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.
St. Louis Blues
Benny Carter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I hate to see that evening sun go down
Cause my baby, he's gone left this town
Feelin' tomorrow like I feel today
If I'm feelin' tomorrow like I feel today
I'll pack my truck and make my give-a-way
Pulls that man around by her, if it wasn't for her and her
That man I love would have gone nowhere, nowhere
I got the St. Louis blues, blues as I can be
That man's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea
Or else he wouldn't have gone so far from me
I love my baby like a school boy loves his pie
Like a Kentucky colonel loves his mint 'n rye
I love my man till the day I die
Benny Carter's song "St. Louis Blues" speaks about the pain and sorrow felt by the singer as their lover has left their town. The lyrics open with a somber lamentation of the setting sun, as the singer expresses their hate for its disappearance. The departure of the sun symbolizes the departure of their lover from the town, which leaves the singer feeling alone and lost. They resort to thinking about the future and feel that it'll be no better than the present because they are still heartbroken.
The following lyrics highlight the heartbreak and tough decisions the singer has to make. They're considering leaving the town and start a new life without their lover, who has left them. It's a difficult decision, but it seems to be the only way out of their emotional turmoil. The next verse talks about a St. Louis woman that has a hold on their lover with her diamond ring, insinuating that their lover doesn't care for them anymore. The singer is heartbroken, feeling that they have lost their love interest and trying to cope with the disappointment. The chorus repeats the description of their sorrow, the St. Louis Blues, which implies an all-encompassing, melancholic feeling that's beyond a regular sadness.
Line by Line Meaning
I hate to see that evening sun go down
The singer is unhappy to see the sunset because it reminds him that his lover has left town.
Cause my baby, he's gone left this town
The singer's lover has left town, causing him great sadness and heartache.
Feelin' tomorrow like I feel today
The singer is afraid that he will feel just as bad tomorrow as he does today.
If I'm feelin' tomorrow like I feel today
The singer will leave town if he feels just as bad tomorrow as he does today.
I'll pack my truck and make my give-a-way
The singer will leave town and start a new life somewhere else if he continues to feel sad and lonely.
St. Louis woman with her diamond ring
The singer is referring to a specific woman from St. Louis who has a diamond ring.
Pulls that man around by her, if it wasn't for her and her
The St. Louis woman has control over the man the singer loves, without her influence the man would be nowhere.
That man I love would have gone nowhere, nowhere
The man the singer loves would not have succeeded without the St. Louis woman's help.
I got the St. Louis blues, blues as I can be
The singer is feeling very sad and depressed, which he calls the St. Louis blues.
That man's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea
The singer's lover has a heart that is cold and unfeeling, like a rock in the ocean.
Or else he wouldn't have gone so far from me
The singer believes that if his lover had a heart, he would not have left him.
I love my baby like a school boy loves his pie
The singer loves his lover very much, comparing his love to the way a school boy loves his favorite dessert.
Like a Kentucky colonel loves his mint 'n rye
The singer loves his lover like a wealthy man loves his expensive, favorite drink.
I love my man till the day I die
The singer's love for his lover will never die, even if they are separated forever.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, HANDY BROTHERS MUSIC CO.,INC., Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: William Christopher Handy
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind