His parents were Ukrainian Jews who immigrated from Kyiv city, Ukraine in 1903. The family later moved to New York City for better jobs. Stan worked hard in school receiving straight "A's" on average and finished 6th grade close to the top of his class. Stan's major interest was in musical instruments, and he felt a need to play every instrument in his sight. He played a number of instruments before his father bought him his first saxophone at the age of 13. Even though his father also got him a clarinet, Stan instantly fell in love with the saxophone and began practicing 8 hours a day. In 1941, he was accepted into the All City High School Orchestra of New York City. This gave Stan a chance to receive a private, free tutor from the New York Philharmonic, Simon Kovar - a bassoon player. He also began to spend more time playing the saxophone. He eventually dropped out of school in order to pursue his musical career, but was later sent back to the classroom by the school system’s truancy officers.
In 1943, he was accepted into Jack Teagarden's band, and because of his youth he became Teagarden's ward. Getz also played along with Nat King Cole and Lionel Hampton. After playing for Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman, Getz was a soloist with Woody Herman from 1947 to 1949 in 'The Second Herd' and he first gained wide attention as one of the band's saxophonists, who were known collectively as 'The Four Brothers', the others being Serge Chaloff, Zoot Sims and Herbie Steward. With Herman, he had a hit with "Early Autumn" and after Getz left 'The Second Herd' he was able to launch his solo career. He would be the leader on almost all of his recording sessions after 1950.
During the early '50s, Getz broke away from the Lester Young style to form his own musical identity and he was soon among the most popular of all jazzmen. He discovered Horace Silver in 1950 and used him in his quartet for several months. After touring Sweden in 1951, he formed an exciting quintet that co-featured guitarist Jimmy Raney; their interplay on up-tempo tunes and tonal blend on ballads was quite memorable. Getz's playing helped Johnny Smith have a hit in "Moonlight in Vermont," during 1953-1954 Bob Brookmeyer made his group a quintet and, despite some drug problems during the decade, Getz was a constant poll winner. After spending 1958-1960 in Europe, the tenorman returned to the U.S. and recorded his personal favorite album, Focus, with arranger Eddie Sauter's Orchestra.
Getz became a central figure in introducing bossa nova music to the U.S. audience. Teaming with guitarist Charlie Byrd, who had just returned from a U.S. State Department tour of Brazil, Getz recorded Jazz Samba in 1962 and it became a hit. The title track was an adaptation of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "One Note Samba". Getz won the Grammy for Best Jazz Performance of 1963 for "Desafinado". As a follow-up, Getz recorded Jazz Samba Encore! with one of the originators of bossa nova, Brazilian guitarist Luiz Bonfa.
He then recorded the album Getz/Gilberto with Tom Jobim, João Gilberto and his wife, Astrud Gilberto. Their "The Girl from Ipanema" won a Grammy Award. The piece became one of the most well-known latin jazz cuts of all time. Getz/Gilberto won two Grammys (Best Album and Best Single), besting The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night, a victory for Bossa Nova and Brazilian jazz. A live album, Getz/Gilberto Vol. 2, followed, as did Getz Au Go Go, a recording made live at the Cafe Au Go Go. Unfortunately, Getz' affair with Astrud Gilberto brought an end to his musical partnership with her and her husband and he began to move away from bossa-nova and back to cool jazz. Even while still working with the Gilbertos, he recorded Nobody Else But Me an album of straightforward jazz with a new quartet including vibraphonist Gary Burton, but Verve Records, wishing to continue building the Getz brand with bossa-nova, refused to release it. It eventually came out 30 years later, after Getz had died.
In 1972, Getz recorded in the fusion idiom with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke. This group, without Getz, went on to become the famous Return to Forever, and many of the pieces including "La Fiesta" remained in their repertoire. In this period Getz experimented with an Echoplex on his saxophone, for which critics vilified him. He eventually discarded fusion and "electric jazz", returning to acoustic jazz, while at the same time gradually de-emphasizing the Bossa Nova, opting for more esoteric and less-mainstream jazz. He had a cameo in the movie The Exterminator (1980).
Towards the end of his life the now drug-free Getz had another creative peak with a group including the pianist Kenny Barron, whom Getz described as "my musical other half".
In 1986, he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.
Getz married Beverly Byrne, a vocalist with the Gene Krupa band, on 7 November 1946; they had three children together: Steven, David, and Beverly (who married Michael McGovern).
Getz became involved with drugs and alcohol while a teenager. In 1954, he was arrested for attempting to rob a pharmacy to get a morphine fix. As he was being processed in the prison ward of Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, Beverly gave birth to their third child one floor below.
Getz tried to escape his narcotics addiction by moving to Copenhagen. He married Swedish aristocrat Monica Silfverskiöld on 3 November 1956 and had two children with her: Pamela and Nicolas. In 1957 Swedish girlfriend Inga Torgnér gave birth to a son Peter. Stan divorced Monica in 1987.
Zoot Sims, who had known Getz since their time with Herman, once described him as 'a nice bunch of guys', as a consequence of the wide behavioural range of which Getz was capable. In the final stages of his life Getz was able to end his addictions.
Getz died of liver cancer in 1991. His body was cremated and the ashes scattered at sea, off the coast of Malibu, California.
In 1998 the 'Stan Getz Media Center and Library' at the Berklee College of Music was dedicated through a donation from the Herb Alpert Foundation.
Anything Goes
Stan Getz Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And we've ofter rewound the clock
Since the puritans got a shock
When they landed on Plymouth rock
If today any shock they might try to stem
'Stead of landing of Plymouth rock
Plymouth rock would land on them
Was looked on as something shocking
But now God knows
Anything goes
Good authors to
Who once knew better words
Now only use four letter words
Writing prose
Anything goes
If driving fast cars you like
If low bars you like
If old hymns you like
If bare limbs you like
If Mae West you like
Or me undressed you like
Why nobody will oppose
When every night
The set thats smart
Is intruding on nudist parties
In studios
Anything goes
When Mrs. Ned McClean God bless her
Can get Russian reds to yes her
Than I suppose
Anything goes
When Rockafeller still can hoard
Enough money to let Max Gordon
Produce his shows
Anything goes
The world has gone mad today
And good's bad today
And black's white today
And days night today
And that gent today
You gave a cent today
Once owned several chateaux
When folks
Who still can ride in Jitney's
Find out Vanderbilts and Whitney's
Lack baby clo'es
Anything goes
When Sam Goldwyn
Can with great conviction
Instruct Anna Sten in diction
Than Anna shows
Anything goes
When you hear that
Lady Mendl standing up
Now turns a handspring landing up
On her toes
Anything goes
Just think of those shocks you've got
And those knocks you've got
And those blues you've got
From those news you've got
And those pains you've got
(if any brains you've got)
From those little radios
So Mrs. R.
With all her trimmin's
Can broadcast a bed from Simmon's
Cause Franklin knows
Anything goes
The lyrics to Stan Getz & Gerry Mulligan's song "Anything Goes" paints a picture of changing times where the normative values have been overthrown, and everything previously considered taboo is now acceptable. The song starts out with a reference to the landing of Plymouth Rock, where the Puritan values later deemed outdated were founded. The lyrics talk about a new shock that might come that would make Plymouth Rock land on them instead of the Puritans landing on the rock. The following lyrics joke about how in the past, a hint of a stocking was considered outrageous, but now we live in a world where anything goes.
The song goes on to explain how even the most respected authors have stopped using better words and have resorted to using four-letter words in their writings. It talks about how people are now accepting of anything - fast cars, low bars, modern music, old hymns, nudity, and various other things they may have previously had an adverse reaction to. The song points out how the world has gone insane, with good becoming bad and black becoming white. It rejoices in the fact that even the known and respected have shed their conventional beliefs and are accepting of anything that comes their way.
