Tiki Central / Tiki Music / Honolulu Rock-A Roll-A (aka the Hulabilly Thread ??)
Post #652460 by Bruddah Bear on Mon, Sep 17, 2012 6:20 PM
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Bruddah Bear
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Mon, Sep 17, 2012 6:20 PM
JOHN-O, I'm sure that with his huge interest in Instro Surf music, Jeff(bigtikidude) is probably also a fan of artists like Chet Atkins, Bill Justis and Duane Eddy as most of their music was Instro, and all three were on the charts at one time or another during their decades long careers. Sadly, Atkins and Justis are no longer with us, but I wonder if Jeff has ever considered inviting Eddy or even Junior Brown to his "Surf Guitar 101" event?
Yeah... Ol' Jenks "Tex" Carman is a problematical artist. He's one of those guys you really wish at times that you could disavow, but when it comes to Hawaiian musical influences on Country artists, unfortunately he's in the thick of it. His sense of rhythm has been questioned, and the meter of his... Uhh... "Unique" singing style is irregular at best (I won't even attempt to describe his voice), which made him one of the most unlikeliest of stars. I understand how you may have been unable to pick-up on the Poly-Pop reference of that song, The tune is decidedly "Honky Tonk" in it's musical style, and the spelling of 'Luwanna' making it appear "Trailer Parky," throws another jinx (or should that be "Jenks?") into the mix. It doesn't really transport you to a tropical isle, does it? Yet, if you think abut the more traditional spelling of 'Luana' and can get past his fingernails-on-a-blackboard-like caterwauling (OK, so I came up with a description) to listen to the lyric...
As you can see, with it's mention of a flower in her coal black hair, a lei of orchids, the scent of gardenia, coupled with the alternate spelling of 'Luana,' the lyric implies a Polynesian woman despite the Honky Tonk sound of the music, at least to me it does. Honest, I wouldn't intentionally give you a bum steer... Just to let everyone know, I went through and carefully listened to that song, even backed it up several times on some of the more difficult to make out lines, and faithfully transcribed that lyric just so people could read them. Never let it be said I never "took one" for the TC Ohana. :wink: Now for one of the reasons everyone has been following this thread, more tunes... Sonny Cole & The Rhythm Roamers (no bio found)... Robinson Crusoe Bop - Lyrics I really kinda like this one quite a bit. There has been much debate and speculation over the original inspiration of Defoe's novel. One that has been considered possible is the story of Alexander Selkirk who was stranded for 4 years on one of the Juan Fernández Islands off the Chilean coast in the South Pacific Ocean. I'm going with that one for the purely arbitrary reason of then being able to include this song as Hulabilly on a little bit more than just the "Shipwreck" theme which has loose ties to Tiki. :D Dobro Chimes It's eerily similar to "Maui Chimes" or vice versa. A Dobro is a brand name resonator guitar, it can be played like a regular guitar or played flat, Hawaiian Steel style. Resonators are still popular with Hawaiian, Blues, Cajun, and Bluegrass artists to this day. "Uncle Josh" Graves did another version of this tune called "Steel Guitar Chimes" It's almost a chicken/egg conundrum that can only be settled by copyright dates on the music, release dates on recordings, or written accounts of the dates the tunes being first played. Sailin' To Hawaii (aka Sailing Along To Hawaii) This isn't Brother Oswald playing, but it will let you hear the tune he composed. Jerry Byrd... Telling Marty Robbins a story of how Hawaiian Steel style guitar came to be, followed by Kohala March Unknown Hula (Jerry's Tune ? ) The Sea And Me Written by Jerry Byrd. And the hunt continues... Bear *Edit - Corrected minor blips [ Edited by: Brudda Bear 2012-09-17 20:41 ] |