In 1928 (on his 25th birthday) Hines began leading his own big band. For over 10 years his was "The Band" in Al Capone's Grand Terrace Cafe — Hines was Capone's "Mr Piano Man". Hines recorded for Victor in 1929, then after a gap for Brunswick from 1932-1934, Decca from 1934-1935, then after another gap, Vocalion from 1937-1938 and Bluebird from 1939-1942 (nearly all among the best Black Jazz of the era). From the Grand Terrace, The Earl Hines Orchestra (or "Organization" as he more happily referred to it) broadcast on "open mikes", sometimes five nights a week and over many years, coast to coast across America — Chicago being well placed to deal with the U.S. live-broadcasting time-zone problem. Hines's band became the most broadcast band in America. Sometimes Nat "King" Cole was Hines's relief pianist (though Cliff Smalls was his favorite) and it was here with Hines that Charlie Parker got his first professional job...until he was fired for his time-keeping — by which Hines meant Parker's inability to show up on time despite Parker resorting to sleeping under the Grand Terrace stage in his attempts to do so. Hines led his big band until 1947, taking time out to front the Duke Ellington orchestra in 1944 while Duke was ill...but the big-band era was over. (Thirty years later, Hines's 20 solo "transformative versions" of his "Earl Hines Plays Duke Ellington" recorded in the 1970s were described by Ben Ratliff in the "New York Times" as "as good an example of the jazz process as anything out there".)
At the start of 1949 Hines rejoined Armstrong in the latter's "All Stars" "small band", where Hines stayed through 1951. He then led his own small combo around the States and Europe. At the start of the jazz-lean 1960s he settled in Oakland, California, opened a tobacconist's, and came close to giving up the profession. Then, in 1964 Hines was "suddenly rediscovered" following a series of concerts in New York. He was the 1965 "Critics' Choice" for Down Beat Magazine's "Hall of Fame". From then till he died he recorded endlessly both solo and with jazz notables like Cat Anderson, Buck Clayton, Roy Eldridge, Ella Fitzgerald, Paul Gonsalves, Sonny Greer, Lionel Hampton, Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges, Budd Johnson, Jimmy Rushing, Stuff Smith, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Venuti and Ben Webster. Possibly more surprising were Elvin Jones, Peggy Lee, Charles Mingus, Dinah Washington — and Ry Cooder. But his most acclaimed recordings of this period were his dazzling and endlessly inventive solo performances, which could show him at his very best, "a whole orchestra by himself".[12] Solo tributes to Louis Armstrong, Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin were all put on record in the 1970s. Hines also toured Europe again regularly at this time, and added Asia, Australia and the Soviet Union to his list of State Department–funded destinations. At the top of his form, Hines also displayed his endearing quirks (not to say grunts) in these performances. Sometimes he sang as he played, especially his own "They Never Believed I Could Do It - Neither Did I". In 1975 he made an hour-long "solo" film for British TV out-of-hours in a Washington nightclub: the "New York Herald Tribune" described it as "The greatest jazz-film ever made". He played solo in The White House and played solo for the Pope — and played (and sang) his last job a few days before he died in Oakland, quite likely somewhat older than he had always maintained.
Smoke Rings
Earl Hines Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What do they do
Those circles of blue and white?
Oh! why do they seem to pictures a dream above
Then why do they fade my phantom parade of love?
Where do they end, the smoke rings I send on high?
Where are they hurled
Oh! I'd give my life to laugh at this strife below
I'd be a king I'd follow each ring I blow
Puff puff puff puff your cares away
Puff puff puff night and day
Blow blow them into air silky little rings
Blow, blow them ev'ry where give your troubles wings
What do they tell and what is the spell they cast
Some of them fall and seem to recall the past
But most of them rise away to the skies of blue
Oh little smoke rings I love
The lyrics of Earl Hines's song "Smoke Rings" depict the dreams and love depicted by smoke rings. The singer is fascinated by the smoke rings he blows and wonders where they go and what they do. He imagines that they paint pictures of his dreams and memories in their bluish-white circles. Yet despite their beauty, they inevitably fade away, leaving the singer with nothing but the fleeting image of his phantom parade of love. He longs to follow each ring and escape the strife below, to be a king, but he realizes that just like smoke rings, life is transitory and ephemeral.
The song's lyrics are simple yet powerful, evoking the melancholy of lost love and the longing for escape from life's troubles. The imagery of smoke rings is used to convey the idea of fleeting dreams and memories, and the contrast of their beauty with their transience is used to underscore the bittersweet nature of life. The repetition of "puff puff puff puff your cares away" and "blow blow them into air silky little rings" creates a sense of relaxation and escape from daily worries, promising a brief respite from the cares of the world.
Overall, the song "Smoke Rings" is a wistful ode to the beauty and transience of life, depicting the singer's yearning for escape and the fleeting nature of his dreams and memories.
Line by Line Meaning
Where do they go, the smoke rings I blow each night
I wonder where the smoke rings I blow with cigarette smoke each night end up
What do they do
Those circles of blue and white?
What do those circles of blue and white smoke do as they float away?
Oh! why do they seem to pictures a dream above
Then why do they fade my phantom parade of love?
Why do those circles of smoke seem to create a dream-like atmosphere above me? Why do they remind me of my lost love when they slowly disappear?
Where do they end, the smoke rings I send on high?
Where are they hurled
When they've kissed the world goodbye!
Where do the smoke rings that I send high up in the air end up? Where are they thrown away once they disappear from my sight?
Oh! I'd give my life to laugh at this strife below
I'd be a king I'd follow each ring I blow
I would do anything to escape the struggles of life below and be happy. I would love to be a king that follows each smoke ring that I blow with my cigarette smoke.
Puff puff puff puff your cares away
Puff puff puff night and day
Blow blow them into air silky little rings
Blow, blow them ev'ry where give your troubles wings
Take a deep breath and smoke away your worries. Day and night, just keep blowing those silky little smoke rings into the air. Let your troubles float away with those rings and be carefree.
What do they tell and what is the spell they cast
Some of them fall and seem to recall the past
But most of them rise away to the skies of blue
Oh little smoke rings I love
What message do those circles of smoke communicate or what magic do they spread? Some of those smoke rings seem to remind me of my past. However, most of them float up to the clear blue sky. Oh, I love those little smoke rings!
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, SHAPIRO BERNSTEIN & CO. INC.
Written by: GENE GIFFORD, NED WASHINGTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind