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eBay: Trader Vics Album? Interesting

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Interesting yes, but ultimately dissapointing. Mr. Exotica Jeff Chenault burned me a CD of this, and I was expecting some snarling witty remarks from old Vic, but the tales are not that swank, and what is really dissappointng is that Vic's voice, which I expected to be a deep, manly patriarch kinda drawl seems to actually have been kind of thin and feeble.

Folks, I'm afraid it was all a hoax, he never was no gnarly Trader in the tropics, his peg leg was not due to a shark attack... :) (he did go on a Safari though!)

Any idea what this was all about? I did some googling but came up dry.

In a case of complete coincidence, I was looking at a high-res photo of Don's Encino plantation and noticed something of interest:

Here's the photo (smaller):

On the shelf to the right of the chair there are stacks of records and some bound music. Note this particular title (enhanced and highlighted):

It looks like a bound collection of records from the DTB bar. It's known that DTB preferred to use recordings instead of live musicians at their original locations (because they thought an orchestra was too distracting). I wonder if they ever published a set of the music for sale? It sure looks like it.

Records were often bound together and sold in sets before LPs really gained traction in the early to mid-50s. The Harry Owens Hawaii on the left side of the picture is likely this set here, so you know what they looked like: http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Old-Hawaiian-Records-Harry-Owens-His-Royal-Hawaiians-Capitol-Records-/400721875912?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d4ce293c8

Edit: Found it! http://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/7845696


"You can't eat real Polynesian food. It's the most horrible junk I've ever tasted." —Trader Vic Bergeron

[ Edited by: TikiTacky 2014-06-21 19:13 ]

Here's the list of songs and artists for the Don The Beachcomber album (maybe this warrants a new thread? Will swizzle yell at me again?). I tried to find copies of the songs in other recordings, but only found the one so far.

Ke kali nei au - George Kainapau, George Archer and the Pagans
Kolopa - George Kainapau, George Archer and the Pagans
E mama ea - George Kainapau, George Archer and the Pagans
Ua no like a like - George Archer and the Pagans
Akaka Falls - Alvin Kaleolani and his Royal Hawaiians
Anapau - Josephine N. Ikuwa Singers
Makalapua - Randy Oness' select Hawaiian Serenaders (https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/makalapua/id379840733?i=379841016)
Maururu a vau. - George "Tautu" Archer and his Pagans

AF

Here's those same track listings from the inside back cover with short artist bio's as well...

A

Here's a picture of the packaging. I love that the cover looks just like the Don the Beachcomber menu.

http://www.rootsvinylguide.com/ebay_items/don-the-beachcomber-music-for-beachcombers-restaurant-souvenir-album-signed-1946

Ha! I swear the one I saw had a Tapa cover! Or at least that is the way I remember it… I will find out. If so, they made more than one album.

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