Attic Thoughts
Tuesday August 10th, 2021 with mark
Episode 30: The Lost Both Kinds of Music fill-in program: Hulabilly with an incredibly short history lesson of Hawaiian steel guitar.

Over a year ago now, after moving westward, CKCU has been without Richard Parks and his radio program Both Kinds of Music which was a staple every Wed. The program showcased so many unknown musicians and was an essential part of the local music scene. I had the pleasure of doing a few fill-ins for Richard and for one of those shows I played a few exotica and hulabilly tunes and non-committal plans were made to do another fill-in featuring steel/Hawaiian guitar and hulabilly tunes. Well I put together the show, then this COVID thing. So better late than never here is it. Hulabilly is essentially rock-a-billy featuring a Hawaiian theme and almost always a steel guitar. First a very brief history. The creation of the slide guitar has been attributed to Joseph Kekuku ( Kekuku’upenakana’iaupuniokamehameha ) in 1889 first using a steel bolt and then experimenting with other metal objects until using a polished steel rod similar to slide guitars today. Around 1910 a Hawaiian craze was worldwide with all things Hawaii everywhere. Especially in the US. The slide guitar began influencing blues and country music. for instance Maybelle Carter of the Carter Family converted her guitar to a “Hawaiian setup” in 1928. The late 1920's and into the 30's featured two virtuoso players Sol Ho'opi'i and "King" Bennie Nawahi. Both ending up on the mainland and the two of them influencing popular music across the continent. "King" Bennie for example moving from vaudeville in New York out to California appearing in a number of country groups including a band with a very young Roy Rogers. Photo credit me: The Hula Girls live in the Molokai Bar