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.
I Got It Bad
Benny Carter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tell me to save my tears
Well I'm so mad about him
I can't live without him
Never treats me sweet and gentle
The way he should
I've got it bad
My poor heart is so sentimental
Not made of wood
I've got it so bad
And that ain't good
But when the fish are jumpin'
And Friday rolls around
My man an' I, we gin some
We pray some, and sin some
He don't love me like I love him
The way he should
I've got it bad
And that ain't good
Yes I've got it bad
And that ain't good
In the song "I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)" by Benny Carter, the singer is expressing her deep love and emotional attachment for someone who doesn't reciprocate the same level of affection that she feels for him. She is so madly in love with him that even though she knows she should save her tears and move on from this unrequited love, she cannot live without him. She goes on to describe how he never treats her sweetly or with the tenderness that she deserves, but despite this, she cannot help the way she feels. Her heart is so sentimental and full of emotion that it cannot be compared to something as tough and unfeeling as wood. The singer then goes on to describe her Friday nights with her man, how they drink and pray and sin together, further emphasizing a sense of emotional connection that she feels that he does not.
The lyrics paint a picture of someone who is painfully aware that the love they feel is not being reciprocated in the way that they want or need it to be. The singer is so attached to this person that she cannot bear the thought of letting go, despite the painful realization that her feelings won't be returned in the same way. The song is about the complexities of love and the fear of losing someone you love, even when that love is not returned.
Line by Line Meaning
Though folks with good intentions
Tell me to save my tears
Well I'm so mad about him
I can't live without him
Despite being advised by well-meaning people to hold back my tears, I cannot control my infatuation with him and cannot imagine living without him.
Never treats me sweet and gentle
The way he should
I've got it bad
And that ain't good
He never treats me with the tenderness and care that I desire, leaving me with a deep longing and a feeling of being stuck in this undesirable situation.
My poor heart is so sentimental
Not made of wood
I've got it so bad
And that ain't good
My heart is overly emotional and susceptible to his influence, leading me to suffer greatly from this unrequited love.
But when the fish are jumpin'
And Friday rolls around
My man an' I, we gin some
We pray some, and sin some
Despite our complicated relationship, we still have moments of joy and intimacy, even if they are fleeting and often mixed with guilt and regret.
He don't love me like I love him
The way he should
I've got it bad
And that ain't good
He does not reciprocate my love to the same extent, causing me much distress and heartache - this is far from a ideal situation.
Yes I've got it bad
And that ain't good
Overall, my unrequited love has left me in a very difficult and unhappy place.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Duke Ellington, Paul Francis Webster
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind