Stanley Black (14 June 1913 – 27 November 2002) was an English bandleader, … Read Full Bio ↴Stanley Black (14 June 1913 – 27 November 2002) was an English bandleader, composer, conductor, arranger and pianist. He wrote and arranged many film scores and recorded prolifically for the Decca label (including London and Phase 4). Beginning with jazz collaborations with American musicians such as Coleman Hawkins and Benny Carter during the 1930s, he moved into arranging and recording in the Latin American music style and also won awards for his classical conducting.

Black was born as Solomon Schwartz on 14 June 1913 in Whitechapel, England. His parents were Polish and Romanian Jews. He began piano lessons at the age of seven. He was aged only 12 when his first composition was broadcast on BBC Radio and continued his early success by winning a Melody Maker arranging competition aged 15.

In the early 1930s he was employed as a jazz player and composer and had worked with Howard Jacobs, Joe Orlando, Lew Stone, Maurice Winnick and Teddy Joyce by the time he joined Harry Roy in 1936. He had also broadcast and recorded with several American musicians, including jazz saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, who had first heard Black on late night radio shows with Lew Stone's band. When the two eventually met in London, the reviewer Edgar Jackson suggested they record together, and a notable collaboration is a duet version of Honeysuckle Rose.

During World War II, Black joined the Royal Air Force, and became involved in managing the entertainment of servicemen based at Wolverhampton. In 1944 he was appointed conductor of the BBC Dance Orchestra, and remained in the job for almost nine years, broadcasting as many as six nights a week.

By this time he had also begun recording under his own name for Decca. Now well involved with the film industry, he went on to compose, arrange and direct music for about 200 more films, notably after being appointed music director at Elstree Studios in 1958. He was also principal conductor of the Associated British Picture Corporation Orchestra and musical director composer of that organisation from 1958-1963.

Stanley Black's radio work kept him in contact with a large listening audience through his incidental music for shows such as Much Binding in the Marsh and the first two series of The Goon Show. He later presented his own programmes on radio and television, including Black Magic and The Marvellous World of Stanley Black.

In the early 1950s he regularly topped the Melody Maker lists of the most-heard musicians on radio. He was chosen to be included on Decca's first release of long-playing records in the UK in June 1950. This enabled him to continue his conducting, arranging and performing and resulted in a large number of albums. He was particularly popular in United States, as evidenced by his inclusion in the Billboard best-sellers lists.

During his life, he conducted many of Britain's major orchestras, and until the 1990s he was still directing regular broadcast sessions at the BBC studios, despite the onset of deafness in later life.

Stanley Black is remembered for writing numerous scores for radio, television and cinema, including the theme-tune for The Goon Show.

Other films he composed scores for include Laughter in Paradise (1951), The Naked Truth (1957), Blood of the Vampire (1958), Too Many Crooks (1958), The Long and the Short and the Tall (1961), West 11 (1963), The System (1964), Crossplot (1969), and the Cliff Richard musicals The Young Ones (1961) and his orchestral backing for Richard's follow up, Summer Holiday (1962), which won him an Ivor Novello Award. His work also became familiar to millions of cinema audiences as a consequence of his theme tune and music library for Pathé News, written in 1960.

He also recorded many classical works, including collections of Tchaikovsky and George Gershwin. In 1965 he won a Gramophone Award for his version of Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol. In addition, he arranged and conducted many commercially successful albums on LP and later CD like Tropical Moonlight, Cuban Moonlight, Black Magic, and series of Film Spectacular and Broadway Spectacular for Decca Records.

Canadian Sunset
Stanley Black Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Once I was alone
So lonely and then
You came, out of nowhere
Like the sun up from the hills

Cold, cold was the wind
Warm, warm were your lips
Out there, on that ski trail

Where your kiss filled me with thrills

A weekend in Canada, a change of scene
Was the most I bargained for
And then I discovered you and in your eyes
I found the love that I couldn't ignore

Down, down came the sun
Fast, fast, fast, beat my heart

I knew when the sun set
From that day, we'd never ever part

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Stanley Black's song "Canadian Sunset" tell a story of a person who once felt alone but found love unexpectedly. The first verse describes their loneliness and how suddenly, like the sunrise from the hills, their lover appeared. The second verse expresses the contrast between the cold wind and warm love that they had found with their partner while skiing. The chorus speaks of how they had only expected a weekend in Canada to break from their loneliness, but instead, they found the love that they had been searching for, in their lover's eyes. The final verse is a promise never to leave each other, symbolized by the setting sun and fast beating heart.

The lyrics of "Canadian Sunset" convey a powerful sense of the transformative and unexpected nature of love. It is a reminder that love can come into our lives when we least expect it, and that it has the power to change us in profound ways. The song's gentle melody and smooth orchestration reflect the serene and peaceful beauty of a Canadian sunset, making it a classic, romantic ballad that has stood the test of time.

Line by Line Meaning

Once I was alone
I felt isolated before I met you

So lonely and then
I was very sad and felt nobody was there for me

You came, out of nowhere
You entered into my life unexpectedly

Like the sun up from the hills
You shined so brightly, like the sun reflecting on the hills

Cold, cold was the wind
The wind was chilly and uncomfortable

Warm, warm were your lips
Your kiss brought warmth and comfort to me

Out there, on that ski trail
We were outside, skiing together

Where your kiss filled me with thrills
Your kiss made me feel excited and happy

A weekend in Canada, a change of scene
Visiting Canada for a short time was a refreshing change from my usual routine

Was the most I bargained for
I wasn't expecting anything more than just a weekend getaway

And then I discovered you and in your eyes
Upon meeting you, I saw something in your eyes that captivated me