Growing up on the outskirts of Dallas, Texas, Ellis first heard the electric guitar performed by George Barnes on a radio program. This experience is said to have inspired him to take up the guitar. He became proficient on the instrument by the time he entered North Texas State University as a music major. Ellis majored in music, but because they did not yet have a guitar program at that time, he studied the string bass. Unfortunately, due to lack of funds, his college days were short lived. In 1941 Herb dropped out of college and toured for 6 months with a band from the University of Kansas.
In 1943 joined Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra and it was with Gray's band that he got his first recognition in the jazz magazines. After Gray's band, Ellis joined the Jimmy Dorsey band where he played some of his first recorded solos. Ellis remained with Dorsey through 1947, traveling and recording extensively, and playing in dance halls and movie palaces. Then came a turnabout that would change Ellis's career forever. Then, as pianist Lou Carter told journalist Robert Dupuis in a 1996 interview, "The Dorsey band had a six-week hole in the schedule. The three of us had played together some with the big band. John Frigo, who had already left the band, knew the owner of the Peter Stuyvesant Hotel in Buffalo. We went in there and stayed six months. And that's how the group the Soft Winds were born."
The Soft Winds group was fashioned after the Nat King Cole Trio. They stayed together until 1952. Herb Ellis then joined the Oscar Peterson Trio (replacing Barney Kessel), forming what Scott Yanow would later on refer to as "one of the most memorable of all the piano, guitar, and bass trios in jazz history".
Ellis became prominent after performing with the Oscar Peterson Trio from 1953 to 1958 along with pianist Peterson and bassist Ray Brown. He was a somewhat controversial member of the trio, because he was the only white person in the group in a time when racism was still very much widespread.
In addition to their great live and recorded work as the Oscar Peterson Trio, this unit served as the virtual "house rhythm section" for Norman Granz's Verve Records, supporting the likes of tenormen Ben Webster and Stan Getz, as well as trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, and Sweets Edison and other jazz stalwarts. With drummer Buddy Rich, they were also the backing band for popular "comeback" albums by the duet of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.
The trio were one of the mainstays of Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts as they swept the jazz world, almost constantly touring the United States and Europe. Ellis left the Peterson Trio in November 1958, to be replaced not by a guitarist, but by drummer Ed Thigpen. The years of 1959 through 1960 found Ellis touring with Ella Fitzgerald.
The three provided a stirring rendition of "Tenderly" as a jazz improvisational backdrop to John Hubley's 1958 cartoon The Tender Game, Storyboard Film's version of the age-old story of boy falling head over heels for girl.
With fellow jazz guitarists Barney Kessel, Charlie Byrd and Joe Pass, he created another ensemble, the Great Guitars.
Herb Ellis died at his home in Los Angeles on March 28.
(2) An excellent bop-based guitarist with a slight country twang to his sound, Herb Ellis became famous playing with the Oscar Peterson Trio during 1953-1958. Prior to that, he had attended North Texas State University and played with the Casa Loma Orchestra, Jimmy Dorsey (1945-1947), and the sadly under-recorded trio Soft Winds. While with Peterson, Ellis was on some Jazz at the Philharmonic tours and had a few opportunities to lead his own dates for Verve, including his personal favorite, Nothing But the Blues (1957). After leaving Peterson, Ellis toured a bit with Ella Fitzgerald; became a studio musician on the West Coast; made sessions with the Dukes of Dixieland, Stuff Smith, and Charlie Byrd; and in the 1970s became much more active in the jazz world. He can be heard on the first three releases issued by the Concord label, interacting with Joe Pass on the initial two, and he toured with the Great Guitars (along with Byrd and Barney Kessel) through much of the 1970s into the '80s. After a long series of Concord albums, Ellis cut a couple of excellent sessions in the 1990s for Justice, as well as 1999's Burnin' on Acoustic Music. After battling Alzheimer's disease, Herb Ellis died at the age of 88 at his home in Los Angeles on March 28, 2010. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi
Love for Sale
Herb Ellis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Is the heavy tread of the heavy feet
That belong to a lonesome cop
I open shop.
