Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928 – August 8, 1975) wa… Read Full Bio ↴Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928 – August 8, 1975) was a jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s.

Adderley is remembered for his 1966 single "Mercy Mercy Mercy", a crossover hit on the pop charts, and for his work with trumpeter Miles Davis, including on the epochal album Kind of Blue (1959). He was the brother of jazz cornetist Nat Adderley, a longtime member of his band.

The name 'Canonball' is supposed to have originated from his being nicknamed 'cannibal' in his youth, on account of his prodigious eating

Early life and career
Originally from Tampa, Florida, Adderley moved to New York in the mid-1950s. His nickname derived originally from "cannibal", a title imposed on him by high school colleagues as a tribute to his voracious appetite.

His educational career was long established prior to teaching applied instrumental music classes at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Cannonball moved to Tallahassee, Florida when his parents obtained teaching positions at Florida A&M University. Both Cannonball and brother Nat played with Ray Charles when Charles lived in Tallahassee during the early 1940s. Cannonball was a local legend in Florida until he moved to New York City in 1955, where he lived in Corona, Queens.

It was in New York during this time that Adderley's prolific career began. Adderley visited the Cafe Bohemia, where Oscar Pettiford's group was playing that night. Adderley had brought his saxophone into the club with him, primarily because he feared that it would be stolen, and he was asked to sit in as the saxophone player was late. That performance established his reputation.

Prior to joining Miles Davis' band, Adderley formed his own group with his brother Nat after signing onto the Savoy jazz label in 1957. He was noticed by Miles Davis, and it was because of his blues-rooted alto saxophone that Davis asked him to play with his group.

Adderley joined the Miles Davis Sextet in October 1957, three months prior to John Coltrane's return to the group. Adderley played on the seminal Davis records Milestones and Kind of Blue. This period also overlapped with pianist Bill Evans' time with the sextet, an association that led to recording Portrait of Cannonball and Know What I Mean?.

His interest as an educator carried over to his recordings. In 1961, Cannonball narrated The Child's Introduction to Jazz, released on Riverside Records.

Band leader
The Cannonball Adderley Quintet featured Cannonball on alto sax and his brother Nat Adderley on cornet. Cannonball's first quintet was not very successful; however, after leaving Davis' group, he formed another, again with his brother, which enjoyed more success.

Later life
By the end of the 1960s, Adderley's playing began to reflect the influence of the electric jazz, avant-garde, and Davis' experiments on the album Bitches Brew. On his albums from this period, such as Accent on Africa (1968) and The Price You Got to Pay to Be Free (1970), he began doubling on soprano saxophone, showing the influence of Coltrane and Wayne Shorter. In that same year, his quintet appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival in California, and a brief scene of that performance was featured in the 1971 psychological thriller Play Misty for Me, starring Clint Eastwood. In 1975 he also appeared (in an acting role alongside Jose Feliciano and David Carradine) in the episode "Battle Hymn" in the third season of the TV series Kung Fu.

Joe Zawinul's composition "Cannon Ball" (recorded on Weather Report's album Black Market) is a tribute to his former leader. Pepper Adams and George Mraz dedicated the composition "Julian" on the 1975 Pepper Adams album (also called "Julian") days after Cannonball's death.

Songs made famous by Adderley and his bands include "This Here" (written by Bobby Timmons), "The Jive Samba", "Work Song" (written by Nat Adderley), "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" (written by Joe Zawinul) and "Walk Tall" (written by Zawinul, Marrow and Rein). A cover version of Pops Staples' "Why (Am I Treated So Bad)?" also entered the charts.

Adderley was initiated as an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity (Gamma Theta chapter, University of North Texas, '60, & Xi Omega chapter, Frostburg State University, '70) and Alpha Phi Alpha (Beta Nu chapter, Florida A&M University).

Adderley died of a stroke in 1975. He was buried in the Southside Cemetery, Tallahassee, Florida. Later that year he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.

You Are Too Beautiful
Cannonball Adderley Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You are too beautiful, my dear, to be true
And I am a fool for beauty
Fooled by a feeling that because I have found you
I could have bound you too

You are too beautiful for one man alone
For one lucky fool to be with
When there are other men

With eyes of their own to see with

Love does not stand sharing
Not if one cares
Have you been comparing
My every kiss with theirs

If, on the other hand, I'm faithful to you
It's not through a sense of duty
You are too beautiful
And I am a fool for beauty

Love does not stand sharing
Not if one cares
Have you been comparing
My every kiss with theirs

If, on the other hand, I'm faithful to you
It's not through a sense of duty

You are too beautiful
And I am a fool for beauty

Overall Meaning

In “You are Too Beautiful”, Cannonball Adderley sings about a feeling of infatuation and vulnerability to a woman he finds to be too perfect to be real. He knows that her beauty is so captivating that he would be a fool to believe that he is the only man who sees it. He feels like he is in a competition with others who also admire her and is constantly comparing himself to them. However, it's not a sense of duty that motivates him to remain faithful to her – he is truly enamored by her beauty.

The lyrics focus on the theme of beauty and its power to incite emotions and thoughts in people. The song touches upon the insecurities and vulnerabilities people may feel when they encounter someone they find too alluring. The idea that loving someone too beautiful is a foolish endeavor due to the belief that such beauty cannot be contained by just one person is also explored.

Line by Line Meaning

You are too beautiful, my dear, to be true
You are so beautiful that I can't believe you're real

And I am a fool for beauty
I am easily enraptured by beautiful things

Fooled by a feeling that because I have found you
My emotions have led me to believe that I can keep you forever

I could have bound you too
I thought I could make you stay with me

You are too beautiful for one man alone
You are so attractive that many men desire you

For one lucky fool to be with
It's lucky for me to have you, but I'm still a fool for hoping to keep you

When there are other men
There are other men who find you beautiful

With eyes of their own to see with
They can see your beauty for themselves

Love does not stand sharing
Love does not tolerate sharing one's partner with others

Not if one cares
If you truly care for someone, you won't want to share them

Have you been comparing
Have you been comparing my affection towards you with other men's?