Songs That Sound "Hawaiian"

Morgan Scoggins · From: Georgia, USA

I have been draged into playing some "Hawaiian Music" at an upcoming family event. Right now, I can play about 20 Hawiian songs. I am trying to come up with a list of standard songs that "sound Hawaiian" so I can have about 35-40 songs to play.
Some of the songs I have already come up with are "Margaritaville","I Love You So Much It Hurts Me"
"Paper Roses", "Welcome To My World",'the Bannana Boat Song" and "Mexacali Rose".
I know some of you guys and gals out there have had to play Hawaiian gigs and come up with something like this at the last minute. I need simple stuff that I can learn in a hurry, but right now I have several weeks before this event comes up.Also,tell me if some of my selections are "just not right"
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"Shoot low boys, the're ridin' Shetlands"

Mitch Drumm · From: Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake

I like several of those songs.

But there all "just not right".

What is Hawaiian about any of them other than you might be playing them on steel guitar, which in some circles is a Hawaiian instrument?

But, depending on the audience, they may not know or not care.

"Hawaiian" may just mean people wearing aloha shirts in this case. Maybe the audience has never been west of Salt Lake and doesn't know Alfred Apaka from Alfred E. Newman.

In which case, you could get away with those songs or "I Remember Clifford", for that matter.

Could you get away with the Hank Williams songbook as long as you put that "Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula" vamp in a half dozen spots in every song?

Morgan Scoggins · From: Georgia, USA

Thanks Mitch,
Most of this group ( Wedding reception) are people my age (60's) and some young kids, Most of the adults grew up in the 60's and never got past listening to The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Leonard Skynard. They think Hawaiian music is "Tiny Bubbles" and "Blue Hawaii".
The kids in this group probably listen to whatever the hot rock groups are.
_________________
"Shoot low boys, the're ridin' Shetlands"

Mitch Drumm · From: Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake

Morgan:

Here is the vamp:

http://picosong.com/qnq

Offhand, I'd think you are better off with Sleepwalk and maybe a few of the most common Hawaiian standards:

Hawaiian Wedding Song
Aloha Oe
Lovely Hula Hands

etc.

But, if they think Tiny Bubbles is the ticket, give it to 'em.

Ron Whitfield · From: Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA

Manuwela Boy, from which the vamp was exerpted, is a great tune to play. It covers basically the same steel territory throughout making it easy to learn, but the lyrics are priceless and extensive. Of course you can make up some of your own so that any particular crowd can get a laff.

Mitch, can you post the whole song that you got the vamp from?

And if you're going to play Sleepwalk, give the 45s equally great B side a whirl too, Teardrops, or Sea Shells http://jukebox.au.nu/search.php (just type in the title)

More Hawaiian tunes - We're At A Luau Now, My Tani, Hula Eyes, Paradise Ilse, Palolo, Ua Like No Like (lee-kay), My Isle Of Golden Dreams, Wailana, Offshore, I'll Weave A Lei Of Stars For You, Harbour Lights. Many more if these don't suit you.

Mitch Drumm · From: Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake

Ron:

That was Jacob Maka.

Here is another variation of the song, with the vamp.

http://picosong.com/qn8

It would be a good one for Morgan to tear off at the wedding reception.

Or maybe Keyhole Hula or Okole Maluna. Mr. Green

What is that vamp called among Hawaiian musicians?

It is THE trademark and is found in hundreds of songs---did it originate with Sonny Cunha?

Papa Joe Pollick · From: Swanton, Ohio

I didn't check to see if Harbor Loghts was mentioned but it works and Red Sails in the Sunset..Hiwaiian War Chant..

Ron Whitfield · From: Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA

Brad Bechtel · From: San Francisco, CA

What songs do you already know? That will help us suggest songs you don't know and want to learn.
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James Kerr · From: Scotland, UK

How about "Let's talk dirty in Hawaiian" if you want a laugh.

James.

Morgan Scoggins · From: Georgia, USA

Brad,
Most of the songs I already know are from the "Jerry Byrd Steel guitar Course" ,up to and including book 2. These songs include " Aloha Tears", "U Like No Like", " Sweet Someone", " Paridise Isle"," Rainbows Over Paradise", "Sand", and "How D'Ya Do". Other songs I play are some of the well known "tourist" songs like "Beyond The Reef", "Song Of The Island", "Tiny Bubbles","Sleepwalk", "Harbor Lights" and "Coconut Groove".
Im trying to get by with playing some of the other standard tunes like "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", and "Somewhere My Love" that sound Hawiian. I already know these songs and hope they will fit in. Of course, If things go like I expect, by the time the champagne is gone and the guests are down to drinking Budweiser, I will be playing songs by Hank Williams,and Ernest Tubb!!!
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"Shoot low boys, the're ridin' Shetlands"

Bill Creller · From: Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)

Sounds like you know enough to get by OK already. You will have to take time out to tell folks what "that thing is that you are playing" (?) Very Happy

"is that a zither? etc Very Happy

Kekoa Blanchet · From: Kaua'i

Bill's got a good point. The 20 songs you already know will get you through a long set, especially with audience interaction. And since you're playing to a mainland audience, you can always just start over if you run out of songs -- who's going to remember an unfamiliar song that you played 90 minutes ago?

Mitch, Hawaiian musicians call that vamp a "kaholo," and it is very characteristic of both traditional Hawaiian music and hapa haole music. It pairs with a fundamental hula step also called kaholo which, like the musician's vamp, can have the function of marking time between verses. The kaholo has been part of Hawaiian dance since long before western contact brought music (in contrast to chant) to the islands. So, as influential as Sonny Cunha was, I'd be surprised if he created the kaholo.

I'd never heard that "Manuela Boy in the Army" version before. Fun! Thanks for posting it.

James Carter · From: New Zealand

Lani McIntire recorded manuela boy is is in the army now on Decca USA 4361
A78 rpm on April 30 1941 Vocal by Napua Woodd and trio steel guitar by
Sam Koki

Mitch Drumm · From: Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake

Kekoa:

Thank you for the information. I had been curious about the history of the vamp for many years and never had the opportunity to ask a musician--knowing it must have a name of some kind. It appears in the earliest Hawaiian compositions I have yet found--over 100 years old, and may well pre-date Sonny Cunha.

James:

Thanks for the detail on "Manuela Boy Is In The Army Now". I never would have known Sam Koki was on steel. I guess I ought to break down and buy Malcolm Rockwell's book.

I found a nice pic of Napua Woodd and her obituary here:

http://www.squareone.org/Hapa/woodd.html

She danced at the Royal Hawaiian in the 1930s and was in several movies as well.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2342179_do-kaholo-hula.html

Hmmm...Right on, Kekoa.

"The kaholo is a traveling step in hula that incorporates a hip sway. Done laterally in a four-count phrase, it's a step more common in modern hula dance than in ancient hula, and it's a common vamp step at the beginning of a dance or between verses. The kaholo is the best step to start with if you're new to hula."

Here it is demonstrated by a dancer:

http://tinyurl.com/2g4bnrj

http://tinyurl.com/2ck742n

Keep your eyes on the hands.

Bill Wynne · From: New Jersey, USA

I have never been terribly outspoken on this forum, but I have to tell you that this thread bothers me to no end.

Just because one can play the steel guitar does not mean that they can play the steel guitar in the Hawaiian style. Audiences not familiar with Hawaiian music may not know the difference. But there is a difference. Every time that a country, jazz, or blues steeler takes a gig for a Hawaiian-themed party - or lu'au - they are taking a gig away from a musician who has trained and specialized all his/her life in Hawaiian music.

Last September I was asked by a very famous steel guitarist to work with him on a Hawaiian-themed event. To be fair, he gave me nine months notice. The pay was paltry, and I had to travel 400 miles for the gig. But I was excited to work with this big name steeler. This is what I discovered in the months that followed:

- The steeler knew not one Hawaiian song. Not one. So he asked me to pick the tunes. OK, that's not such a big deal. I picked some tunes and sent him MP3s.

- The steeler could not - or was not willing to - work from the MP3 recordings. He wanted me to write out the songs. Moreover, he wanted me to transcribe the tunes from the keys on the recordings to the keys in which I sing them. You see... The gig required vocals in the Hawaiian language. This steeler does not sing and he does not speak Hawaiian. That's where I come in. I do sing in the Hawaiian language. The steeler said if I wanted the songs in my keys, I needed to write them out for him. Those of you who know real Hawaiian music know that these are for the most part not complicated tunes - I, IV, and V7. Did I really need to write these out for a 40-year veteral steeler? Was his ear in the shop?

- Still not sure I was willing to write out four hours worth of tunes, I receive a follow-up request from the steel player. He would like the tunes arranged as well. I said, "It's your group. Why don't you arrange them?" He said, "Because you are the expert* in Hawaiian music."

- Before I embarked on the transposing and arranging, a final request came in. The steeler asked me to travel the 400 miles at least three times before the gig to rehearse with his band. I asked if any of them have ever played Hawaiian music before, and he admitted that they hadn't. I asked what the scale for these rehearsal trips was - as I was the only guy traveling from out of town - and he said none. The pay for the gig was the only pay. I said, "If I am the only one who already knows Hawaiian music, why don't the guys who have never played Hawaiian music before practice before you waste my time traveling 400 miles?"

Needless to say, I unintentionally screwed this guy by declining this gig after I had originally accepted it. In so doing, I said to him quite honestly, "You don't sing, you don't speak Hawaiian, you have never played Hawaiian music before, and nobody in your band has ever played Hawaiian music before. Why the hell would you take this gig instead of referring it to a band that specializes in Hawaiian music - the kind of music the booking agent wants and needs? I could have brought an entire troup of musicians who specialize in Hawaiian music 400 miles to this gig and it would have been less aggravation and hassle than the amount of work you have asked me to do in giving you a crash course in Hawaiian music."

He was not merely doing it for the money. That would discredit this fellow. No, this guy honestly thought he could master the Hawaiian touch and tone on the steel guitar in a matter of months. And that discredits the rest of us who have spent decades playing nothing but Hawaiian music.

* "Expert" is a relative term. I don't consider myself an expert. And I am not Hawaiian. But I know more than guys who know nothing. The difference between me and guys who claim they play "Hawaiian music" is that I have actually studied Hawaiian music. I know a lot of guys who play "Hawaiian War Chant," but I know few outside of Hawai'i who can tell you what the song is about. (I know few who even understand that the crazy character I just inserted between the "i's" in Hawai'i is not an apostrophe but an 'okina - a diacritical mark used to indicate a glottal stop in the Hawaiian language.) They don't care. But they should care. Because when you go out on stage and perform Hawaiian music, you are not merely representing a genre of music. You are representing an already underrepresented culture. And if you do it poorly, you leave a lasting impression of Hawaiian music - or, at least, what Hawaiian music is not.
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Morgan Scoggins · From: Georgia, USA

Hi Bill,
I can appreciate your response to my inquiry, but I must say you are way overreacting.In the first place, I am not a professional musician. I am a 63 year old semi retired businessman. I played regular guitar for 40 years and made the switch to nonpedal steel three years ago. I have had the time to devote a lot of hours to practice. I purchased the "Jerry Byrd Steel Guitar Course" a while back and as a result of what I have learned, I have fallen in love with Hawaiian music.
A couple of weeks ago, I was playing for my son and his Fiancee.next I am being asked to play the steel at the upcoming wedding reception. That is how I got into this situation.
I have a repitore of about 80 songs that I can play. About 20 of them are "Hawaiian " songs. The rest are mostly country and Westerm Swing.
Now, as you said, "Hawaiian" music uses the same cord structure and same scales as most Western music.
If that is the case, then there musy be hundreds of songs that sound similar to Hawiaan songs. A good example is the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".
In that song, If we can forget for a moment, about the wonderful voice of Judy Garland and just listen to the melody. It sounds like a Hawiaan song. In fact , the late Hawiaan singer "Iz" recorded this song.I was just wanting to get some ideas about similar songs I could use .
I had no intention of putting anyone out of work or putting down a style of music.
Please accept my sincere apology If i offended you, but none was intended.
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"Shoot low boys, the're ridin' Shetlands"

Travis Hillis · From: Nashville TN, USA

Song of the Islands is a good one too. Wink

Andy Barlo · From: Schererville, Indiana, USA * R.I.P.

I'm not quite sure that I agree with you when you say that "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" sounds Hawaiian. Just because you have a Hawaiian (IZ) singer and a ukulele doesn't make it sound Hawaiian. In fact, IZ doesn't use much steel in his recordings, if any at all. You take that same song and have Julie Andrews or Frank Sinatra or any other person sing it and I guarantee it will not sound Hawaiian.

Jeff Au Hoy · From: Honolulu, Hawai'i

Play whatever you like with lots of gliss and vibrato. Wear a bright colored shirt with flowers on it. Serve maitais.

Jeff Au Hoy · From: Honolulu, Hawai'i

Bill, let em go. Different generation. And he's in Georgia for cryin out loud.

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