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.
True Love
Stanley Black Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
True love true love
So on and on it will always be
True love true love
For you and I have a guardian angel
On high with nothing to do
But to give to you and to give to me
For you and I have a guardian angel
On high with nothing nothing to do
But to give to you and to give to me
Love forever true
The lyrics to Stanley Black's song True Love speak to the deep and enduring love that exists between two people. The opening lines "I give to you and you give to me, True love true love, So on and on it will always be, True love true love" describe a mutual exchange of love that lasts forever - the kind of love that endures through all obstacles and challenges. The repetition of "true love" emphasizes the sincerity and authenticity of this love, which is not superficial or fleeting, but deep and abiding.
The lyrics then speak of a guardian angel watching over the couple, adding a spiritual dimension to their love. This idea of a benevolent force looking out for them reinforces the idea that their love is meant to last and survive any difficulties that come their way. The guardian angel has "nothing to do" other than to "give to you and to give to me", suggesting that this love is a gift from a higher power, and that it is up to the couple to cherish and nurture it.
Overall, the lyrics to True Love celebrate the strength and beauty of enduring love, which is a theme that resonates with listeners of all ages and backgrounds.
Line by Line Meaning
I give to you and you give to me
We exchange acts of kindness and love with each other
True love true love
Our love is authentic and pure
So on and on it will always be
Our love will endure throughout our lives
For you and I have a guardian angel
A higher power is watching over us
On high with nothing to do
The guardian angel's sole purpose is to watch over us
But to give to you and to give to me
The angel works to ensure our love thrives
Love forever true
Our love will remain genuine and lasting
For you and I have a guardian angel
The higher power continues to look after us
On high with nothing nothing to do
The guardian angel's only job is to oversee our love
But to give to you and to give to me
The angel works to sustain our loving relationship
Love forever true
Our love will persist eternally and truthfully
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: COLE PORTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind