Early life
Edward Boatner was born in Boston, Massachusetts[1] and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. He had a musical background; his father, Edward Boatner, was a baritone singer, composer and college music professor, his brother was a classically trained pianist, and his mother was a piano teacher.[1] Boatner was soon adopted by another family, the Stitts, who gave him his new surname. He later began calling himself "Sonny".
In 1943, Stitt first met Charlie Parker, and as he often later recalled, the two men found that their styles had an extraordinary similarity that was partly coincidental and not merely due to Stitt's emulation. Stitt's improvisations were more melodic/less dissonant than those of Parker. Stitt's earliest recordings were made in 1945 with Stan Getz and Dizzy Gillespie. He had also played in some swing bands, though he mainly played in bop bands. Stitt was featured in Tiny Bradshaw's big band in the early forties. Stitt replaced Charlie Parker in Dizzy Gillespie's band in 1945.[2]
Stitt played alto saxophone in Billy Eckstine's big band alongside future bop pioneers Dexter Gordon and Gene Ammons from 1945 until 1956, when he started to play tenor saxophone more frequently, in order to avoid being referred to as a Charlie Parker imitator. Later on, he played with Gene Ammons and Bud Powell. Stitt spent time in a Lexington prison between 1948–49 for selling narcotics.
Stitt, when playing tenor saxophone, seemed to break free from some of the criticism that he was imitating Charlie Parker's style, although it appears in the instance with Ammons above that the availability of the larger instrument was a factor. Indeed, Stitt began to develop a far more distinctive sound on tenor.[1] He played with other bop musicians Bud Powell and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, a fellow tenor with a distinctly tough tone in comparison to Stitt, in the 1950s and recorded a number of sides for Prestige Records label as well as albums for Argo, Verve and Roost. Stitt experimented with Afro-Cuban jazz in the late 1950s, and the results can be heard on his recordings for Roost and Verve, on which he teamed up with Thad Jones and Chick Corea for Latin versions of such standards as "Autumn Leaves."
Stitt joined Miles Davis briefly in 1960, and recordings with Davis' quintet can be found only in live settings on the tour of 1960. Concerts in Manchester and Paris are available commercially and also a number of concerts (which include sets by the earlier quintet with John Coltrane) on the record Live at Stockholm (Dragon), all of which featured Wynton Kelly, Jimmy Cobb and Paul Chambers. However, Miles fired Stitt due to the excessive drinking habit he had developed, and replaced him with fellow tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley. Stitt, later in the 1960s, paid homage to one of his main influences, Charlie Parker, on the album Stitt Plays Bird, which features Jim Hall on guitar and at Newport in 1964 with other bebop players including J.J. Johnson.
He recorded a number of memorable records with his friend and fellow saxophonist Gene Ammons, interrupted by Ammons' own imprisonment for narcotics possession. The records recorded by these two saxophonists are regarded by many as some of both Ammons and Stitt's best work, thus the Ammons/Stitt partnership went down in posterity as one of the best duelling partnerships in jazz, alongside Zoot Sims and Al Cohn, and Johnny Griffin with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. Stitt would venture into soul jazz, and he recorded with fellow tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin in 1964 on the Soul People album. Stitt also recorded with Duke Ellington alumnus Paul Gonsalves in 1963 for Impulse! on the Salt And Pepper album in 1963. Around that time he also appeared regularly at Ronnie Scott's in London, a live 1964 encounter with Ronnie Scott, The Night Has A Thousand Eyes, eventually surfaced, and another in 1966 with resident guitarist Ernest Ranglin and British tenor saxophonist Dick Morrissey. Stitt was one of the first jazz musicians to experiment with an electric saxophone (the instrument was called a Varitone), as heard on the albums What's New in 1966 and Parallel-A-Stitt in 1967.
Later life
In the 1970s, Stitt slowed his recording output slightly, and in 1972, he produced another classic, Tune Up, which was and still is regarded by many jazz critics, such as Scott Yanow, as his definitive record. Indeed, his fiery and ebullient soloing was quite reminiscent of his earlier playing. He also recorded another album with Varitone, Just The Way It Was - Live At The Left Bank in 1971 which was released in 2000.
Stitt joined the all-star group Giants of Jazz, which also featured Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Kai Winding and bassist Al McKibbon) and made albums for Atlantic Records, Concord Records and Emarcy Records. His last recordings were made in Japan. In 1982, Stitt suffered a heart attack, and he died on July 22 in Washington, D.C..[2]
The More I See You
Sonny Stitt Lyrics
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Each time you're near me the thrill is new
And there is nothing that I wouldn't do for
The rare delight of the sight of you for
The more I see you, the more I want you
Somehow this feeling just grows and grows
With every sigh I become more mad about you
Can you imagine how much I love you?
The more I see you as years go by
I know the only one for me can only be you
My arms won't free you, my heart won't try
I know the only one for me can only be you
My arms won't free you, my heart won't try
The lyrics to Sonny Stitt's song "The More I See You" express the intense love and infatuation the singer feels for the object of his affections. When he looks at her, he feels the same excitement and wonder he felt the first time he met her. The thrill of being near her is always new and there's nothing he wouldn't do to get a glimpse of her again. As he spends more time with her, his feelings only grow stronger and deeper, and he becomes more and more lost without her. He knows that he loves her more as the years go by, and he realizes that she is the only one for him. His arms won't free her, and his heart won't try, because he knows he cannot live without her.
The lyrics of "The More I See You" are written in a straightforward, unambiguous style that expresses the singer's emotions with clarity and sincerity. The word "you" appears 18 times in the short song, emphasizing the central importance of the person he loves. The repetition of the phrase "the more I see you" reinforces the idea that the singer's love is growing stronger with each passing day.
Line by Line Meaning
Each time I look at you is like the first time
I always feel that same excitement and wonder every time I see you.
Each time you're near me the thrill is new
Being close to you always brings a fresh feeling of excitement and joy.
And there is nothing that I wouldn't do for
There is nothing that I won't do to experience the rare delight of seeing you.
The rare delight of the sight of you for
The joy I feel when I see you is precious and rare.
The more I see you, the more I want you
The more I see you, the stronger my desire for you becomes.
Somehow this feeling just grows and grows
This feeling of love and desire just keeps getting stronger and stronger.
With every sigh I become more mad about you
Every sigh I take is a sign of my deepening love and passion for you.
More lost without you and so it goes
Without you, I feel lost and incomplete, and so my love for you continues.
Can you imagine how much I love you?
My love for you is so great that it's hard to even imagine.
The more I see you as years go by
Even as time passes and we grow older, my love for you only gets stronger.
I know the only one for me can only be you
I am certain that you are the only person for me.
My arms won't free you, my heart won't try
My love for you is so strong that I couldn't let you go even if I wanted to.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MACK GORDON, HARRY WARREN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind