Born in Chicago, Illinois, Ammons studied music with instructor Walter Dyett at DuSable High School. Ammons began to gain recognition while still at high school when in 1943, at the age of 18, he went on the road with trumpeter King Kolax's band. In 1944 he joined the band of Billy Eckstine (who bestowed on him the nickname "Jug" when straw hats ordered for the band did not fit), playing alongside Charlie Parker and later Dexter Gordon. Notable performances from this period include "Blowin' the Blues Away," featuring a saxophone duel between Ammons and Gordon. After 1947, when Eckstine became a solo performer, Ammons then led a group, including Miles Davis and Sonny Stitt, that performed at Chicago's Jumptown Club. In 1949 Ammons replaced Stan Getz as a member of Woody Herman's Second Herd, and then in 1950 formed a duet with Sonny Stitt.
The 1950s were a prolific period for Ammons and produced some acclaimed recordings such as "The Happy Blues" (1955), featuring Freddie Redd and Lou Donaldson. Musicians who played in his groups, apart from Stitt, included Donald Byrd, Jackie McLean, John Coltrane, Kenny Burrell, Mal Waldron, Art Farmer, and Duke Jordan.
His later career was interrupted by two prison sentences for narcotics possession, the first from 1958 to 1960, the second from 1962 to 1969. He recorded as a leader for Mercury (1947-1949), Aristocrat (1948-1950), Chess (1950-1951), Prestige (1950-1952), Decca (1952), and United (1952-1953). For the rest of his career, he was affiliated with Prestige. After his release from prison in 1969, having served a seven-year sentence at Joliet penitentiary, he signed the largest contract ever offered at that time by Prestige's Bob Weinstock.
Ammons died in Chicago in 1974, at the age of 49, from cancer.
Ammons and Von Freeman were the founders of the Chicago school of tenor saxophone. Ammons's style of playing showed influences from Lester Young as well as Ben Webster. These artists had helped develop the sound of the tenor saxophone to higher levels of expressiveness. Ammons, together with Dexter Gordon and Sonny Stitt, helped integrate their developments with the emerging "vernacular" of the bebop movement, and the chromaticism and rhythmic variety of Charlie Parker is evident in his playing.
While adept at the technical aspects of bebop, in particular its love of harmonic substitutions, Ammons more than Young, Webster or Parker, stayed in touch with the commercial blues and R&B of his day. For example, in 1950 the saxophonist's recording of "My Foolish Heart" made Billboard Magazine's black pop charts. The soul jazz movement of the mid-1960s, often using the combination of tenor saxophone and Hammond B3 electric organ, counts him as a founder. With a thicker, warmer tone than Stitt or Gordon, Ammons could at will exploit a vast range of textures on the instrument, vocalizing it in ways that look forward to later artists like Stanley Turrentine, Houston Person, and even Archie Shepp. Ammons showed little interest, however, in the modal jazz of John Coltrane, Joe Henderson or Wayne Shorter that was emerging at the same time.
Some fine ballad performances in his oeuvre are testament to an exceptional sense of intonation and melodic symmetry, powerful lyrical expressiveness, and mastery both of the blues and the bebop vernacular that can now be described as, in its own way, "classical."
King Pleasure recorded his vocalese take on Ammons' composition "Hittin' the Jug" under the title "Swan Blues".
"Answer Me, My Love" written by Fred Rauch, Carl Sigman and Gerhard Winkler, performed by Gene Ammons, is featured on the soundtrack for Romance & Cigarettes (2005).
He played on a Bb Conn 10M tenor saxophone with a Brilhart Ebolin mouthpiece.
Ammons is considered a major influence on the style of popular jazz tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman a.o..
Bye Bye
Gene Ammons Lyrics
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Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me
Pack up all my cares and woe, here I go, winging low
Bye, bye, blackbird
Where somebody waits for me
Sugar's sweet, so is she
Bye, bye, blackbird
No one here can love or understand me
Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me
Make my bed and light the light, I'll arrive late tonight
Blackbird, bye, bye
Bye, bye, blackbird
Where somebody waits for me
Sugar's sweet, so is she
Bye, bye, blackbird
No one here can love or understand me
Oh what hard luck stories they all hand me
Make my bed and light the light, I'll arrive late tonight
Blackbird, bye, bye
The lyrics to Gene Ammons's song "Bye Bye Blackbird" tell a story of heartbreak and the desire to leave one's troubles behind. The singer is feeling unloved and misunderstood in his current situation, and he is tired of hearing the "hard luck stories" that people tell him. He decides to pack up his "cares and woe" and take flight, bidding farewell to the blackbird and the negativity symbolized by its presence. The singer has a destination in mind, where he knows that someone is waiting for him and he can find some sweetness in his life.
The lyrics of this song evoke feelings of freedom, hope, and optimism in the face of difficult circumstances. The singer is seeking to escape his troubles and find a place where he feels understood and loved. The references to sugar suggest a sweet and comforting relationship that awaits him, providing a sense of comfort and security. The repetition of the phrase "bye, bye, blackbird" throughout the song serves as a triumphant declaration of the singer's independence and determination to move forward with his life, leaving behind the negativity and hardship of the past.
Line by Line Meaning
No one here can love or understand me
I feel alone and disconnected from those around me, as though they cannot grasp the complexities of who I am.
Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me
People I come into contact with often have tales of misfortune that they share with me, adding to my own sense of sadness and struggle.
Pack up all my cares and woe, here I go, winging low
I am leaving behind all of my burdens and problems, and starting anew with a heavy heart.
Bye, bye, blackbird
I am saying farewell to the things that have held me back and caused me pain.
Where somebody waits for me
I believe that there is someone out there who is waiting for me, someone who understands me and can provide me with the love and connection that I am missing.
Sugar's sweet, so is she
The person I am envisioning is kind and affectionate, and has a sweetness to their personality.
Make my bed and light the light, I'll arrive late tonight
I am making preparations to leave, with the intention of joining the person who is waiting for me later, after it gets dark.
Blackbird, bye, bye
I am saying goodbye to the pain and hardships that have been a constant presence in my life, and hoping for a brighter future.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Mort Dixon, Ray Henderson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind