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]
You Don´t Know What Love Is
Sonny Stitt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Til you've learned the meaning of the blues
Until you've loved a love you've had to lose,
You don't know what love is.
You don't know how lips hurt
Until you've kissed and had to pay the cost,
Until you've flipped your heart and you have lost,
Do you know how a lost heart fears
At the thought of reminiscing,
And how lips that taste of tears
Lose their taste for kissing?
You don't know how hearts burn
For love that can, not live yet never dies.
Until you've faced each dawn with sleepless eyes,
You don't know what love is.
The above lyrics in Sonny Stitt's song "You Don't Know What Love Is" are a poignant exploration of the complexities of love, heartbreak, and loss. The first stanza suggests that only when one has experienced the pain of losing someone they loved deeply can they truly understand what love is. Love is not just a happy feeling or emotion, but also encompasses pain, loss, and grief. Until one has loved and lost, they have not fully experienced the depth and range of emotions that love encompasses.
The second stanza delves deeper into the pain of lost love. The lyrics suggest that even a kiss can carry a high cost - in this case, the cost of a broken heart. The image of a flipped heart that has been lost and the repetition of "You don't know what love is" highlights the inevitability of heartbreak and the difficulty of truly understanding love until you have experienced a significant loss. The third stanza describes the fear that comes with reminiscing about lost love, the bitterness that can come from tasting tears, and the pain of a burning heart that can never truly die. The lyrics suggest that sleepless nights and long mornings are a part of love - the cost of loving someone deeply.
In conclusion, "You Don't Know What Love Is" is a powerful and moving song that explores the range and depth of emotions that love brings. It depicts love as both beautiful and painful, and suggests that only through experiencing the pain of loss can one truly comprehend the full meaning of love.
Line by Line Meaning
You don't know what love is
You can't comprehend the true nature of love
'Til you've learned the meaning of the blues
Only after experiencing the sadness and pain of loss can you begin to appreciate love
Until you've loved a love you've had to lose,
One must have experienced the heartbreak of losing someone they loved to fully understand love
You don't know what love is.
Without experiencing love and loss, one cannot truly know the essence of love
You don't know how lips hurt
You haven't suffered the emotional and physical pain that comes with love
Until you've kissed and had to pay the cost,
Only after investing deeply in a love that ultimately fails can you truly understand how love can hurt
Until you've flipped your heart and you have lost,
Until you've given your everything and lost it all, you don't know the depth of pain that love can bring
You don't know what love is.
Without experiencing love's pain and heartbreak, one cannot comprehend the true nature of love
Do you know how a lost heart fears
Have you ever felt a heart full of fear and uncertainty after having lost the one you love?
At the thought of reminiscing,
The very idea of reminiscing about a lost love can cause extreme grief and fear in a broken heart
And how lips that taste of tears
Have you ever tasted the bitterness of tears that come with love and loss?
Lose their taste for kissing?
When love is lost, the joy of kissing and other loving gestures can be taken away, leaving only pain
You don't know how hearts burn
Without feeling the intense longing and passion of love, you cannot understand its fiery nature
For love that can, not live yet never dies.
Even when it's over, the memory and feelings of love persist, adding to the intensity of the pain
Until you've faced each dawn with sleepless eyes,
Only by experiencing the agony of sleepless nights full of heart wrenching emotions can you truly know love
You don't know what love is.
Without experiencing every facet of love, including the pain, longing, and heartbreak, you cannot fully comprehend its true nature
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DON RAYE, GENE DE PAUL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind