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.
The One I Love Belongs to Someone Else
Benny Carter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And all my daydreams have gone astray
I think about the one and only
Who's bound to find me some golden day
The one I love is coming along some day
And I'll have none except the one I love
He/She may be near or ever so far away
And though our meeting is left to chance
Until our meeting
I still will have my dream romance
And through the night I pray to the moon above
To please be kind and find the one I love
The lyrics to Benny Carter's song The One I Love Belongs to Someone Else are about longing for someone who is currently unavailable. The singer describes feeling lonely during the long days and nights, and how all their daydreams seem to have gone astray. Despite this, they continue to think about the one they love, who they believe will find them someday. The singer tells us that although this person may be near or far away, they will have none except for the one they love. The song speaks to the idea of true love and how it can endure despite obstacles.
The chorus speaks of the hope that the one they love will come along one day, and that they will have none except them. The lyrics express a sense of anticipation for this meeting, even though it is left to chance. The singer's dream romance is still alive, and they pray to the moon above each night, asking for the kindness of finding the one they love. Overall, the song highlights the power of love and the desire for a long-awaited reunion with one's beloved.
Line by Line Meaning
When days are long and nights are lonely
During days when I'm exhausted and the nights when I'm alone
And all my daydreams have gone astray
And when all my dreams and aspirations have come to nothing
I think about the one and only
I think about the person who is most special to me
Who's bound to find me some golden day
Who will undoubtedly come into my life on a beautiful day
The one I love is coming along some day
My loved one is on the way
And I'll have none except the one I love
I don't want anyone else except for the person I love
He/She may be near or ever so far away
The person I love may be close or far away
But I'll have none except the one I love
But nobody else can take their place
And though our meeting is left to chance
Although we may not find each other on purpose
Until our meeting
Until we finally meet
I still will have my dream romance
I will continue to love them in my heart's dreams
And through the night I pray to the moon above
I pray to the moon in the sky above me
To please be kind and find the one I love
To let fate bring us together
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Bronislaw Kaper, Gus Kahn, Walter Jurmann
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind