Born in Liberchies, Pont-à -Celles, Belgium into a family of Manouche Gypsies, Jean Reinhardt learned to play several instruments such as the banjo, violin and guitar from an early age; he spent most of his youth in Gypsy encampments close to Paris. His family made a living from crafting furniture, but included several amateur musicians who inspired Reinhardt. Eventually, Reinhardt was given a banjo-guitar, at which point he stopped playing the violin. During this period, he was inspired by two older Gypsy musicians, Gusti Mahla and Jean Castro. Able to make a living from his music from his teen years onwards playing in bal-musette halls in Paris, Reinhardt received little formal education until his adult life; he was taught the rudiments of literacy by fellow band member Stéphane Grappelli.
At the age of eighteen, Reinhardt was injured in a fire that ravaged the caravan he shared with Florine "Bella" Mayer, his first wife. They were very poor, and to supplement their income Bella made imitation flowers out of celluloid and paper; consequently, their home was full of this highly inflammable material. Returning from a performance late one night, Django apparently knocked over a candle on his way to bed. While his family and neighbors were quick to pull him to safety, he received first- and second-degree burns over half his body. His right leg was paralyzed and the third and fourth fingers of his left hand were badly burnt. Doctors believed that he would never play guitar again and intended to amputate one of his legs. Reinhardt refused to have the surgery and left the hospital after a short time; he was able to walk within a year with the aid of a cane.
His brother Joseph Reinhardt, an accomplished guitarist himself, bought Django a new guitar. With painful rehabilitation and practice, Reinhardt relearned his craft in a completely new way, even as his third and fourth fingers remained partially paralyzed. Hence, he played all of his guitar solos with only two fingers, and managed to use the two injured digits only for chord work. After regaining his ability to play, Reinhardt resumed his career playing Parisian cafes. According to one story, during his period of recovery, Reinhardt was introduced to the aesthetics of American jazz when he purchased a 78rpm disc of "Dallas Blues" by Louis Armstrong at an Orléans flea market.
In 1934, Reinhardt and Parisian violinist Stéphane Grappelli were approached by hot club chief Pierre Nourry with the idea of forming a forming a new hot club group. Thus, the Quintette du Hot Club de France was formed, with Reinhardt's brother Joseph and Roger Chaput on guitar, and Louis Vola on double bass. Occasionally, Chaput was replaced by Reinhardt's best friend and fellow Gypsy Pierre "Baro" Ferret. As the group had no true percussion section, percussion was instead provided by the group's guitarists; the Quintette du Hot Club de France thus became one of the few well-known jazz ensembles composed only of string instruments.
Jean Sablon was the first singer to record with the Quintette, resulting in more than thirty collaborations from 1933 onwards. Vocalist Freddy Taylor participated on a few songs, such as "Georgia on My Mind" and "Nagasaki". A long line of recordings for Decca, HMV and Ultraphone ensured long-lasting international success for the Quintette.
As a composer, Reinhardt wrote several influential, highly original tunes recorded by the Quintette, ranging from the dulcet ballads "Daphne", "Nuages", and "Manoir de mes rĂŞves", to mad swingers such as "Minor Swing" and the ode to his record label of the 1930s, "Stomping at Decca". With the passing of time, many of his songs became jazz standards in their own right.
Reinhardt also experimented with recordings outside the "comfort zone" of the Quintette; in March 1933 Reinhardt recorded two takes each of "Parce que je vous aime" and "Si, j'aime Suzy", vocal numbers with lots of guitar fills and great guitar support, using three guitarists along with an accordion lead, violin, and bass. In August of the following year, recordings were also made with more than one guitar (Joseph Reinhardt, Roger Chaput, and Django), including the first recording by the Quintette. In both years, it should be noted, the great majority of recordings featured a wide variety of horns, often in multiples, piano, etc.
Throughout his career, Reinhardt played and recorded with many American jazz legends such as Benny Carter, Coleman Hawkins, Rex Stewart (who later stayed in Paris), and a led a jam-session and radio performance with Louis Armstrong. Later in his career, he performed with Dizzy Gillespie in France.
The outbreak of war in 1939 broke up the Quintette, with Grappelli remaining in London where the group was playing and Reinhardt returning to France. During the war years he led a big band, another quintet with clarinettist Hubert Rostaing in place of Grappelli, and after the liberation of Paris, recorded with such visiting American jazz artists as Mel Powell, Peanuts Hucko, and Ray McKinley. In 1946, Reinhardt took up the electric guitar and toured America as a soloist with the Duke Ellington Band, but his appearances were poorly received.
Some of his recordings on electric guitar late in his life are bop escapades where his playing sounds frantic and jagged, a world apart from the jubilant swing of old. However, starting in January 1946, Reinhardt and Grappelli held several sporadic reunions where the bop influences were more subtly integrated into the old swing format of the glory days of the Quintette. In the 1950s, Reinhardt became more reclusive, remaining in Europe, playing and recording sporadically until his death from a stroke on 16 May 1953 in Fontainebleau, France.
Don
Django Reinhardt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'll get along
Forget about me
Just be happy my love
Let's say that our little show is over
And so the story ends
Why not call it a day the sensible way
Look out for yourself
That should be the rule
Give your heart and your love
To whomever you love
Darlin' don't be a fool
Why do we cling to this old faded thing
That used to be
So if you can forget
Then don't worry 'bout me
Why should we cling to some old faded thing
That used to be
So if you can forget
Then you don't worry 'bout me
The lyrics of Django Reinhardt's song "Don't Worry 'Bout Me" are about coming to terms with the end of a relationship and moving on. The singer tells his former lover not to worry about him, even though they are no longer together. He urges her to focus on her own happiness and to give her heart to whoever she loves. He acknowledges that it's time to let go of the past and move on with their lives.
The song has a melancholy tone, with Django Reinhardt's guitar playing setting the mood. The lyrics are simple but effective in conveying the message of the song. The singer acknowledges that it's time to say goodbye and go their separate ways, but he still cares for his former lover and wishes her well.
Overall, "Don't Worry 'Bout Me" is a heartfelt and poignant song about the end of a relationship and the importance of moving on with grace and dignity.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't worry 'bout me
Don't be concerned about my well-being
I'll get along
I'll manage just fine without you in my life
Forget about me
Remove me from your thoughts and memories
Just be happy my love
Find happiness in your life, without me
Let's say that our little show is over
Let's pretend that our time together was just a fleeting performance
And so the story ends
Our relationship has reached its conclusion
Why not call it a day the sensible way
Let's end things on a reasonable and amicable note
And still be friends
Despite the end of our romance, let's maintain a cordial relationship
Look out for yourself
Take care of your own needs and desires first
That should be the rule
Prioritizing oneself is the best practice to follow
Give your heart and your love
Offer your affection and devotion
To whomever you love
To the person you truly care for
Darlin' don't be a fool
Don't make a foolish mistake, choose wisely
Why do we cling to this old faded thing
Why do we hold onto a relationship that has lost its spark
That used to be
That was once full of life and passion
So if you can forget
If you're capable of letting go
Then don't worry 'bout me
Then there's no need to fret about me or our past relationship
Lyrics © DistroKid, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sentric Music, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@janicegeorge-allen1924
Love this. Childhood memories
@mikehudson8884
WOW Beryl Davis sounds so mature for age 15 in this recording, excellent post, I love it.
@theogoldberg8919
Reinhardt +Grapelli, talk about Legends... And Beryl, discovery to me :)
@nunyabiz-
Vocalist Beryl Davis born March 1924. Such a clear, honest, young talent ! Wish there were more recordings with Le Hot Club. Lovely 🌞
@bibi1944
Yes
@natashaduett7832
Amazing. How sad and hopeful at the same time...
@TheBiscocho2
Love this rendition of this song. I have it on Vinyl. Thanks.
@owenmcgee8496
This and "undecided" (a song that someone once told me should be my theme tune, although that's irrelevant) were the a/b side of a 78 single and are the "two Django with singer" tracks that are best known, though NAXOS managed to put together a whole cd once of sung songs with Django accompanying, most of which date (I think) from the 40s. This was the last recording of the original quintet with the "classic" Django sound (they broke up when war was declared a few days later because Grapelli stayed in London while Django returned to Paris). Unusual to hear S.G. on piano instead of fiddle. I think I read once that the singer here was an English girl aged 15 that Grappelli heard busking and thought was good and asked her to record with them. I think I also remember reading that a later Django w/vocal number, Veni, was sung by a homeless Jewish boy who perished in a concentration camp not long afterwards. Twas said Django would have died in a concentration camp too, being a gypsy, were it not that his disappearance would have been too noteworthy to have gone unnoticed because he was one of the most famous recording artists of the day. He stayed in Paris throughout the war, I'm pretty sure, but had a hard time reviving his recording career after the war and he sort of "lost interest" himself, living in a sort of semi-retirement from 1947 through to his death in 1953 at the age of forty-three, though there are recordings dating from 1947 and 1949-51.
@davidwalker5054
That 15 second solo is better than anything ive played in 40 years of guitar playing is his musical mind what separate him from everyone
@leeberry4388
wonderful - thank you