When the moon so long has been gazing down
On the wayward ways of this wayward town.
That her smile becomes a smirk,
I go to work.
Love for sale,
Appetizing young love for sale.
Love that`s fresh and still unspoiled,
Love that`s only slightly soiled,
Love for sale.
Who will buy?
Who would like to sample my supply?
Who`s prepared to pay the price,
For a trip to paradise?
Love for sale
Let the poets pipe of love
in their childish way,
I know every type of love
Better far than they.
If you want the thrill of love,
I`ve been through the mill of love;
Old love, new love
Every love but true love
Love for sale.
Appetizing young love for sale.
If you want to buy my wares.
Follow me and climb the stairs
Love for sale.
Love for sale.
The song "Love for Sale" by Herb Ellis paints a vivid picture of a seedy world where love has become nothing more than a commodity to be bought and sold. The lyrics describe a town where the only sound is the footsteps of a lonesome cop and the only light comes from the moon, which gazes down on the wayward ways of the inhabitants. The singer of the song is a vendor of love, offering "appetizing young love for sale" to anyone willing to pay. The love on offer is described as fresh, unspoiled, and only slightly soiled, lending a sleazy undertone to the transaction. The singer is aware of different types of love, having been through the mill of love, but dismisses them all as he seeks a profit from his wares.
The song is an indictment of the commercialization of love and the moral decay that arises from it. The singer is a cynic who has lost faith in the purity of love and sees it merely as an opportunity for profit. Even the poets' depiction of love is derided as "childish" in comparison to his own experiences. The repeated phrase "love for sale" drives home the point that love has become just another commodity to be marketed and sold. The description of climbing stairs to the singer's place of business adds a seedy layer to the transaction, recalling the trope of the "walk-up brothel" from pulp literature.
Line by Line Meaning
When the only sound in the empty street,
I'll start business when everyone is asleep and the only noise is of the lonely cop patrolling
Is the heavy tread of the heavy feet
The lonesome cop walks with heavy steps making the only noise.
That belong to a lonesome cop
The only sound is of the cop patrolling alone.
I open shop.
I start my business of selling love.
When the moon so long has been gazing down
The moon has watched for a long time the immoral activities of this town.
On the wayward ways of this wayward town.
This town is filled with immoral people who engage in improper activities.
That her smile becomes a smirk,
The moon's smile turns into a mocking grin because of the wrongdoings of the town.
I go to work.
I start my work of selling love.
Love for sale,
I'm selling love to those who want it.
Appetizing young love for sale.
I'm selling young, attractive love.
Love that`s fresh and still unspoiled,
The love that I'm selling is new and not yet tainted by other relationships.
Love that`s only slightly soiled,
Some of the love that I'm selling might have been used before just a little bit.
Love for sale.
I'm selling love.
Who will buy?
Who wants to purchase my love?
Who would like to sample my supply?
Who wants to try out the love that I'm selling?
Who`s prepared to pay the price,
Who is willing to pay the cost of buying my love?
For a trip to paradise?
Who is ready to experience the feeling of being in paradise because of my love?
Let the poets pipe of love
Let the poets write about love in their own way.
in their childish way,
However, their ideas of love might be naive or immature.
I know every type of love
I have experienced all types of love.
Better far than they.
I know more about love than the poets do.
If you want the thrill of love,
If you desire the excitement of love,
I`ve been through the mill of love;
I have experienced all sorts of love in my life.
Old love, new love
I have experienced both old and new love.
Every love but true love
However, I haven't found true love yet.
Love for sale.
I'm selling love.
Appetizing young love for sale.
I'm selling young and attractive love.
If you want to buy my wares.
If you are interested in purchasing my love.
Follow me and climb the stairs
Come with me and climb the steps to my place.
Love for sale.
I'm selling love.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Cole Porter
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind