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.

More Than You Know
Benny Carter Lyrics

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Whether you are here or yonder,
Whether you are false or true
Whether you remain or wander,
I'm growing fonder of you
Even though your friends forsake you,
Even though you don't succeed
Wouldn't I be glad to take you,
Give you the break you need

More than you know, more than you know
Girl of my heart, I love you so
Lately I find you're on my mind
More than you know

Whether you're right, whether you're wrong
Girl of my heart, I'll string along
You need me so
Much more than you'll ever know (ever know)
Loving you the way that I do

There's nothing I can do about it
Loving may be all you can give
But baby I can't live without it
Oh, how I'd cry, oh, how I'd cry
If you got tired and said "Good-bye"

More than I'd show
More than you'd ever know

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Benny Carter's song, More Than You Know, express a deep and enduring love for someone despite their flaws and failures. The first stanza begins by acknowledging that the person being addressed may be physically distant or emotionally unavailable, yet the affection only continues to grow. The second stanza emphasizes the unconditional nature of this love: even if the person disappoints or faces setbacks in life, the singer is eager to support and uplift them. The chorus repeats the sentiment that the love shared is greater than what can be expressed in words, and the closing lines reveal the vulnerability of the singer's position: their love for this person is so strong that they couldn't bear to lose them.

The lyrics of "More Than You Know" speak to the universal experience of loving someone deeply and completely, even when they don't necessarily deserve it. The song captures the feeling of being so consumed by love that it becomes all-encompassing and impossible to deny, even in the face of adversity. The repetition of phrases like "more than you know" and "girl of my heart" convey a sense of intimacy and familiarity that further underscores the depth of feeling being expressed.

Line by Line Meaning

Whether you are here or yonder,
Whether you are close or far away,

Whether you are false or true
Whether you are honest or deceitful,

Whether you remain or wander,
Whether you stay with me or leave me,

I'm growing fonder of you
I'm falling more in love with you,

Even though your friends forsake you,
Even if your friends abandon you,

Even though you don't succeed
Even if you fail,

Wouldn't I be glad to take you,
I would be happy to support you,

Give you the break you need
Offer a helping hand when you need it

More than you know, more than you know
I love you more than you can imagine

Girl of my heart, I love you so
You are the woman I love deeply

Lately I find you're on my mind
I can't stop thinking about you recently