Hampton was born on 20th April 1908 in Louisville, Kentucky, but moved to Chicago as a child, where he began his career as a drummer. He relocated to Los Angeles to play drums in Les Hite's band. They soon became the house band for Frank Sebastian's New Cotton Club, a popular L.A. jazz club.
During a 1930 recording date in the NBC studios in L.A., Louis Armstrong discovered a vibraphone. He asked Hampton if he could play it. Hampton, who knew how to play the xylophone, tried it and they agreed to record a few records with Hamp on vibes. Hampton is credited with popularizing the vibraphone as a jazz instrument.
In the mid-1930s, the Benny Goodman Orchestra came to Los Angeles to play the Palomar Ballroom. John Hammond brought Goodman to see Hampton play. Goodman asked Hampton to move to New York City and join Goodman, Teddy Wilson, and Gene Krupa who'd already formed a Benny Goodman Trio within the large band - to expand into the Benny Goodman Quartet. The Trio and Quartet were among the first racially integrated bands to record and play before wide audiences; they were just as well received at Goodman's famous 1938 Carnegie Hall concert as was the full Goodman band.
While Hampton worked for Goodman in New York, he recorded with several different small groups known as the Lionel Hampton Orchestra as well as assorted small groups within the Goodman band. In the early 40s he left the Goodman organization to form his own touring band.
Hampton's band fostered the talents of Illinois Jacquet, Dexter Gordon, Ernie Royal, Jack McVea, Charlie Mingus, Monk Montgomery, Wes Montgomery, Quincy Jones, Benny Golson, Fats Navarro, Kenny Dorham, Clifford Brown, Dinah Washington, Betty Carter, Joe Williams, Arnett Cobb, Earl Bostic, and John Colianni among many others.
Hampton's recording of "Flying Home" (1939) with the famous honking tenor sax solo by Jacquet, later refined and expanded by Cobb (1946), is considered by some to be the first rock and roll record. He was known for his tireless energy and his skill on the vibes, drums, and lightning speed two-fingered piano. The bars on the vibraphone are laid out like the piano; Hampton played both instruments the same way.
Beginning in the mid-1980s, Hampton and his band started playing at the University of Idaho's jazz concert, which in 1985 was renamed the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. In 1987 the University's music college was renamed the Lionel Hampton School of Music, the first and only university music college to be named after a jazz musician.
Lionel Hampton died of cardiac arrest at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York on 31st August 2002. He was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York.
Lavender Coffin
Lionel Hampton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
From Saratoga to Timbuktu,
and now that I'm running my last mile honey,
please make my wish come true.
All I want is a lavender coffin,
white cardinias all around
swing band playing a funeral march,
All I want is eleven sweet maidens,
they're all singing that youve got to be hip.
Singing around my new lavander coffin,
and a swinging on the funeral stairs.
(Saint Peter) I'm a comin'
I'm a comin', yeah, to stay,
I ain't been bad,
so open up those gates on my judgement day.
Hear those angels so solomny singing,
Gabriel blowing a mournful sound.
All I want is a lavender coffin
when they lower me into the holy ground.
(Saint Peter) I'm a comin'
I'm a comin', yeah, to stay,
I ain't been bad,
so open up those gates on my judgement day.
Hear those angels so solomny singing,
Gabriel blowing a mournful sound.
All I want is a lavender coffin
when they lower me into the holy ground.
End
The song Lavender Coffin by Lionel Hampton is a jazz classic that tells the story of a man who has lived his life indulging in vices such as gambling and horse racing but now wants a proper send-off when he dies. The man expresses his final wish to his loved ones, which is to have a lavender coffin with white cardinias around it and a swing band playing a funeral march as they lower him into the ground. The man also wants eleven sweet maidens to sing and dance around his coffin to jazz music, making his funeral a joyous celebration of his life rather than a solemn event.
The lyrics are a reflection of the cultural and musical trends of the time they were written, the mid-1940s, when swing music was at the height of its popularity. The song was a unique take on death and funerals, which were traditionally somber events, and celebrated the idea of a joyful send-off.
The song is also a commentary on the human desire for a dignified and memorable death, regardless of how they have lived their life. The man in the song spent his life indulging in vices but still wants to be remembered in a positive light, showing that everyone wants to be remembered fondly after they die.
Line by Line Meaning
I spent my life playing dice and the horses,
I spent my life gambling and betting on horse races.
From Saratoga to Timbuktu,
I traveled far and wide to pursue my love of gambling and horse racing.
and now that I'm running my last mile honey,
Now that I am near death,
please make my wish come true.
I have one final request.
All I want is a lavender coffin,
My final wish is to be buried in a lavender-colored coffin.
white cardinias all around
I would like white cardinias, a type of flower, to surround my coffin.
swing band playing a funeral march,
I want a swing band to play music during my funeral, including a funeral march.
and lower me into the holy ground.
I want to be buried in holy ground.
All I want is eleven sweet maidens,
I want eleven young women to be present at my funeral.
they're all singing that youve got to be hip.
I want the women to sing and celebrate my life.
Singing around my new lavander coffin,
I want the women to sing while standing around my lavender-colored coffin.
and a swinging on the funeral stairs.
I want them to be playful and lighthearted, even during my funeral.
(Saint Peter) I'm a comin'
I am speaking to Saint Peter, the gatekeeper of Heaven.
I'm a comin', yeah, to stay,
I will be arriving in Heaven to stay permanently.
I ain't been bad,
I have not lived an immoral or sinful life.
so open up those gates on my judgement day.
I am requesting Saint Peter to open up the gates of Heaven on my judgment day so I can enter.
Hear those angels so solomny singing,
I can hear the angels singing solemnly.
Gabriel blowing a mournful sound.
I can hear the archangel Gabriel playing a mournful tune on his trumpet.
All I want is a lavender coffin
My desire for a lavender-colored coffin persists as I approach the afterlife.
when they lower me into the holy ground.
I still wish to be buried in holy ground.
Contributed by Daniel B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.