Shearing was born in the Battersea area of London, United Kingdom. Congenitally blind, he was the youngest of nine children. He started to learn piano at the age of three. After limited training and extensive listening to recorded jazz, he began playing at hotels, clubs and pubs in the London area, sometimes solo, occasionally with dance bands. In 1940, Shearing joined Harry Parry's popular band and became a star in Britain, performing for the BBC, playing with Stéphane Grappelli's London-based groups of the early 1940s, and winning seven consecutive Melody Maker polls.
In 1946, Shearing established himself in the United States. In 1955, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Leading a quintet (piano with guitar, bass, drums and vibraphone), which over the years included Cal Tjader, Margie Hyams, Denzil Best, Israel Crosby, Joe Pass and Gary Burton, Shearing had a succession of hugely popular records including September In The Rain and his own composition, Lullaby Of Birdland (1952). His style, including the joint playing of the melody by piano and vibraphone, was also widely copied, becoming part of the idiom of pop music, so that his records from that period now sound far less innovative than they did at the time. Later, Shearing played with a trio, as a solo and increasingly in duo. Among his collaborations have been sets with the Montgomery Brothers, Marian McPartland, Brian Torff, Jim Hall, Hank Jones and Kenny Davern.
In the 1970s, Shearing's profile had been lowered considerably, but upon signing with Concord Records in 1979, Shearing found himself enjoying a renaissance.
Over the years, Shearing has also collaborated with singers including Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Ernestine Anderson, Carmen McRae, and most notably, Mel Tormé, with whom he performed frequently in the late 80s and early 90s at festivals, on radio and for recordings.
Recently, Shearing collaborated with the John Pizzarelli Trio to create the album The Rare Delight of You, which garnered extremely good reviews. The album cover, featuring Pizzarelli and Shearing posing in front of a solid blue background, was designed to resemble the cover of Nat King Cole Sings George Shearing Plays, a legendary jazz recording with which it shares some similarities in style.
Shearing's interest in classical music resulted in some performances with concert orchestras in the 1950s and 1960s, and his solo's frequently draw upon the music of Debussy and, particularly, Erik Satie for inspiration. Shearing also made a recording with the classical French horn player Barry Tuckwell.
Shearing wrote a number of jazz arrangements of hymn tunes for the organ in collaboration with organist Dale Wood, that have been published in sheet music form.
(2) For a long stretch of time in the 1950s and early '60s, George Shearing had one of the most popular jazz combos on the planet -- so much so that, in the usual jazz tradition of distrusting popular success, he tended to be underappreciated. Shearing's main claim to fame was the invention of a unique quintet sound, derived from a combination of piano, vibraphone, electric guitar, bass, and drums. Within this context, Shearing would play in a style he called "locked hands," which he picked up and refined from Milt Buckner's early-'40s work with the Lionel Hampton band, as well as Glenn Miller's sax section and the King Cole Trio. Stating the melody on the piano with closely knit, harmonized block chords, with the vibes and guitar tripling the melody in unison, Shearing sold tons of records for MGM and Capitol in his heyday.
The wild success of this urbane sound obscures Shearing's other great contribution during this time, for he was also a pioneer of exciting, small-combo Afro-Cuban jazz in the '50s. Indeed, Cal Tjader first caught the Latin jazz bug while playing with Shearing, and the English bandleader also employed such esteemed congueros as Mongo Santamaria, Willie Bobo, and Armando Peraza. As a composer, Shearing was best known for the imperishable, uniquely constructed bop standard "Lullaby of Birdland," as well as "Conception" and "Consternation." His solo style, though all his own, reflected the influences of the great boogie-woogie pianists and classical players, as well as those of Fats Waller, Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson, Erroll Garner, Art Tatum, and Bud Powell -- and fellow pianists long admired his light, refined touch. He was also known to play accordion and sing in a modest voice on occasion.
Shearing, who was born blind, began playing the piano at the age of three, receiving some music training at the Linden Lodge School for the Blind in London as a teenager but picking up the jazz influence from Teddy Wilson and Fats Waller 78s. In the late '30s, he started playing professionally with the Ambrose dance band and made his first recordings in 1937 under the aegis of fellow Brit Leonard Feather. He became a star in Britain, performing for the BBC, playing a key role in the self-exiled Stéphane Grappelli's London-based groups of the early '40s, and winning seven consecutive Melody Maker polls before emigrating in New York City in 1947 at the prompting of Feather. Once there, Shearing quickly absorbed bebop into his bloodstream, replacing Garner in the Oscar Pettiford Trio and leading a quartet in tandem with Buddy DeFranco. In 1949, he formed the first and most famous of his quintets, which included Marjorie Hyams on vibes (thus striking an important blow for emerging female jazz instrumentalists), Chuck Wayne on guitar, John Levy on bass, and Denzil Best on drums. Recording briefly first for Discovery, then Savoy, Shearing settled into lucrative associations with MGM (1950-1955) and Capitol (1955-1969), the latter for which he made albums with Nancy Wilson, Peggy Lee, and Nat King Cole. He also made a lone album for Jazzland with the Montgomery Brothers (including Wes Montgomery) in 1961, and began playing concert dates with symphony orchestras.
