AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Al Hirt

Artist:Al Hirt

Song:Java

Album:All Time Greatest Hits

Java was a top five hit in 1964. It was the biggest hit for trumpeter Al Hirt. His albums were very successful in the Easy Listening market in the 60s. He was born Nov. 7, 1922 in New Orleans. His father was a police officer and he bought a trumpet for six year old Hirt at a pawnshop. Hirt played in the Junior Police Band. And by age 16 he was playing professionally with high school classmate Pete Fountain. Hirt studied at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He was a bugler in the US Army during WWII. After the war, he played in bands led by Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Ina Ray Hutton. In the 50s, Hirt was a featured soloist in Horace Heidt's Orchestra. He returned to New Orleans and led his own Dixieland jazz band. Hirt always said that he's not a jazz musician. He reminds me of the Dorseys. Like them, Hirt had the ability to be a jazz musician. He just chose not to play jazz. By the 60s, Dixieland was watered down to the point where it wasn't jazz anymore. But it could still be sold as jazz to listeners who didn't like bebop. So that's the market that Hirt and Fountain were in. Hirt signed with RCA Victor in 1961 by RCA Nashville A&R head Steve Sholes. Sholes produced Hirt's albums too. Sometimes Hirt recorded with his own band. But he also recorded with an orchestra led by Marty Paich. For the 1964 album Honey in the Horn, Sholes took Hirt to Nashville to work with Chet Atkins. The album was recorded with Nashville session musicians like Boots Randolph on sax, Floyd Cramer on piano, Grady Martin on guitar and Bob Moore on bass. Java was written by New Orleans music legend Allen Toussaint. He recorded it in 1958. Floyd Cramer charted with his 1962 cover. Hirt's recording reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was Hirt's biggest hit. It was enough to get him regular TV appearances. And his albums sold well for the rest of the 60s. Hirt also recorded the theme for the TV show Green Hornet. Hirt left RCA in 1969. You can get all of his RCA hits on this budget comp. Hirt rerecorded his hits in the 80s. Stay away from those. This album has the original recordings. Hirt got ill in the late 80s and died on Apr. 27, 1989 at age 76. Here's Al Hirt performing Java from a 1964 episode of The Ed Sullivan Show.