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.
Deep purple
Benny Carter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Wo-o-oo-wo-wo,
Wo-o-oo-wo-wo,
Wo-o-oo-wo-wo
When the deep purple falls
Over sleepy garden walls
And the stars begin to twinkle in the night
In the mist of a memory
Breathing my name with a sigh
In the still of the night
Once again I hold you tight
Tho' you're gone your love lives on when light beams
And as long as my heart will beat
Sweet lover, we'll always meet
Here in my deep purple dreams
When the deep purple falls
Over sleepy garden walls
And the stars begin to twinkle
In the night
In the mist of a memory
You wander all back to me
Breathing my name with a sigh
In the still of the night
Once again I hold you tight
Tho' you're gone your love lives on when moonlight beams
And as long as my heart will beat
Sweet lover, we'll always meet
Here in my deep purple dreams
And as long as my heart will beat
Sweet lover, we'll always meet
Here in my deep purple dreams
Wo-o-oo-wo-wo,
Wo-o-oo-wo-wo,
Wo-o-oo-wo-wo
The song "Deep Purple" by Benny Carter starts off with a soothing instrumental introduction that is followed by the main vocals. The lyrics depict a romantic scenario where the singer, lost in the memory of a past lover, reminisces about the times they spent together. The phrase "When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls" in the first verse sets the tone for the nostalgic, dreamlike atmosphere of the song. As the stars twinkle in the night, memories of the lover begin flooding in, causing the singer to long for them once again. The singer talks about holding the lover tight, feeling as though they are still with them in their dreams.
The second verse continues in the same vein with the singer expressing their desire to be with the lover. Though they are gone, the love they shared still lives on as long as there are moonlight beams and the singer's heart beats. The song ends with the repetition of the phrase, "Here in my deep purple dreams" portraying the nostalgia and longing for a lost love. The usage of the phrase "deep purple" throughout the song has been interpreted as an expression of deep desire and longing.
Line by Line Meaning
When the deep purple falls
As the night sky becomes a deep purple hue,
Over sleepy garden walls
Above the walls of a quiet garden,
And the stars begin to twinkle in the night
When the stars appear in the dark sky,
In the mist of a memory
Through a foggy recollection,
You wander all back to me
You return to my thoughts and feelings,
Breathing my name with a sigh
Calling out my name with a deep breath,
In the still of the night
During the quiet hours of the evening,
Once again I hold you tight
I embrace you tightly once more,
Tho' you're gone your love lives on when light beams
Though you are no longer present, your love endures even in daylight,
And as long as my heart will beat
For as long as I am alive and my heart is still pumping,
Sweet lover, we'll always meet
Dearest love, we will always come together,
Here in my deep purple dreams
In the world of my vivid and powerful imagination,
Tho' you're gone your love lives on when moonlight beams
Though you are no longer present, your love endures even in moonlit nights,
And as long as my heart will beat
For as long as I am alive and my heart is still pumping,
Sweet lover, we'll always meet
Dearest love, we will always come together,
Here in my deep purple dreams
In the world of my vivid and powerful imagination,
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: PETER DE ROSE, MITCHELL PARISH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind