Java (instrumental)
| "Java" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Al Hirt | ||||
| from the album Honey in the Horn | ||||
| B-side | "I Can't Get Started" | |||
| Released | January 1964 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 1:55 | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Writer(s) | Allen Toussaint, Alvin Tyler, Freddy Friday | |||
| Producer(s) | Chet Atkins, Steve Sholes | |||
| Al Hirt singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Java" is an instrumental adaptation from a 1958 LP of piano compositions, The Wild Sounds of New Orleans, by Tousan, also known as New Orleans producer/songwriter Allen Toussaint. As was the case of the rest of Toussaint's LP, "Java" was composed at the studio, primarily by Toussaint.
In 1963, trumpet player Al Hirt recorded the instrumental, and the track was the first single from his album Honey in the Horn. It was Hirt's first and biggest hit on the US pop charts, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100[1] and spending four weeks at number one on the easy listening chart in early 1964.[2] The song was also featured on his greatest hits album, The Best of Al Hirt.[3] Hirt released a live version on his 1965 album, Live at Carnegie Hall.[4] Hirt also recorded the song with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops for the RCA Red Seal album Pops Goes the Trumpet (Holiday for Brass) in 1964.[5]
Hirt's recording won the Grammy Award for Best Performance by an Orchestra or Instrumentalist with Orchestra in 1964.
The Angels released a vocal version in 1965 as the B-side to the song "Little Beatle Boy".
The Beautiful South covered it in 1994, releasing it as a B-side to "One Last Love Song".[6] Despite being a band with three vocalists, this was an instrumental version. They also performed the track live,[7] often ending gigs with it, with the vocalists playing handheld percussion instruments or bouncing round the stage on giant space hoppers.
The Muppet Show featured "Java" at the beginning of episode 22, where it was danced to by two creatures. The bigger creature constantly knocked the smaller away. At the end of the song, the small creature blasted the bigger one away.
See also
References
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 287.
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 116.
- ↑ Al Hirt, The Best of Al Hirt Retrieved April 11, 2013.
- ↑ Al Hirt, Live at Carnegie Hall Retrieved April 11, 2013.
- ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Al-Hirt-Boston-Pops-Arthur-Fiedler-Pops-Goes-The-Trumpet-Holiday-For-Brass
- ↑ "The Beautiful South - One Last Love Song". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
- ↑ "The Beautiful South Setlist at Tor 3, Düsseldorf". setlist.fm. Retrieved 2016-02-26.