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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
 Posted - 11/16/2009 : 1:00:34 PM
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Man, this clip brings me back! Martin Denny playing on "Hawaii Calls." I was in love with his music as a kid.
Buddy Fo, who still rips it up with his lovely wife Sammi in Naalehu, played with his band. I can't tell if he's on this date.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJK2LwD_nEY
Sweet!
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 11/16/2009 : 1:47:14 PM
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Great Stuff!
Hiram Bell has featured this tune for his ukulele classes for the last several years, often done with multiple ukulele parts (three or four, I don't remember) and Hiram will improvise on guitar or clarinet (or whatever). I performed this number with them on stage at the Northern California Ukulele Festival one year as Honorary Conga player. It was good fun.
The Album "Exotica" that originally released this tune is framed on my studio wall, along another old gem, the black and white Album simply titled "Slack Key".
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
Edited by - Lawrence on 11/16/2009 1:49:04 PM |
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Konabob
`Olu`olu
USA
928 Posts |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 11/16/2009 : 9:44:27 PM
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| Henry Allen, a great steel player form Lahina, tole me he was Marting Denny's lead guitarist in LA and Vegas back in the 60's. |
keaka |
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hwnmusiclives
`Olu`olu
USA
580 Posts |
Posted - 11/18/2009 : 06:42:32 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Konabob
Mark, I don't see Buddy in this video. He told me that he was indeed playing for Martin in Las Vegas for years, but that one day he got a call from Don Ho... He was ready to get back to Hawaii, and jumped at the chance.
Buddy and Sammi are living a nice simple live in the quiet village of Oceanview. You can catch him playing around the island, but with the economy here, he moves around a lot.
Aloha,
-Konabob
I have this video. It dates to '64-'65 when Hawai'i Calls was a short-lived television series on ABC as well as a weekly radio show. The TV show survived only two dozen episodes.
At the time this was filmed, Buddy should have been in full swing with his own group. I would think his time with Denny would have been long pau by this date.
Henry Allen was Buddy's guitarist in the mid to late 60's. He appears on the "Buddy Fo's New Hawaii" album on Capitol (reissued by Toshiba EMI Japan). Listening to Henry Allen and Sonny Kamaka play intricate, well-arranged jazz guitar duets is a gas.
Lawrence mentions the "Exotica" album. It is one of my favorites. If you only have one copy, however, you are missing a fascinating part of the picture. The original mono version from 1957 featured Arthur Lyman on the vibes. When Liberty Records started making stereo records in 1958, they wanted to capitalize on the popularity of "Exotica," but there was no stereo version in the can. They called upon Martin Denny to recreate the entire album - note for note - in the studio for stereo recorders. But Arthur Lyman had already struck out on his own by that point with his new group. So Julius Wechter replaces Arthur Lyman on the stereo version.
I never cease to be amazed how closely - but not exactly - Martin pulled off this feat. |
Join me for the history of Hawaiian music and its musicians at Ho`olohe Hou at www.hoolohehou.org. |
Edited by - hwnmusiclives on 11/18/2009 06:50:01 AM |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 11/18/2009 : 10:34:34 AM
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We just have the older version (on the studio wall):
Artist: Martin Denny
Title: Exotica
Date: December 1956
Label: Liberty Records LRP 3034
Cover Photography: Garrett - Howard
Line Up
Martin Denny: piano
August Colon: bongoes
Arthur Lyman: vibes
John Kramer: bass
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
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basilking
Lokahi
125 Posts |
Posted - 11/27/2009 : 6:42:31 PM
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Augie Colón was a cousin to my mother-in-law, I had opportunity to meet him once. his son Lopaka at that time had an ukulele player in his band who used wah-wah pedal & other electronic effects as "color" much like we might view the bird-calls and such that Augie did on Martin Denny recordings. That ukulele player was great then and is now widely known as "Ukulele Jake" [Shimabukuro].
Back to topic: at one point I heard a Danny Gatton recording of "Quiet Village" re-interpreted by a guitarist band-mate of mine. Having heard the Denny version [Les Baxter is credited as the composer btw] I moved over to the keys and played faux-vibes-sounding accompaniment which seemed to go over pretty well. I've migrated onwards from that now, have a "passable" slack key version of "Quiet Village" in Taropatch w/C bass [no bird calls though...] |
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Martin Denny-Quiet Village
