Eddie Lund - Tiki Music

T Thomas Member Lake Mojave Joined: Mar 15, 2005 Posts: 372	T Thomas Posted posted on Mon, Sep 5, 2005 7:29 PM I've become interested in this man's story, but have been not been able to find very much about him. Apparently Tahiti issued a postage stamp in his honor, though, so he could be researched more in Tahiti I'm sure. At the time of this posting (Sept. '05), there was only one thread pertaining to him on Tikicentral, and it was about album cover art: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=15235&forum=11&hilite=eddie%20lund One of his songs is featured in the South Seas Island Magic four-record collection (Reader's Digest, 1968), which provides this background on him: "Eddie Lund, who became part owner of a nightclub in Tahiti and organized a band using native players..." I thought, "this sounds like my kind of guy." Often when I research some Exotica musician or what have you, I find that he had a fairly ordinary career doing sountrack work in Hollywood or what have you. Nothing wrong with that, but Eddie Lund seems to have taken things a step or two further, one might say. There isn't a whole lot on the internet about him apparently (though I'd love it if someone would prove me wrong about this). This web page by James Sayre: http://www.bottlebrushpress.com/eddielund.html , offers good information, and I quote from some of it here: Eddie Lund - A Short Biography by James K. Sayre Copyright © 2003 All Rights Reserved Eddie Lund was the father of modern Tahitian folk music. He was born October 12, 1909 and grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where he first worked as a musician. EDIT: This has been corrected by a Lund family member. It was Vancouver, Washington state, USA, not B.C., Canada. In 1936 he made his first visit to the islands of French Tahiti. He spent a month there and immediately fell in love with the place, the people and their music. He returned to his job as a pianist in Portland, Oregon, saved his money and in 1938, moved permanently to Tahiti. He learned to speak French and Tahitian. He began composing songs in Tahitian, incorporating native melodies and drumbeats with his own creative thoughts. He organized a band of Tahitian musicians and starting in the business of making records on the Tahiti Records label, based in Papeete. In the 1950's these records were distributed on a worldwide basis by Criterion Records of Hollywood, California. Eddie Lund passed away in 1973. ... Does anyone happen to know more about Eddie Lund, or at least agree with me that this is the sort of personal story that really "strikes a chord" (sorry -- pun intended!)? I will poke away at this topic from time to time and hopefully find some more material on him as well. The tikicentral thread I reference above does have a link to a nice looking album cover of his music. [ Edited by: Thomas 2013-05-06 13:09 ]

I've become interested in this man's story, but have been not been able to find very much about him. Apparently Tahiti issued a postage stamp in his honor, though, so he could be researched more in Tahiti I'm sure. At the time of this posting (Sept. '05), there was only one thread pertaining to him on Tikicentral, and it was about album cover art:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=15235&forum=11&hilite=eddie%20lund

One of his songs is featured in the South Seas Island Magic four-record collection (Reader's Digest, 1968), which provides this background on him: "Eddie Lund, who became part owner of a nightclub in Tahiti and organized a band using native players..."

I thought, "this sounds like my kind of guy." Often when I research some Exotica musician or what have you, I find that he had a fairly ordinary career doing sountrack work in Hollywood or what have you. Nothing wrong with that, but Eddie Lund seems to have taken things a step or two further, one might say.

There isn't a whole lot on the internet about him apparently (though I'd love it if someone would prove me wrong about this). This web page by James Sayre:
http://www.bottlebrushpress.com/eddielund.html , offers good information, and I quote from some of it here:
**
Eddie Lund - A Short Biography
by James K. Sayre
Copyright © 2003
All Rights Reserved
Eddie Lund was the father of modern Tahitian folk music. He was born October 12, 1909 and grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where he first worked as a musician.
EDIT: This has been corrected by a Lund family member. It was Vancouver, Washington state, USA, not B.C., Canada.
In 1936 he made his first visit to the islands of French Tahiti. He spent a month there and immediately fell in love with the place, the people and their music. He returned to his job as a pianist in Portland, Oregon, saved his money and in 1938, moved permanently to Tahiti. He learned to speak French and Tahitian. He began composing songs in Tahitian, incorporating native melodies and drumbeats with his own creative thoughts. He organized a band of Tahitian musicians and starting in the business of making records on the Tahiti Records label, based in Papeete. In the 1950's these records were distributed on a worldwide basis by Criterion Records of Hollywood, California. Eddie Lund passed away in 1973.
...
**
Does anyone happen to know more about Eddie Lund, or at least agree with me that this is the sort of personal story that really "strikes a chord" (sorry -- pun intended!)? I will poke away at this topic from time to time and hopefully find some more material on him as well. The tikicentral thread I reference above does have a link to a nice looking album cover of his music.

[ Edited by: Thomas 2013-05-06 13:09 ]

Post #184587 by Thomas on Mon, Sep 5, 2005 7:29 PM