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.
On the Bumpy Road to Love
Benny Carter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A green and yellow basket
I bought a basket for my mommie
On the way I dropped it
I dropped it, I dropped it
Yes on the way I dropped it
A little girlie picked it up
And took it to the market
Avenue without a single thing to do
She was peck, peck, peckin' all around
When she spied it on the ground
A-Tisket A-Tasket
She took my yellow basket
And if she doesn't bring it back
I think that I shall die
(Was it red?)
No, no, no, no
(Was it brown?)
No, no, no, no
(Was it blue)
No, no, no, no
Just a little yellow basket
The song "On the Bumpy Road to Love" by Benny Carter is a playful and flirtatious tune about the ups and downs of love. The opening line "On the bumpy road to love, how we jostle to and fro" sets the tone for the rest of the song. The lyrics describe the unpredictability of love, comparing it to a bumpy road. Carter uses playful and clever wordplay throughout the song, such as "we're trying to get a little closer, but fate says no sirree" and "when passion's flame is flickerin', the ride is twice as rough."
The chorus of the song is especially catchy, with the repetition of the phrase "on the bumpy road to love" and the scatting that follows. The song's upbeat tempo and swinging rhythm reflect the excitement and anticipation of falling in love. Overall, "On the Bumpy Road to Love" is a fun and energetic tune that captures the highs and lows of romantic relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
A-Tisket A-Tasket
The song begins with the singer singing a playful rhyme
A green and yellow basket
The singer is describing a basket that is both green and yellow
I bought a basket for my mommie
The singer bought the basket for their mother
On the way I dropped it
The artist dropped the basket while they were carrying it
I dropped it, I dropped it
The artist emphasizes that they dropped the basket twice
Yes on the way I dropped it
The singer reaffirms that they dropped the basket
A little girlie picked it up
A young girl picked up the basket after the singer dropped it
And took it to the market
The young girl took the basket with her to the market
She was truckin' on down the Avenue without a single thing to do
The young girl was walking down the avenue with no particular goal or task in mind
She was peck, peck, peckin' all around
The young girl was looking around and exploring as she walked
When she spied it on the ground
The young girl saw the basket on the ground
A-Tisket A-Tasket
The artist repeats the playful rhyme from the beginning of the song
She took my yellow basket
The young girl took the singer's yellow basket
And if she doesn't bring it back
The singer hopes the young girl will bring the basket back
I think that I shall die
The singer is being dramatic and jokingly suggests they will die if the basket isn't returned
(Was it red?)
The artist asks a suggestion for an alternative color for the basket
No, no, no, no
The artist denies that the basket was red
(Was it brown?)
The singer asks a suggestion for another alternative color
No, no, no, no
The singer denies that the basket was brown
(Was it blue)
The artist asks a third suggestion for another alternative color
No, no, no, no
The artist denies that the basket was blue
Just a little yellow basket
The artist reminds the listener that the basket in question is small and yellow
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