Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz… Read Full Bio ↴Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognised as such by other jazz musicians who called him King.

As a youth, Carter lived in Harlem around the corner from Bubber Miley who was Duke Ellington's star trumpeter. Carter was inspired by Miley and bought a trumpet, but when he found he couldn't play like Miley he traded the trumpet in for a saxophone.

Carter began playing professionally at 15. He first recorded in 1928 and formed his first big band the following year. He played with Fletcher Henderson in 1930 and 1931, then briefly led McKinney's Cotton Pickers before returning to lead his own band in 1932. The few recordings his band made between 1933 and 1934 are considered by most jazz scholars to be milestones in early swing arranging. They were sophisticated and very complex arrangements, and a number of them became swing standards which were performed by other bands ("Blue Lou" is a great example of this.) He also arranged for Henderson and Duke Ellington during these years and wrote two hits, "Blues in My Heart" and "When Lights are Low." By the early 1930s he and Johnny Hodges were considered the leading alto players of the day. Carter also quickly became a leading trumpet soloist, having rediscovered the instrument. He recorded extensively on trumpet in the 1930s. Also, in 1933, Carter took part in an amazing series of sessions that featured the British band leader Spike Hughes, who came to New York specifically to organize a series of recordings featuring the best Black musicians available. These 14 sides were only issued in England at that time, though they are available on CD and worthwhile looking for. (The musicians were mainly made up from member of Carter's band and from Luis Russell's.)

In 1935 he moved to Europe, where he became staff arranger for the British Broadcasting Corporation dance orchestra and made several records. He returned to the United States in 1938 and led a big band and sextet before moving to Los Angeles in 1943 to write for movie studios. Carter continued writing and performing into his 90s. He arranged for Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, and Sarah Vaughan, among many others.

His biggest hit was "Cow Cow Boogie", a song he co-wrote with Don Raye and Gene DePaul, which was a hit for Ella Mae Morse in 1942.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Carter was one of the first black men to compose music for films. He was an inspiration and a mentor for Quincy Jones when Jones began writing for television and films in the 1960s. Also in the 1940s, Carter's successful legal battles in order to obtain housing in then-exclusive neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area made him a pioneer in an entirely different area.

He also appears uncredited in the 1952 film, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, as a sax player.

Carter was admired for his ability to write saxophone solis, which are sections of music that the entire section plays as one unit in the manner of a solo.

Carter was a member of the music advisory panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. He was also a member of the Black Film Makers' Hall of Fame and in 1980 received the Golden Score award of the American Society of Music Arrangers. Carter was also a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1996 and received honorary doctorates from Princeton, Harvard, Rutgers, and the New England Conservatory.

He died, aged 95, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles of what is thought to have been bronchitis.

All of Me
Benny Carter Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You took my kisses and you took my love
You taught me how to care
Am I to be just the remnant of a one-sided love affair?
All you took, I gladly gave
There's nothing left for me to save

All of me why not take all of me
Can't you see I'm no good without you

Take my lips I want to lose them
Take my arms I'll never use them
Your good bye left me with eyes that cry
How can I go on dear without you

You took the part that once was my heart
So why not take all of me

Overall Meaning

The above lyrics are from Benny Carter's famous song All of Me. The song is about a love affair that has ended and the singer is left alone with nothing but memories of the past. The lyrics speak of how the person took everything from the singer, even their kisses and love. The singer asks whether they are to be just a remnant of a one-sided love affair. The person took everything from the singer so the singer has nothing left to save. The lyrics of the song convey the feeling of helplessness and desolation that one feels when a loved one leaves.

The chorus of the song is the most famous part. The singer asks the person to take all of them as they are no good without the person. The singer wants to lose their lips and arms, as they are no use without the presence of the person. The goodbye of the person left the singer with eyes that cry, and the singer wonders how they can go on without the person. The song speaks about how love can take away everything from a person, even their heart, leaving the person with nothing.

Line by Line Meaning

You took my kisses and you took my love
You accepted my love and affection.

You taught me how to care
I learned how to show love and concern through our relationship.

Am I to be just the remnant of a one-sided love affair?
Am I to be an insignificant, forgotten part of our past relationship?

All you took, I gladly gave
I willingly offered you all that I had to give.

There's nothing left for me to save
I have nothing left to protect or hold on to.

All of me why not take all of me
Take all of me, I am yours completely.

Can't you see I'm no good without you
I am incomplete and lost without you.

Take my lips I want to lose them
I want to give you my lips, as a symbol of my love and devotion.

Take my arms I'll never use them
Take my arms, I would never want to embrace anyone else but you.

Your good bye left me with eyes that cry
Your goodbye has left me crying and heartbroken.

How can I go on dear without you
I can’t imagine living without you.