Line by Line Meaning
Times have changed
The present is different from the past
And we've ofter rewound the clock
We often look back at history
Since the puritans got a shock
Since the arrival of the puritans in America
When they landed on Plymouth rock
When they arrived in America on the Mayflower and landed on Plymouth rock
If today any shock they might try to stem
If something shocking occurred today
'Stead of landing of Plymouth rock
Instead of the shock being caused by the arrival of new settlers
Plymouth rock would land on them
They would be the ones to experience a shock
In olden days a glimpse of stocking
In the past, even a glimpse of a woman's stocking was considered shocking
Was looked on as something shocking
It was considered scandalous
But now God knows
However, now anything goes
Good authors to
Even distinguished authors
Who once knew better words
Who used to have a wider vocabulary
Now only use four letter words
Now resort to using only rudimentary language
Writing prose
In their writing
Anything goes
Anything can be deemed acceptable
If driving fast cars you like
If you like driving fast cars
If low bars you like
If you enjoy visiting seedy establishments
If old hymns you like
If you enjoy traditional religious music
If bare limbs you like
If you like seeing scantily clad bodies
If Mae West you like
If you like the actress Mae West and her bold, suggestive persona
Or me undressed you like
Or if you like to see me in revealing clothing
Why nobody will oppose
No one will criticize you for your preferences
When every night
At a time when every night
The set thats smart
The fashionable crowd
Is intruding on nudist parties
Goes to nudist gatherings
In studios
Or even in television and film studios
Anything goes
Anything can be considered acceptable behavior
When Mrs. Ned McClean God bless her
When even wealthy socialite Mrs. Ned McClean
Can get Russian reds to yes her
Can convince even members of the Communist party to agree with her
Than I suppose
Then one can assume
Anything goes
Anything is possible
When Rockafeller still can hoard
Even when a wealthy man like John D. Rockefeller still amasses wealth
Enough money to let Max Gordon
Enough resources to allow producer Max Gordon
Produce his shows
To create extravagant theatrical productions
Anything goes
Anything can be achieved with enough money
The world has gone mad today
The modern world is chaotic
And good's bad today
Even things that were once considered good are now considered bad
And black's white today
Traditional certainties are now challenged and reversed
And days night today
Even the time of day can seem to be the opposite of what it actually is
And that gent today
And that man today
You gave a cent today
To whom you had given your money today
Once owned several chateaux
Could have owned several large, luxurious homes
When folks
When people
Who still can ride in Jitney's
Who can still afford to ride in cheap, small cars
Find out Vanderbilts and Whitney's
Learn that even the wealthy and privileged Vanderbilts and Whitneys
Lack baby clo'es
Cannot afford to buy clothes for their babies
Anything goes
Anything is possible
When Sam Goldwyn
When film producer Sam Goldwyn
Can with great conviction
Can convincingly
Instruct Anna Sten in diction
Teach Soviet actress Anna Sten to speak English properly
Than Anna shows
Then Anna can show
Anything goes
Anything can happen
When you hear that
When you learn that
Lady Mendl standing up
Lady Mendl, a well-known socialite, standing up
Now turns a handspring landing up
Can now perform gymnastic moves with ease
On her toes
Only using the tips of her feet
Anything goes
Anything is possible
Just think of those shocks you've got
Think of all the surprises and shocks you have encountered
And those knocks you've got
And all the obstacles you have faced
And those blues you've got
And all the sadness you have experienced
From those news you've got
From hearing about current events
And those pains you've got
And all the physical and emotional pain you have endured
(if any brains you've got)
(if you have any intelligence)
From those little radios
From listening to the news on the radio
So Mrs. R.
Even someone like Mrs. R.
With all her trimmin's
With all her wealth and possessions
Can broadcast a bed from Simmon's
Can advertise a bed made by Simmons
Cause Franklin knows
Because President Franklin D. Roosevelt knows
Anything goes
Anything is possible
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Royalty Network, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Cole Porter
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind