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.
Pete Kelly's Blues
Beegie Adair Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There are bad things, the blues
When they threaten
Start betting you'll lose
You hide yourself behind a prayer
The blues'll come and they'll find you there
I mean the blues they call Pete Kelly's Blues
There's no exit
You can try the blues
If you're born with
You will die with the blues
Think what you choose
That happy dream is yours they say
If you can pay the dues
That's why I'm stuck with
Fresh outta luck with the blues
There's no exit
None you can try with the blues
See if you're born with
You gotta die with the blues
Think what you choose
That happy dream is yours they say
If you can pay the dues
That's why I'm stuck with
So outta luck wit the blues
Some call em Pete Kelly's Blues
You can call 'em anything you choose
I call them blues
The lyrics to Beegie Adair's song "Pete Kelly's Blues" speak to the inevitability and power of the blues. The song starts off by acknowledging that there are sad and bad things in life that can bring on the blues. It warns that once the blues start to take hold, it's difficult to escape them and one's chances at success may dwindle. The lyrics suggest that even turning to prayer won't keep the blues at bay, and that they will come to find you regardless. The blues are described as a force that is both inescapable and deeply ingrained in one's being.
The second verse speaks to the idea that the blues are not something that can be overcome or shaken off. If you are born with them, you will die with them - there's no getting around it. The lyrics warn against the idea that you can achieve happiness if you work hard enough or pay your dues. The blues are not something that can be bought or earned, they just are. The song concludes by acknowledging that the blues are known by many names, and that it doesn't matter what you call them - they will always be the blues.
Line by Line Meaning
There are sad things
Life can sometimes bring sadness
There are bad things, the blues
And sometimes these sad things turn into the blues
When they threaten
When the blues start to take over
Start betting you'll lose
You're likely to lose to the blues
You hide yourself behind a prayer
You may try to pray your problems away
The blues'll come and they'll find you there
Despite your efforts, the blues will still find you
I mean the blues they call Pete Kelly's Blues
These are the particular type of blues that are known as Pete Kelly's Blues
There's no exit
It's hard to escape from the blues
You can try the blues
You can try to cope with the blues
If you're born with
If you're naturally predisposed to the blues
You will die with the blues
You may never be able to fully shake off the blues
Think what you choose
You have a choice in how you approach the blues
That happy dream is yours they say
People say that you can achieve your dreams if you work hard enough
If you can pay the dues
But it's not always that simple - you may have to pay a big cost
That's why I'm stuck with
This is why I can't seem to shake off
Fresh outta luck with the blues
The blues have left me with bad luck
There's no exit
It's hard to escape from the blues
None you can try with the blues
There are no easy solutions to the blues
See if you're born with
If you're naturally predisposed to the blues
You gotta die with the blues
You may never be able to fully shake off the blues
Think what you choose
You have a choice in how you approach the blues
That happy dream is yours they say
People say that you can achieve your dreams if you work hard enough
If you can pay the dues
But it's not always that simple - you may have to pay a big cost
That's why I'm stuck with
This is why I can't seem to shake off
So outta luck wit the blues
I'm unfortunately stuck with bad luck from the blues
Some call em Pete Kelly's Blues
These particular blues have become known as Pete Kelly's Blues
You can call 'em anything you choose
You can choose to call them whatever you like
I call them blues
But to me, they will always just be the blues
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: SAMMY CAHN, RAY HEINDORF
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind