Hirt was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of a police officer. At the age of six, he was given his first trumpet, which had been purchased at a local pawnshop. He would play in the Junior Police Band with the children of Alcide Nunez, and by the age of 16, Hirt was playing professionally, often with his friend Pete Fountain. During this time, he was hired to play at the local horse racing track, beginning a six-decade connection to the sport.
In 1940, Hirt went to Cincinnati, Ohio, to study at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music with Dr. Frank Simon (a former soloist with the John Philip Sousa Orchestra). After a stint as a bugler in the United States Army during World War II, Hirt performed with various swing big bands, including those of Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Ina Ray Hutton.
In 1950, Hirt became first trumpet and featured soloist with Horace Heidt's Orchestra. After spending several years on the road with Heidt, Hirt returned to New Orleans working with various Dixieland groups and leading his own bands. Despite Hirt's statement years later "I'm not a jazz trumpeter and never was a jazz trumpeter", he made a few recordings where he demonstrated his ability to play in that style, during the 1950s with bandleader Monk Hazel, and a few other recordings on the local Southland Records label.
Hirt's virtuoso dexterity and fine tone on his instrument soon attracted the attention of major record labels and he signed with RCA Victor. Hirt posted twenty-two albums on the Billboard charts in the 1950s and 1960s. The albums Honey in the Horn and Cotton Candy were both in the Top 10 best sellers for 1964, the same year Hirt scored a hit single with his cover of Allen Toussaint's tune "Java" (Billboard No. 4), and later won a Grammy Award for the same recording. Both Honey in the Horn and "Java" sold over one million copies, and were awarded gold discs.
Hirt's Top 40 charted hit "Sugar Lips" in 1964 would be later used as the theme song for the NBC daytime game show Eye Guess, hosted by Bill Cullen and originally airing from January 1966 to September 1969.
Hirt was chosen to record the frenetic theme for the 1960s TV show The Green Hornet, by famed arranger and composer Billy May. Thematically reminiscent of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, it showcased Hirt's technical prowess. The recording again gained public attention in 2003 when it was used in the film Kill Bill.
From the mid-1950s to early 1960s, Hirt and his band played nightly at Dan's Pier 600 at the corner of St. Louis and Bourbon Street. The club was owned by his business manager, Dan Levy, Sr.
Al Hirt club on the corner of Bourbon Street and St Louis in the French Quarter, 1977
In 1962 Hirt opened his own club on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, which he ran until 1983. He also became a minority owner in the NFL expansion New Orleans Saints in 1967.
In 1962, in an effort to showcase him in a different musical setting, Hirt was teamed with arranger and composer Billy May and producer Steve Sholes to record an album titled Horn A Plenty that was a departure from the Dixieland material that he was generally associated with. Covering an eclectic variety of popular, standard and show tunes, it featured a big-band supplemented by timpani, French horns and harp. He also appeared opposite Troy Donahue and Suzanne Phlesette in the 1962 motion picture, "Rome Adventure."
In 1965, he hosted the hour-long television variety series Fanfare, which aired on CBS as a summer replacement for Jackie Gleason and the American Scene Magazine.
Hirt starred along with the University of Arizona marching band at the first Super Bowl halftime show in 1967.
On February 8, 1970, while performing in a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, Hirt was injured while riding on a float. It is popularly believed that he was struck in the mouth by a thrown piece of concrete or brick. Factual documentation of the details of the incident is sparse, consisting primarily of claims made by Hirt after the incident. Whatever the actual cause of his injuries, Hirt underwent surgery and made a return to the club scene. This incident was parodied in a Saturday Night Live skit from their second season Mardi Gras special, the "Let's Hit Al Hirt in the Mouth with a Brick Contest".
In 1987, Hirt played a solo rendition of "Ave Maria" for Pope John Paul II's visit to New Orleans. He is referred to in the 1987 film Good Morning, Vietnam, in a broadcast made by Lieutenant Hauk (Bruno Kirby).
Hirt died of liver failure at the age of 76, after having spent the previous year in a wheelchair due to edema in his leg. He was survived by his wife, Beverly Essel Hirt, and six children from a previous marriage.
After You
Al Hirt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
How could you tell me that you're goin' away?
Don't say that we must part,
Don't break your baby's heart
You know I've loved you for these many years,
Loved you night and day,
Oh! honey baby, can't you see my tears?
After you've gone and left me cryin'
After you've gone there's no denyin'
You'll feel blue, you'll feel sad
You'll miss the dearest pal you've ever had
There'll come a time, now don't forget it
There'll come a time when you'll regret it
Someday, when you grow lonely
Your heart will break like mine and you'll want me only
After you've gone, after you've gone away
After you've gone and left me cryin'
After you've gone there's no denyin'
You're gonna feel blue, and you're gonna feel sad
You're gonna feel bad
And you'll miss, and you'll miss,
And you'll miss the bestest pal you ever had
There'll come a time, now don't forget it
There'll come a time when you'll regret it
But baby, think what you're doin'
I'm gonna haunt you so, I'm gonna taunt you so
It's gonna drive you to ruin
After you've gone, after you've gone away.
The lyrics of Al Hirt's song "After You've Gone" depict a man desperately pleading with his lover not to leave him. He cannot fathom the idea of being apart from her and begs her not to break his heart. The man's deep love for his partner is evident in the lines, "You know I've loved you for these many years, loved you night and day. Oh! Honey baby, can't you see my tears?" The song takes on a melancholic tone, as the man laments the inevitable pain and loneliness that will come after his lover leaves.
Despite the man's certainty that his lover will come to regret leaving him, he cannot dissuade her. The final lines of the song reveal the man's determination to haunt and taunt his lover even after she is gone, a clear sign of his deep emotional pain. Overall, the lyrics show the desperate plea of a man who cannot imagine a life without his lover and the pain and regret that comes after they have gone away.
Line by Line Meaning
Now won't you listen honey, while I say,
Listen carefully my dear, pay attention to my words
How could you tell me that you're goin' away?
I cannot believe that you are leaving me
Don't say that we must part,
Please do not say that we need to break up
Don't break your baby's heart
Do not cause me so much pain
You know I've loved you for these many years,
I have loved you for a long time
Loved you night and day,
I have loved you all the time
Oh! honey baby, can't you see my tears?
Can't you see that I am crying?
Listen while I say
Pay attention to my words
After you've gone and left me cryin'
Once you have left and I am left crying
After you've gone there's no denyin'
It is undeniable that you have left
You'll feel blue, you'll feel sad
You will feel down and depressed
You'll miss the dearest pal you've ever had
You will miss the person that was closest to you
There'll come a time, now don't forget it
Remember that there will be a time
There'll come a time when you'll regret it
You will feel regret about leaving
Someday, when you grow lonely
In the future when you are alone
Your heart will break like mine and you'll want me only
You will feel the same heartbreak that I am feeling and you will only want me
After you've gone, after you've gone away
Once you have left and are gone
You're gonna feel bad
You will feel awful
And you'll miss, and you'll miss,
You will long for
And you'll miss the bestest pal you ever had
You will miss the best friend you ever had
But baby, think what you're doin'
Please think about what you are doing
I'm gonna haunt you so, I'm gonna taunt you so
I will come back to you and you will have to carry the burden of your actions
It's gonna drive you to ruin
It will ruin you
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Henry Creamer, Turner Layton, Ray Sherman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
toy man
An incredible talent. Hope you're playing that horn somewhere Al.
Rhenium Ruiz Fernandez
Uno de los mejores
toy man
Thanks Al, here's hoping your traveling in style.
toy man
Who's the vocalist?