Hodges started playing with Lloyd Scott, Sidney Bechet, Lucky Roberts and Chick Webb. When Ellington wanted to expand his band in 1928, Ellington's clarinet player Barney Bigard recommended Hodges. His playing became one of the identifying voices of the Ellington orchestra. From 1951 to 1955, Hodges left the Duke to lead his own band, but returned shortly before Ellington's triumphant return to prominence – the orchestra's performance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival.
Hodges was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts to John H. Hodges and Katie Swan Hodges, both originally from Virginia. Soon afterwards, the family moved to Hammond Street in Boston, where he grew up with baritone saxophonist Harry Carney, and saxophonists Charlie Holmes and Howard E. Johnson. His first instruments were drums and piano. While his mother was a skilled piano player, Hodges was mostly self-taught.[3] Once he became good enough, he would play the piano at dances in private homes for eight dollars an evening. He had taken up the soprano saxophone by his teens. It was around this time that Hodges developed the nickname "Rabbit," which some people believe arose from Hodges' ability to win 100 yard dashes and outrun truant officers. In fact, Carney called him Rabbit because of his rabbit-like nibbling on lettuce and tomato sandwiches.
When Hodges was 14, he saw Sidney Bechet play in Jimmy Cooper's Black and White Revue in a Boston burlesque hall. Hodges' sister got to know Bechet, which gave him the inspiration to introduce himself and play "My Honey's Lovin Arms" for Bechet. Bechet was impressed with his skill and encouraged him to keep on playing. Hodges built a name for himself in the Boston area before moving to New York in 1924.
Hodges joined Duke Ellington's orchestra in November 1928. He was one of the prominent Ellington Band members who featured in Benny Goodman's legendary 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. Goodman described Hodges as "by far the greatest man on alto sax that I ever heard." Charlie Parker called him "the Lily Pons of his instrument."
Ellington's practice of writing tunes specifically for members of his orchestra resulted in the Hodges specialties, "Confab with Rab", "Jeep's Blues", "Sultry Sunset", and "Hodge Podge". Other songs recorded by the Ellington Orchestra which prominently feature Hodges' smooth alto saxophone sound are "Magenta Haze", "Prelude to a Kiss", "Haupe" (from Anatomy of a Murder) – note also the "seductive" and hip-swaying “Flirtibird,” featuring the "irresistibly salacious tremor" by Hodges, "The Star-Crossed Lovers" from Ellington's Such Sweet Thunder suite, "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)", "Blood Count" and "Passion Flower".
He had a pure tone and economy of melody on both the blues and ballads that won him admiration from musicians of all eras and styles, from Ben Webster and John Coltrane, who both played with him when he had his own orchestra in the 1950s, to Lawrence Welk, who featured him in an album of standards. His highly individualistic playing style, which featured the use of a wide vibrato and much sliding between slurred notes, was frequently imitated. As evidenced by the Ellington compositions named after him, he earned the nicknames Jeep and Rabbit – according to Johnny Griffin because "he looked like a rabbit, no expression on his face while he's playing all this beautiful music." One can see / hear Johnny on the video "Duke Ellington Copenhagen (1965): Parts 1 & 2."
Hodges' last performances were at the Imperial Room in Toronto, less than a week before his May 11, 1970 death from a heart attack, suffered during a visit to the office of a dental surgeon. His last recordings are featured on the New Orleans Suite, which was only half-finished when he died.
In Ellington's eulogy of Hodges, he said, "Never the world's most highly animated showman or greatest stage personality, but a tone so beautiful it sometimes brought tears to the eyes—this was Johnny Hodges. This is Johnny Hodges."
Don't Take Your Love From Me
Johnny Hodges And His Orchestra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the sky feels blue
Tear a petal from a rose
And the rose weeps, too
Take your heart away from mine
And mine will surely break
My life is yours to make
Would you take the wings from birds
So that they can't fly?
Would you take the ocean's roar
And leave just a sigh?
All this, your heart won't let you do
This is what I beg of you
Don't take your love from me
Don't take your love from me
The lyrics of "Don't Take Your Love From Me" by Johnny Hodges And His Orchestra express the desperate plea of a lover to keep the love alive. The opening lines - Tear a star from out the sky And the sky feels blue; Tear a petal from a rose And the rose weeps, too - draw a compelling comparison between the fragility of love and the delicate beauty of nature. The lover fears that the absence of their love will be as devastating as tearing a star from the sky or a petal from a rose. The idea of the rose weeping conveys the deep emotional pain that the lover would feel if their love left them.
In the refrain - Would you take the wings from birds/So that they can't fly?; Would you take the ocean's roar/And leave just a sigh? - the lover establishes that their love is not only fragile but crucial to their well-being. It is as essential to them as a bird's wings are to its ability to fly, or the roar of the ocean to its grandeur. The lyrics then take a turn, and the lover directly addresses their beloved, begging them not to leave - All this, your heart won't let you do/This is what I beg of you/Don't take your love from me/Don't take your love from me. The desperation and urgency in the words, "This is what I beg of you" implore the beloved to remain with the lover.
Overall, the lyrics of "Don't Take Your Love From Me" by Johnny Hodges And His Orchestra is a heartfelt plea for the preservation of love. The comparison between the delicate nature of love and nature itself, coupled with the emotional impact of its absence, is a profound message that universally resonates with anyone who has loved and feared losing it.
Line by Line Meaning
Tear a star from out the sky
Removing a star from the sky makes everything around it dark and lonely.
And the sky feels blue
The absence of something that was once bright and shining has left the atmosphere sad and melancholic.
Tear a petal from a rose
The removal of a single part of a rose causes damage to the whole, and is reflected in the reaction of the plant.
And the rose weeps, too
Just like how human beings are moved to tears after an injury or loss, so is the rose, displaying emotions on the loss of one of its petals.
Take your heart away from mine
If you take yourself out of this relationship, I will be devastated and heartbroken
And mine will surely break
Without your love and affection, my world will come crashing down and I will be shattered. I cannot bear the thought of being without you.
My life is yours to make
My happiness, my joy, my everything revolves around you, my love. You have the power to make or break my life.
So please keep the spark awake
Pledging with fervor to nurture and protect the relationship by maintaining the spark of love alive and present.
Would you take the wings from birds
Turning the tables to draw comparison, this line asks a question in order to probe the listener and invite them to empathize with the feeling of loss.
So that they can't fly?
Birds are meant to fly, it is their raison d'être, taking away their power of flight would cause them as much grief as taking oneself out of a loving relationship.
Would you take the ocean's roar
Using another metaphor, this line highlights the magnitude of the void and the aching one feels after losing something they love.
And leave just a sigh?
Wishing to retain the force and magnificence of the ocean's powerful sound, is an analogy in sync with the need to hold on to each other's love, power and presence.
All this, your heart won't let you do
Your heart is too kind and compassionate to cause intentional pain to the person you love.
This is what I beg of you
REQUEST - Pleading heart-to-heart, imploring the listener to be indulgent and remain committed to the relationship.
Don't take your love from me
The ultimate anti-climax, the fear of abandonment and the looming threat of heartbreak – losing the person you love most.
Don't take your love from me
The final plea, the last chance to let the person know how important their love is, and directly asking them to never leave you.
Lyrics © INDANO MUSIC COMPANY, BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Henry Nemo
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind