Talk:Sonny Stitt

Stitt was not put up for adoption
The current article states that "Sonny was given up for adoption in 1924 by his father" and that "no one seems to know why Boatner gave his son away."

This is a fairly serious error. Stitt was born Edward Boatner (Jr.) to his parents Edward Boatner (Sr.) and Claudine Thibou in Boston in 1924. Edward, Sr. moved to Chicago a year later in 1925. Claudine brought her son to Saginaw, Michigan, and raised him there.

The confusion seems to stem from Sonny's last name, and the fact that both parents remarried several times. Claudine had three husbands: Edward Boatner, Sr.; Robert Stitt; and Lonnie Wicks. Sonny's last name came from Robert Stitt, who was his step-father, not his adopted father.

This error has shown up elsewhere online, presumably copied from this Wikipedia page. Here are three sources. Let me know if you need more, but hopefully that's sufficient to set the record straight.

QUOTE: ''[Edward] Boatner was married three times and fathered four children, three of whom were active as musicians. Best known was the jazz saxophonist Edward “Sonny” Stitt, who died in 1982. Stitt’s mother, Claudine Wicks, was a singer in the National Baptist Convention Choir, who ﬁrst met Boatner during his tenure as its director.''

"The Life and Career of Edward Boatner and Inventory of the Boatner Papers at the Schomburg Center" http://www.colorado.edu/amrc/sites/default/files/attached-files/0506-1998-008-00-000007.pdf

QUOTE: ''Stitt's mother plays and teaches piano and organ. Stitt took the surname of her second husband, Robert Stitt.''

Ira Gitler, The Masters of Bebop: A Listener's Guide, Da Capo Press, 2001. (original version 1966)

(Gitler is a well-known jazz critic who knew Sonny Stitt personally, by the way.)

QUOTE: ''SONNY STITT jazz alto and tenor saxophonist, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Edward H. S. Boatner, a music professor, and Claudine Tibou, who played and taught piano and organ; she later married Robert Stitt. Raised in Saginaw, Michigan, Sonny, whose given name was Edward, took up piano at age seven before turning to clarinet and alto saxophone.''

Kernfeld, Barry. "Stitt, Sonny." African American National Biography. Edited by Henry Louis Gates and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. http://www.oxfordaasc.com/article/opr/t0001/e0962 (accessed January 17, 2012).

UPDATE: I checked the census records just to be sure. In 1940, Robert Stitt was living in Saginaw, MI with Claudine --- (listed as wife) and Edward --- (listed as son). Here's a link on Imgur: http://imgur.com/J6jis29

2001:56A:F6D7:FA00:B84A:5585:10A3:CE2F (talk) 02:55, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

Books on Stitt
So far as I am aware, no one has wrote a biography on Stitt, unless anyone can tell of someone who has. The thing is, this article is coming on nicely, but we are going to be inhibited if there are no texts on him.--Knucmo2 11:57, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Miles Davis's autobiography has quite a bit on him. I'm not finished with the book, so I don't know how much worthy info it actually has, but I'm wondering if we should include the fact that he had a pretty severe heroin problem. Most interestingly, he was almost killed in 1959 when someone gave him smack that had been tampered with. He gave it to a guy named Freddie Webster who took it and died. Seems like it might be worth adding?

I noticed there is a Link to some .pdf Stitt solos. I'd like to offer my website's Transcriptions page as an additional resource--I have several Stitt solos, and I've received much positive feedback regarding them. If acceptable to Wikipedia, the Link is http://www.lorenweisbrod.com/transcriptions.htm. If questions, please e-mail me through my Contact page. Regards, Loren Weisbrod

What happened to his original family?
The article suggests that something happened to his birth parents because "he was soon adopted" by another family. It should be stated clearly why he came to be adopted, presumably because his birth parents were deceased, but this isn't stated, and how did they die?

50.9.202.244 (talk)Dwhjr — Preceding undated comment added 02:51, 31 March 2014 (UTC)

Please see my comment above. The article is wrong on this point. 2001:56A:F6D7:FA00:B84A:5585:10A3:CE2F (talk) 01:46, 28 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Don't know, but it's properly sourced now.--Biografer (talk) 19:07, 29 April 2019 (UTC)