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Topic: Steeler for Ernie Menehune? |
Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Bill Flores
From:
Ventura, California, USA
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Posted 12 Jan 2011 6:24 pm |
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Not me Ron!,javascript:emoticon(' ') don't know how my name came up in regard to Ernie, unless my dad , also a Bill,was some how connected.He passed away 8 years ago,wasn't really active in the Hawaiian scene for many years prior to that. He did do alot of playing in So. Cal. area in the '40's'50's and '60's. I've only been playing Hawaiian music myself for about 6-7 years, but it was most likely the first music I heard as a child. Aloha..........Bill |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 12 Jan 2011 6:42 pm
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Not a problem, Bill, thank you for the reply. Any chance you know some names that might get us closer to the ID?
And while you're here... how about telling us about your dad, his history with the steel, and how you followed in his footsteps? It's not often we find generations of steel! |
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Bill Flores
From:
Ventura, California, USA
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Posted 12 Jan 2011 11:37 pm
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Sorry Don, can't help with the recording.
As for my dad, he was born in 1914 here in Ventura Ca.1/2 Chumash Indian, 1/2 Spanish Basque, but a Hawaiian soul. He related to me that he was taken to a Vaudeville show in Santa Barbara as a boy and saw his first steel player, a Black man with a National Tricone.That did it for him,he became obsessed with anything Hawaiian, going so far as to teach himself to surf on an old paddleboard, He is noted as the first local surfer here.He learned to play guitar and steel, don't know if he took lessons or taught himself. With like minded friends he started playing in groups. I have set list of his from the mid-30's,pop tunes,"blues" songs and Hawaiian tunes.He and my mom had friends in Los Angeles and would go down to the Polynesian clubs in the area, the 7 Seas, Samoa Hut are all that I can recall. He knew a lot of the Island players in the area, Sam Koki comes to mind. Not sure of the time line pre-WWII to late 40's? From photos of era,he played a bakelite Ricky and National amp. After the war a lot of Islanders came to the Ventura area to go to school and work at the Navy bases in the area.He befriended some these people played music with them. From this and our friends in the service in the Islands, he was kept up on the latest recordings.He was going to buy an Epiphone double neck(because
Noel Boggs had one) but was talked into a D8 Fender in 1948. He played a lot of "Western" music too. After he retired he finally got to do a 4 month gig in Honolulu with a fellow name David Pali, and got to meet Barney Issacs. While he never made any commercial recordings,thanks to a Forum member, I have some living room recordings that he is on with some Hawaiian ladies in the '70's. Just casual fun stuff.
I have been a musician for 30+years, mostly guitar,sax,other stringed instruments. I early on got into lap steel which led to pedal steel. Been playing Hawaiian only for 6-7 years,kind of hard at first to catch the nuances, but thanks to my hearing this music all my life, I can tell when I do, sometimes, get it right! When he passed away I inherited his amps and steels, so now when I play Hawaiian gigs, I play a lot of the same songs he did on the same guitars and amps. Kinda cool, I think.
thanks Bill |
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Kekoa Blanchet
From:
Kaua'i
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Posted 13 Jan 2011 8:08 am
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| Bill, it's nice to learn more about your dad. Maile and Betty, the Hawaiian ladies in those Ventura living room recordings, always enjoyed it when Bill stopped by for kanikapila. The other steel guitarists in the area "only knew how to play the melody," they told me. "But Bill sounded like a Hawaiian." |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 13 Jan 2011 8:48 am
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Very cool, indeed, Bill! Playing the tunes he played on his guitars is a great way to keep his spirit alive. And thank you for extending our knowledge on the matter of your Dad, he should be remembered by the steel community.
If either you or Kekoa could post those recordings of the ladies and your Dad it would be awesome. Homemade recordings like these are often my favorites. They don't do it much like they used to any more, thanx for carrying on the tradition! |
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Billy Easton
From:
Nashville, TN USA
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Posted 14 Jan 2011 8:49 pm
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Ernie has lived in Tucson, AZ for the past at least 10 years. I have worked with him some, but a few years ago his wife Bev passed and Ernie is mostly retired. He does come out once in a while to work with us on the Marty Robbins tribute shows. Ernie is a great guy and a joy to be around. He still has a great set of pipes and sings like a bird!!
Billy Easton
Las Vegas, NV
_________________
Billy & Meriul Easton
Nashville, TN |
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c c johnson
From:
killeen,tx usa * R.I.P.
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Posted 15 Jan 2011 12:20 am
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| I have six of his records and they all say J P Smith. cc |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 15 Jan 2011 10:04 am
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Thanx,cc! Whomever it was, was solid w/Ernie to where he did all the arrangements for him, so this must be the guy. Talk about hiding in plain sight, why is this guy vitually unheard of? There is NOTHING on him via google!
cc, this fellow has real nice touch, how the rest of the steel on those LPs, any other stuff as hot as Minoi Minoi? |
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