when there's nobody there
Especially when it is quiet, and he is all alone
What does he care
He muses about whether he truly cares to have his message heard
Eleanor Rigby, died in the church
Eleanor Rigby's life ends at the very church in which she took up her thankless service
And was buried along with her name
She departed from this world and lost her identity
Nobody came
The lonesomeness accompanying Eleanor in life follows her to death, with nobody to pay their respects
Father McKenzie, wiping the dirt
Father McKenzie completes the burial proceedings for the departed Eleanor Rigby and clears up
From his hands as he walks from the grave
He leaves the resting place behind as if it were simply another chore, and continues his work alone
No one was saved
No one is rescued from the sadness or loneliness
All the lonely people
All of those individuals who are alone
Where do they all come from?
What circumstances have led to these people's isolation?
Where do they all belong?
What is the proper place for these individuals?
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind