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Topic: Benny Rogers |
David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
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Posted 31 May 2011 3:16 pm |
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While I don’t subscribe to the concept of one favorite player, Benny Rogers must be high on my list because I think I have every record he ever made and I only have one or two items by other greats players. Benny’s 49th State LPs are available for download from Cord International, but there is nothing quite like a scratchy old vinyl album to add to the mystique. I have only ever seen one photograph of Benny and that was not a very good one. He seemed to be churning out records in the early fifties to fill the tourist market in Hawaii so some tracks lack sparkle, but over all he had a very Hawaiian style. Here are two nice examples. My Yellow Ginger Lei, version 1. and It's Time To Say Aloha.
http://soundcloud.com/drazjan/benny-rogers-my-yellow-ginger
http://soundcloud.com/drazjan/benny-rogers-its-time-to-say
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Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
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James Nottage
From:
Indiana, USA
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Posted 31 May 2011 3:34 pm Benny Rogers
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Would you mind checking the links. These do not connect to anything. Perhaps something was transposed?
Thanks so much.
James
_________________
Clinesmith S-8; Pettingill P6; Rick-Style Vintage 47 Amp |
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Andy Sandoval
From:
Bakersfield, California, USA
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Posted 31 May 2011 3:56 pm
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| The links worked fine for me. |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 31 May 2011 5:10 pm
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That was great. I hadn't heard any Benny Rogers before. The guitar sounded nice too 
A member of the Hawaiian steel clubs, Herbert Hanawahine plays in the Rogers style, and has had a CD out for a few years. |
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David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
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Posted 31 May 2011 6:07 pm
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James, I double checked. Everything seems OK with the links.
_________________
Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 31 May 2011 6:18 pm
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| Bill Creller wrote: |
| I hadn't heard any Benny Rogers before. |
Sure you have, Bill, you just didn't know it. We all do that, then we find out, sometimes way later. It's the James Jamerson conundrum. |
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Martin Curnan
From:
Lihue, Kauai
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Posted 31 May 2011 7:09 pm
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Bill,
Benny Rogers played on most of Genoa Keawe albums. Listen to "Party Hulas" and you will hear him. |
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Kevin Brown
From:
England
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Posted 1 Jun 2011 12:15 am
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Hi David, a kindred spirit !! I too am mesmerised by the touch of Benny Rogers, to me he sounds so valid even in todays times. 'Time to say aloah' is a real gem and will now become part of our repertoire, thank you so much for these posts, a great start to my day. Please recommend any cord releases, I'll order them sharply, by the way, this is our cover of hawaiian summer nights, apologies for rambling entry, I think Time to say Aloah will suit us perfectly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHhPnFJZ-vk&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Do stay in touch David, regards Kev Brown |
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David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
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Posted 1 Jun 2011 4:05 am
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Kevin, love your video as usual. Its good to know there are other Benny fans out there. Just about anything Cord puts out is high quality. I'm fond of the 49th State LPs with Benny. On the beach at Waikiki with Genoa Keawe, and Benny on his own with Enchanting Hawaiian Holiday. Both are available for download. Why Cord is marketing Les Paul's Lovers Luau I don't know, I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. Well, actually I did. I have the LP, its dreadful. But everthing I have from Cord has been top stuff. Check out their website.
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Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 1 Jun 2011 6:02 pm
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OK....I probably thought " I wonder who the steel player is on that tune"
I have a casette tape with 39 different steel players on it, but Benny isn't one of them ! Lots of players in the old days.......... |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 1 Jun 2011 6:16 pm
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| Bill Creller wrote: |
| I have a casette tape |
Well, that's pretty ancient, but Keoki Lake has ya beat, says he has some wax cylinders, maybe with him playing on one... |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 1 Jun 2011 6:34 pm
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| HaH! I don't have anything that old around here, (except me) This tape was done by Dirk Vogel (Aloha Int'l Steel Guitar Club), and he sent me a copy some years ago. |
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David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
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Posted 2 Jun 2011 9:05 pm
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Hi all Benny Rogers fans. As a long time lover of Benny's guitar playing I just have to add some thoughts from another thread. If you follow Hawaiian guitar on the web you will see and hear references to the Rogers style as played by his relatives. I wish I could hear that thread running through their music but I can't. Harmonic fills are not exclusive to any player. To me the most evocative aspect of Benny's playing was his use of syncopation in the melody line and how he bounced from one note to the next. This too is not exclusive to any one player but it pervades all of Benny's 49th State LPs. If anyone has perspectives on the Rogers style please add it here for everyone to consider.
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Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
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Kevin Brown
From:
England
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Posted 2 Jun 2011 10:59 pm
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| Well I may be completely wrong here but the way Benny introduces swing and blues into his own 'island' style has made him one of my all time favourites. Conjecture Im sure but I feel he had his ear to the ground and absorbed all he could from the sounds that filled his world at the time, his injected humour and lyrical 'touch' raise the 'goose bump' factor for me |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 3 Jun 2011 9:24 am
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| David Matzenik wrote: |
| If you follow Hawaiian guitar on the web you will see and hear references to the Rogers style as played by his relatives. I wish I could hear that thread running through their music but I can't. Harmonic fills are not exclusive to any player. |
Each family member naturally absorbed from another, all being David Kelii devotees, but strongly sought their own identities, maybe purposely eschewing major points of reference towards developing each one's personal individuality. |
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Bill Leff
From:
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Posted 3 Jun 2011 9:53 am
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| David Matzenik wrote: |
| Hi all Benny Rogers fans. As a long time lover of Benny's guitar playing I just have to add some thoughts from another thread. If you follow Hawaiian guitar on the web you will see and hear references to the Rogers style as played by his relatives. I wish I could hear that thread running through their music but I can't. Harmonic fills are not exclusive to any player. To me the most evocative aspect of Benny's playing was his use of syncopation in the melody line and how he bounced from one note to the next. This too is not exclusive to any one player but it pervades all of Benny's 49th State LPs. If anyone has perspectives on the Rogers style please add it here for everyone to consider. |
David, please see my follow up in the Legends Of Hawaiian Steel thread about Timi Abrigo's playing relative to Benny Rogers.
One of the signature sound of the "Rogers style" for me (at least Benny and Feet) is the use of octave "chimes" (harmonics), in particular the "door bell / Avon calling!" ding dong you hear in Auntie Genoa records from the 60s (Benny), Sons of Hawaii (Feet), Maile Serenders (Feet) and other examples. There's also the palm muting style that gives the steel a muted banjo-sounding effect. |
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David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
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Posted 3 Jun 2011 8:53 pm
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Bill, on your advise I went through three Abrigo Ohana "Alika" videos before I ran down this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APckhpiHqXU
I see what you are saying. The origin of Timi's backing is obvious. The Abrigo family are the kind of well-spring Hawaiian music needs at this point. Thanks, gentlemen for the other input. All interesting takes on Benny's style. Harry B. Soria wrote that Benny used E7th tuning. I think that would account for some of his mid-range tone which for me is more interesting than his harmonics. He must have used C#m at some stage and maybe a 6th tuning, but I have not broken his records down to the level of understanding. Perhaps the vintage of a recording contributes to a sense of style. With Benny's G Boogie I get the feeling he listened to Charlie Christian, and of course that's no stretch of the immagination.
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Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
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Kevin Brown
From:
England
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Posted 4 Jun 2011 11:40 pm
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| Re tunings for Benny Rogers, Im pretty sure I can hear C sharp minor in his recordings and some of his rep suits that tuning, but would love further information on his E7 variant and which tunes he used that on. By the way, where is the sharp symbol on the keyboard please ? |
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Steve Marinak
From:
Man O War Cay, Abaco, Bahamas
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Posted 19 Dec 2017 2:03 pm
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would anyone have a list of Benny Rogers albums?
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Steve Marinak |
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Tom Snook
From:
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA
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Posted 19 Dec 2017 2:35 pm
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Search Benjamin Rogers in ITunes,there's a bunch.
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I wanna go back to my little grass shack........ |
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Steve Marinak
From:
Man O War Cay, Abaco, Bahamas
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Posted 19 Dec 2017 3:02 pm
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Thank you Tom. Lots there.
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Steve Marinak |
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Steve Marinak
From:
Man O War Cay, Abaco, Bahamas
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David M Brown
From:
California, USA
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Posted 20 Dec 2017 4:12 am
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| Martin Curnan wrote: |
Bill,
Benny Rogers played on most of Genoa Keawe albums. Listen to "Party Hulas" and you will hear him. |
Some great stuff there! |
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