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.
Just Because
Al Hirt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just because you think you're so pretty,
And just because your momma thinks you're hot,
Well, just because you think you've got something
That no other girl has got,
You've caused me to spend all my money.
You laughed and called me old Santa Claus.
Well, I'm telling you,
Because, well well, just because.
Well, well, well,
There'll come a time when you'll be lonesome
And there'll come a time when you'll be blue.
Well, there'll come a time when old Santa
He won't pay your bills for you.
You've caused me to lose all my women
And now, now you say we are through.
Well, I'm telling you
Baby, I was through with you
A long long time ago.
Well, just because you think you're so pretty
And just because your mama thinks you're the hottest thing in town
Well, just because you think you've got something
That nobody else has got,
You've caused me to spend all of my money.
Honey, you laughed and called me your old Santa Claus.
Well, I'm telling you I'm through with you
Because, well well, just because.
The lyrics of Al Hirt's song Just Because depict a man who has been hurt and used by a woman who believes she is superior to others. He begins by pointing out how the woman believes she is physically attractive and has something special that no other girl has, resulting in him spending all his money on her. However, he feels offended and disrespected when the woman refers to him as Santa Claus, which indicates that she considers him as an old man with money. The man decides to end their relationship, stating that he is through with her "just because" of her attitude and sense of superiority.
The lyrics then take a turn as the man reflects on the woman's possible devastating future. He warns her that there will be a time when she will be lonesome and blue, and old Santa Claus will not be there to pay her bills for her. The man also says that the woman has caused him to lose all his women, and therefore he had been through with her a long time ago.
Overall, the lyrics of Just Because are a warning to people who believe they are superior to others and misuse their power to take advantage of others. The man was hurt by the woman's behavior and is warning her about the negative consequences of her actions.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, well, well,
I am starting this conversation and I am not pleased.
Just because you think you're so pretty,
Your confidence in your beauty is not a valid reason for your actions.
And just because your momma thinks you're hot,
Your mother's perception of you doesn't justify your behavior towards me.
Well, just because you think you've got something
That no other girl has got,
You believe that you have a unique quality that makes you superior to other women.
You've caused me to spend all my money.
Your actions have led me to exhaust my financial resources.
You laughed and called me old Santa Claus.
You ridiculed me for being generous with you like Santa Claus.
Well, I'm telling you,
Baby, I'm through with you.
I am ending this relationship with you, despite your attitudes and behaviors.
There'll come a time when you'll be lonesome
And there'll come a time when you'll be blue.
You will experience loneliness and sadness in the future for your actions towards me.
Well, there'll come a time when old Santa
He won't pay your bills for you.
The time will come when I will no longer support you financially as if I were Santa Claus.
You've caused me to lose all my women
And now, now you say we are through.
You have caused me to lose the affection of other women, and now you want to end our relationship.
Well, I'm telling you
Baby, I was through with you
A long long time ago.
I stopped caring for you long before you decided to end our relationship.
Just because you think you're so pretty
And just because your mama thinks you're the hottest thing in town
Well, just because you think you've got something
That nobody else has got,
Your beauty and mother's opinion do not justify your actions towards me and do not make you superior to other women.
You've caused me to spend all of my money.
Honey, you laughed and called me your old Santa Claus.
You exploited my generosity towards you and even mocked me for it using the comparison to Santa Claus.
Well, I'm telling you I'm through with you
Because, well well, just because.
I am ending our relationship for no particular reason other than I no longer wish to continue it.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: LLOYD PRICE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind