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.
Everything Happens To Me
Stan Getz Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Until I'm almost mad
I must have 'roused the devil's wrath
Cause all my luck is bad
I make a date for golf and you can bet your life it rains
I try to give a party and the guy upstairs complains
I guess I'll go through life
Just catchin' colds and missin' trains
Everything happens to me
I never miss a thing
I've had the measles and the mumps
And every time I play an ace
My partner always trumps
Guess I'm just a fool who never looks before he jumps
Everything happens to me
At first my heart thought you could break this jinx for me
That love would turn the trick to end despair
But know I just can't fool this head that thinks for me
I've mortgaged all my castles in the air
I've telegraphed and phoned
I send an "Airmail Special" too
Your answer was "Goodbye"
And there was even postage due
I fell in love just once
And then it had to be with you
Everything happens to me
The song "Everything Happens To Me" by Stan Getz is a jazz standard that recounts a series of unfortunate events. The lyrics describe a string of bad luck that follows the singer through life, from black cats crossing his path to missed trains and golf games ruined by rain. The singer acknowledges his tendency to make the wrong move, but also expresses a sense of resignation to his fate. The song's tone is melancholy, and the slow and smooth delivery of the lyrics by Getz's saxophone adds to the feeling of sadness and longing.
The song's lyrics reflect a common sentiment of frustration with circumstances that seem beyond one's control. The use of black cats, rain on golf games, and missed trains are all recognizable symbols of bad luck, and the singer's cataloguing of these events emphasizes their cumulative effect. Throughout the song, the singer seems to be searching for an explanation for his fate, suggesting that he has "roused the devil's wrath" and wondering whether love might break the jinx that follows him.
The song's melancholy tone and blues-influenced melody made it a popular choice among jazz musicians. It has been covered by a number of renowned jazz artists, including Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, and Dexter Gordon. The song's enduring popularity also led to its inclusion in several films, including the 1992 movie "The Crying Game."
Line by Line Meaning
Black cats creep across my path
I often experience bad luck, such as the superstition of black cats crossing my path.
Until I'm almost mad
My constant misfortune can drive me to the brink of insanity.
I must have 'roused the devil's wrath
It seems as though I have done something to anger the devil, causing me to suffer from bad luck.
Cause all my luck is bad
My luck is consistently poor, leaving me to feel as though I am cursed.
I make a date for golf and you can bet your life it rains
When I make plans, it seems as though the universe plots against me by making it rain, ruining my plans.
I try to give a party and the guy upstairs complains
Even when I try to have a good time, something or someone always manages to ruin it.
I guess I'll go through life
It appears that I will spend my life in this constant state of bad luck and misfortune.
Just catchin' colds and missin' trains
My bad luck goes beyond just ruined plans, it even affects my health and ability to get places.
Everything happens to me
No matter what I do or where I go, it seems like everything goes wrong.
I never miss a thing
Unfortunately, I seem to have a knack for being present when things go wrong.
I've had the measles and the mumps
My bad luck even extends to my health, as shown by having contracted illnesses such as measles and the mumps.
And every time I play an ace
Even in games, such as cards, my luck seems to be against me.
My partner always trumps
The people I play games with always seem to have better luck than me, even when I think I have the upper hand.
Guess I'm just a fool who never looks before he jumps
Despite experiencing endless bad luck, I still seem to blindly jump into situations without thinking them through and anticipating potential misfortunes.
At first my heart thought you could break this jinx for me
I had hoped that my romantic interest would be able to bring an end to my bad luck and offer me a sense of hope for the future.
That love would turn the trick to end despair
I believed that being in a loving relationship would be just the thing to turn my luck around and offer me some relief from despair.
But know I just can't fool this head that thinks for me
Unfortunately, reality sets in and I realize that my own thoughts and experiences cannot be easily overridden by love alone.
I've mortgaged all my castles in the air
I have invested all my hopes and dreams into this romantic interest, and now realize that it may have been a foolish gamble.
I've telegraphed and phoned
I have tried every way to communicate with my romantic interest to no avail.
I send an 'Airmail Special' too
I even sent an extravagant message in hopes of getting through to the object of my affection.
Your answer was 'Goodbye'
Despite my efforts, my love interest has rejected me and given me a final answer of 'goodbye.'
And there was even postage due
The added insult of the postage due reinforces my feeling of bad luck and misfortune.
I fell in love just once
Despite all my bad luck, I managed to fall in love with someone, and unfortunately, this one chance did not offer me the respite from bad luck I had hoped for.
And then it had to be with you
My one chance at love had to be with someone who ultimately rejected me, leaving me with my endless string of misfortune.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HOAGY CARMICHAEL, JOHNNY MERCER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind