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.
Wildwood
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 lyrics to Stan Getz's song "Wildwood" speak about a man's unfortunate streak of bad luck in life. The opening lines of "Black cats creep across my path, until I'm almost mad, I must have 'roused the devil's wrath, cause all my luck is bad" sets the tone for the rest of the song, with the lyrics continuing to describe how everything seems to go wrong for the singer. He can't even catch a break when trying to plan simple events, like a golf outing or a party, as he always ends up getting rained out or receiving noise complaints from neighbors. The chorus of "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" reiterates the idea that bad luck seems to follow him everywhere he goes, and that he can never catch a break.
The second verse of the song shifts to the theme of love, with the singer recounting how he had hoped that falling in love with someone would break his streak of bad luck. However, even his love life seems to be cursed, as the object of his affection rejects him despite his attempts to reach out through telegrams and phone calls. The final line of the song, "I fell in love just once, and then it had to be with you" suggests that even though his love was doomed to fail, it was still worth pursuing.
Overall, the lyrics of "Wildwood" tell a story of a man who is resigned to the fact that bad luck seems to follow him everywhere he goes. Despite his efforts to break the pattern, he remains stuck in a cycle of misfortune. The combination of the melancholy lyrics and the soft, smooth melody of the song give it a bittersweet quality that resonates with listeners.
Line by Line Meaning
Black cats creep across my path
I feel like bad luck is always following me and things are never going well.
Until I'm almost mad
These constant struggles are wearing me down and I'm getting close to breaking point.
I must have 'roused the devil's wrath
I feel like I've angered some higher power and it's causing me to have all this bad luck.
Cause all my luck is bad
No matter what I do or how hard I try, things just never seem to go my way.
I make a date for golf and you can bet your life it rains
Even when I plan something fun, something always manages to go wrong and ruin it.
I try to give a party and the guy upstairs complains
My attempts to enjoy life are always thwarted by some external force or circumstance.
I guess I'll go through life
It seems like this is just my fate and I'll have to accept it.
Just catchin' colds and missin' trains
My bad luck extends even to everyday occurrences like getting sick or missing my train.
Everything happens to me
Overall, I feel like I'm cursed and there's no escaping it.
I never miss a thing
Unfortunately, this curse means that I'm also constantly aware of all the bad things that happen to me.
I've had the measles and the mumps
I've suffered through all sorts of sickness and misfortune in my life.
And every time I play an ace
Even when I have a good hand or a good opportunity, there's always something that keeps me from winning.
My partner always trumps
Someone else always seems to come in and take away my chances for success or happiness.
Guess I'm just a fool who never looks before he jumps
Perhaps my bad luck stems from my own foolishness or lack of foresight.
At first my heart thought you could break this jinx for me
I had hoped that love would be the one thing that could break me out of this cycle of bad luck.
That love would turn the trick to end despair
I had thought that being with someone I cared about would make everything else in life seem manageable.
But know I just can't fool this head that thinks for me
But now I realize that my logic and reasoning won't let me believe that love can solve everything.
I've mortgaged all my castles in the air
I've put all my hopes and dreams into one thing, but it looks like that's not going to work out either.
I've telegraphed and phoned
I've tried everything I can think of to make this relationship work.
I send an 'Airmail Special' too
I even went above and beyond to try to show my love and affection.
Your answer was 'Goodbye'
But in the end, it looks like it wasn't enough, and the person I was hoping would break my bad luck ended up leaving anyway.
And there was even postage due
I even paid for the express service, but it still didn't make a difference.
I fell in love just once
I had only hoped to find love once in my life, but it seems like even that was too much to ask for.
And then it had to be with you
And of all people, I had to fall in love with someone who couldn't make things better for me.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HOAGY CARMICHAEL, JOHNNY MERCER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
2300 skiddoo
Stan Getz, tenor sax; Horace Silver, piano; Jimmy Raney, guitar; Tommy Potter or Leonard Gaskin, bass; Roy Haynes, drums.
NYC, August 15, 1951