After leaving Capitol, Shearing began to phase out his by-then-predictable quintet, finally breaking it up in 1978. He started his own label, Sheba, which lasted for a few years into the early '70s -- and made some trio recordings for MPS later in the decade. In the '70s, his profile had been lowered considerably, but upon signing with Concord in 1979, Shearing found himself enjoying a renaissance in all kinds of situations. He made a number of acclaimed albums with Mel Tormé, raising the singer's profile in the process, and recorded with the likes of Ernestine Anderson, Jim Hall, Marian McPartland, Hank Jones, and classical French horn player Barry Tuckwell. He also recorded a number of solo piano albums where his full palette of influences came into play. He signed with Telarc in 1992 and from that point through the early 2000s continued to perform and record, most often appearing in a duo or trio setting. Shearing, who had remained largely inactive since 2004 after a fall in his New York City apartment, died of congestive heart failure at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital on February 14, 2011. He was 91. ~ Richard S. Ginell, Rovi
How Long Has This Been Going On?
George Shearing Lyrics
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I was kissed by my sisters, my cousins, and my aunties.
Sad to tell, it was hell, an inferno worse than Dante's.
So my dear I swore,
"Never, never more!"
On my list, I insisted that kissing must be crossed out.
Now, I find I was blind, and oh my!
I could cry salty tears,
Where have I been all these years?
Little wow, tell me now,
How long has this been going on?
There were chills up my spine,
And some thrills I can't define.
Listen, sweet, I repeat,
How long has this been going on?
Oh, I feel that I could melt,
Into Heaven I'm hurled!
I know how Columbus felt,
Finding another world.
Kiss me once, then once more.
What a dunce I was before.
What a break!
For Heaven's sake!
How long has this been going on?
Dear, when in your arms I creep,
That divine rendezvous,
Don't wake me, if I'm asleep,
Let me dream that it's true!
Kiss me twice, then once more.
That makes thrice, let's make it four!
What a break!
For Heaven's sake!
How long has this been going on?
How long has this, been going on?
The lyrics of the song "How Long Has This Been Going On?" by the George Shearing Quintet and Orchestra are about falling in love after avoiding intimacy for much of their life, which they describe as an "inferno worse than Dante's" during their childhood years. The song tells a story of someone who has grown up avoiding physical affection and has only recently discovered its joys, wondering why they had not realized the beauty of it all along. The song is filled with references to the overwhelming feelings that come with falling in love and experiencing physical intimacy for the first time, including chills up their spine and feeling as if they could "melt into Heaven."
The singer emphasizes how they have missed out on so much and expresses shock at discovering the beauty of physical affection, saying they could "cry salty tears" from the missed opportunities. They try to make up for this lost time by asking their partner "how long has this been going on?" and kissing them repeatedly, reveling in the passion that they once avoided.
Line by Line Meaning
As a tot, when I trotted in little velvet panties,
When I was a child, I used to wear velvet panties and walk around.
I was kissed by my sisters, my cousins, and my aunties.
My family members used to kiss me.
Sad to tell, it was hell, an inferno worse than Dante's.
Unfortunately, this experience was not good and unbearable.
So my dear I swore,
Therefore, I promised myself that
"Never, never more!"
"I will never let this happen again!"
On my list, I insisted that kissing must be crossed out.
I had made a list where kissing was strictly prohibited.
Now, I find I was blind, and oh my!
But now, I realize that I was wrong and missed out on a lot.
How I lost out!
I regret that I did not experience kissing.
I could cry salty tears,
I feel like crying.
Where have I been all these years?
I wonder why I did not realize this earlier.
Little wow, tell me now,
Can you tell me when this started?
How long has this been going on?
How long have people been doing this?
There were chills up my spine,
I felt a shiver down my back.
And some thrills I can't define.
I felt excited but can't explain why.
Listen, sweet, I repeat,
Hey, listen to me again.
How long has this been going on?
Can you tell me for how long this has been happening?
Oh, I feel that I could melt,
I feel like I am in heaven.
Into Heaven I'm hurled!
I feel like I have been transported to Heaven.
I know how Columbus felt,
I can understand how Columbus felt when he discovered America.
Finding another world.
Finding this new experience is like discovering a new world.
Kiss me once, then once more.
Please kiss me twice.
What a dunce I was before.
I was foolish before for not wanting to experience this.
What a break!
This is amazing!
For Heaven's sake!
This is too good to be true.
How long has this been going on?
This is too good to be true, how long has this been happening?
Dear, when in your arms I creep,
When I cuddle with you, my dear.
That divine rendezvous,
This amazing and special meeting.
Don't wake me, if I'm asleep,
Please don't wake me up if I'm dreaming.
Let me dream that it's true!
Let me dream that this is happening and not a dream.
Kiss me twice, then once more.
Please kiss me three times.
That makes thrice, let's make it four!
That means we kissed three times, let's make it four!
How long has this been going on?
This is too good to be true, how long has this been happening?
How long has this, been going on?
I am curious to know how long this has been happening.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Peermusic Publishing
Written by: IRA GERSHWIN, GEORGE GERSHWIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind