Harry James was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a traveling circus. By age 10 he was taking trumpet lessons from his father. His father had him on a very strict practicing schedule every day. He was given one page to learn out of the Arban's book (a trumpet drill book) every day and could not do anything until he learned that page.
In 1931 the family settled in Beaumont, Texas and James began playing with local dance bands. James joined the nationally popular Ben Pollack in 1935. At the start of 1937 he left Pollack to join Benny Goodman's orchestra, where he stayed through 1938.
In February of 1939 Harry James debuted his own big band in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He continued touring with the band into the 1980s. His was the first "name band" to employ vocalist Frank Sinatra, in 1939. In 1943 he married actress Betty Grable.
His first wife was ex B.Goodman singer.,Louise Tobin.
You can hear his trumpet playing in the 1950 film Young Man with a Horn, dubbing Kirk Douglas. His recording of "I'm Beginning to See the Light" appears in the motion picture My Dog Skip (2000). James recorded many popular records and appeared in many Hollywood movies.
In 1983, James was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer, but he continued to work, playing his last professional job on 26 June 1983 in Los Angeles just nine days before his death in Las Vegas, Nevada.
All of Me
Harry James Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A starry summer sky,
A laughing you and I, alone.
It all comes back to me now,
A sea of midnight blue,
Your face uplifted to my own.
We called it a thrill of the moment,
We didn't know what the glow meant,
We never dreamed it might be love.
It all comes back to me now,
The love I threw away,
And now each lonely night I pray,
That it will all come back to me someday.
The lyrics of Harry James and His Orchestra's song All Of Me reflect upon the reminiscence of a past relationship. The first stanza describes an idyllic memory of a summer night with a lover under a starry sky. The singer remembers the laughter shared with the lover and the feeling of being alone in their company. The second stanza describes the visual of a midnight blue sea and looking into the eyes of the significant other; their face was uplifted to the singers’ own. These descriptions of the past set the tone for the song's sound, and the vocalist conjures the image of a nostalgic state of mind where they remember what once was.
In the bridge, the singer acknowledges that they never fully understood the intensity of the love that they shared. Instead, they mistakenly believed that it was just a thrill of the moment and blamed the moon's romantic influence. Now, the singer recognises that the 'glow meant' and that it was more than a fleeting moment. The chorus brings the song back to the present, illustrating that the singer regrets the love that they threw away. The singer yearns for the lover's return and expresses that they pray each lonely night for the love to come back someday.
Line by Line Meaning
It all comes back to me now
The memories of our past experiences are returning to me
A starry summer sky
I recall a beautiful summer evening with a clear sky filled with stars
A laughing you and I, alone
We shared a moment of happiness and joy together
It all comes back to me now
The memories of our past experiences are returning to me
A sea of midnight blue
I remember the darkness of the night sky, with a deep blue hue
Your face uplifted to my own
Your face was facing towards mine, and I felt a deep connection with you
We called it a thrill of the moment
We thought our feelings were only temporary and would pass quickly
And blamed the moon up above
We joked that our feelings were caused by the moon's influence
We didn't know what the glow meant
We were unaware of the true meaning behind our intense emotions
We never dreamed it might be love
We never considered the possibility that this could be true, genuine love
It all comes back to me now
The memories of our past experiences are returning to me
The love I threw away
I regret having let go of the love we once shared
And now each lonely night I pray
In my sorrow and loneliness, I pray for a chance to have our love restored
That it will all come back to me someday
I hope that our love will be rekindled in the future, so that we may be together once again
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jan Procházka
on All or Nothing at All
trumpet boogie