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.
I Left My Heart In San Fransisco
Beegie Adair Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The glory that was Rome is of another day
I've been terribly alone and forgotten in Manhattan
I'm going home to my city by the Bay
I left my heart in San Francisco
High on a hill, it calls to me
To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars
My love waits there in San Francisco
Above the blue and windy sea
When I come home to you, San Francisco
Your golden sun will shine for me
Beegie Adair's song I Left My Heart In San Francisco is a touching tribute to the city by the bay. The lyrics of the song speak to the feeling of nostalgia for a place that is truly special to the author. The first verse contrasts the beauty of Paris and Rome with the desolation of Manhattan, where the author has been feeling alone and forgotten. The longing to return home to San Francisco, where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars and the golden sun shines for the author, is palpable.
The chorus of the song, "I left my heart in San Francisco", encapsulates the emotional core of the song: the feeling that a piece of the author's heart has been left behind in the city. The imagery of the little cable cars climbing halfway to the stars is particularly evocative, suggesting something magical and wondrous about the city. The line "the morning fog may chill the air, I don't care" also speaks to the author's sense of attachment to the city, suggesting that even less pleasant aspects of the environment are endearing to them.
Overall, the song conveys a sense of deep emotional attachment to San Francisco, a place that the author clearly loves and misses deeply. The song's popularity is a testament to the enduring appeal of this great American city.
Line by Line Meaning
The loveliness of Paris seems somehow sadly gray
The beauty of Paris no longer shines as brightly for me and instead appears lackluster and melancholic.
The glory that was Rome is of another day
The historical magnificence of Rome has faded with time and is now a distant memory.
I've been terribly alone and forgotten in Manhattan
I have been feeling extremely isolated and as though I have been neglected while living in Manhattan.
I'm going home to my city by the Bay
I am returning to my beloved San Francisco, the city that is located near the bay.
I left my heart in San Francisco
My true affection lies in San Francisco, the place where I feel most alive and passionate.
High on a hill, it calls to me
San Francisco's allure and charm are powerful and persistent, as if calling to me from the highest point of the hill.
To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars
The unique charm of San Francisco resides in the little cable cars that seem to ascend halfway towards the twinkling stars.
The morning fog may chill the air, I don't care
Even though the morning fog in San Francisco can be cold, I am not deterred from being there due to the overwhelming joy and contentment I feel in the city.
My love waits there in San Francisco
The person I am in love with is patiently waiting for me in San Francisco.
Above the blue and windy sea
San Francisco's magnificent cityscape can be seen rising above the vast and tempestuous ocean.
When I come home to you, San Francisco
Upon returning to San Francisco, I feel a sense of belonging and being at home in the city.
Your golden sun will shine for me
In San Francisco, I will be surrounded by a warm and inviting atmosphere that is enhanced by the city's signature and radiant sunshine.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DOUGLAS CROSS, GEORGE CORY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind