For many people of a certain age, Hawaiian music is forever soured by Don Ho's "Tiny Bubbles." Yeah, I admit that I was pretty awed -- and perhaps even a bit jealous -- when Bobby Brady met Mr. Ho during his family's jinxed trip to the Pacific islands. When you're six years old in Cleveland, Tennessee, ol' Don Ho is mighty damn exotic. I even admit that every few years I've enjoyed hearing "Tiny Bubbles" on the radio, at least for nostalgia's sake. But let's face it: say you're Hawaiian and your home's rich, elegant and diverse musical offerings are reduced to a cheeseball nightclub singer's signature song. How happy would you be? It's a wonder some serious Hawaiian musician hasn't pulled a Tonya Harding on Don Ho and cracked his kneecaps open with a hub cap.
A veritable sponge, Hawaii has absorbed and integrated numerous musical influences over the years. In the early 1800s, visitors from Mexico and South America introduced guitars to the islands. Tweaking the instrument, Hawaiians loosened the instrument's strings, thereby creating the slack key sound that has reverberated from Hawaii ever since. Later that century, Portuguese immigrants introduced the islands to the braguinha, which inspired the locals to create the ukulele. Hawaii's musical innovations have not been enjoyed only by the locals, though. In the 1880s, according to popular thought, Joseph Kekuku stumbled upon the steel guitar when he dropped an object onto his guitar. The object's sliding across the strings inspired Kekuku to experiment with a metal comb, which he later improved upon by using a heavy metal bar. A few years later, ragtime players were relying heavily on Kekuku's discovery, and a couple decades beyond that, the steel became a staple in country music.
What better outfit to present the myriad sounds of Hawaii than Rough Guide, best known for its comprehensive travel guides. This Hawaiian music smorgasbord has such a broad reach that it's as educational as it is entertaining. Striving to represent the full spectrum of the islands' sounds, Rough Guide includes early popular entertainers, such as Sol Hoopii, a steel player who sneaked off to California in the 1920s, where he found fame -- and collaborators, including Bing Crosby. A scratchy, early recording, Hoopii's offering is the kind of contagiously happy, Polynesian tune that Terry Gilliam played with in the theme song to Brazil.
Other cuts streak through the century, touching down each decade to take the pulse of the islands' progress. Though the styles are far from homogeneous, most tracks feature slack key players. One of the more delightful examples is Cyril Paninui and Bob Brozman's "Ku'u Lei," which concludes the CD. Perhaps best known for his collaborations with Ry Cooder, Paninui apparently shares Cooder's love of American blues, as evidenced by the melancholy, minor chord twist he puts on the Hawaiian sound. It's a bittersweet conclusion to a delightful collection, one that inspires me to have a peek at Rough Guide's other releases.
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