Pre-1990s Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar recommendations?

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I have the two Dancing Cat compilations (Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters) from '95 and '99 and enjoy both of these, save for a few cuts here and there, and would love to hear some grittier takes on this same sound.

Amazon.com lists another collection (Vintage Hawaiian Treasures, Vol. 7: The History Of Slack Key Guitar) but previous attempts to order it have been unsuccessful. Considering the style was invented early in the last century, I'm disappointed there isn't more of this stuff available on CD. Any recs?

― Baked Bean Teeth (Baked Bean Teeth), Friday, 25 April 2003 02:45 (10 years ago) Permalink

These are *very* pre-1990s, except for the Brozman CD, but the guitar playing is nothing short of astounding, and utterly gritty.

King Bennie Nawahi

Sol Hoopii

Kalama's Quartet

Bob Brozman w/the Tau Moe Family

― charley, Friday, 25 April 2003 02:58 (10 years ago) Permalink

BBT, this is also a great older thread--

hawaiian music

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Friday, 25 April 2003 03:02 (10 years ago) Permalink

Having heard the Hoopii and the Kalama's Family, I'll just say -- pretty damn great. Good call, Charley!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 25 April 2003 03:08 (10 years ago) Permalink

Thanks for the recs, charley -- I have one of the Arhoolie comps and it's got some Sol Hoopii and Kalama's Quartet on it. Will add those to my wish list -- I've got a b'day coming up soonish!

Diamond, thanks for the pointer, too -- wasn't sure if those groups mentioned in that thread were more swing/jazz-y or open-tuning-beauty stuff (which is sort of more what I'm after).

― Baked Bean Teeth (Baked Bean Teeth), Friday, 25 April 2003 03:09 (10 years ago) Permalink

uh... Amateurist to thread!

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Friday, 25 April 2003 03:15 (10 years ago) Permalink

Ned, thanks. You owe it to yourself to check out King Bennie - there's just nobody that can touch him in the world of Hawaiian guitar.

― charley, Friday, 25 April 2003 03:18 (10 years ago) Permalink

I haven't heard enough to agree w/the above statement, but Nawahi's 'Mauna Kea' is one of my favorite sides regardless of genre.

― buttch (Oops), Friday, 25 April 2003 03:37 (10 years ago) Permalink

Leonard Kwan, "the red record" (the one with the red cover) is quite good, and one of the alltime best I think -- early '60s, electrified slack key. Recently released on CD and distributed through the company online.

― bflaska, Friday, 25 April 2003 04:09 (10 years ago) Permalink

Is that "Ke'ala's Mele", bflaska?

― Baked Bean Teeth (Baked Bean Teeth), Friday, 25 April 2003 13:13 (10 years ago) Permalink

I always thought "slack key" guitar was something introduced around WWII and after; the styles earlier than that, dating back to the 1870s or 1880s, are just "Hawaiian guitar." I pretty much shot my bolt re. this stuff on the other thread--Hoopii and Tau Moe are great, but not "slack key" to my understanding. In that style, aside from Pahinui, I can recommend Raymond Kane, but try his Rounder LPs before the Windham Hill ones, on general principles.

I still want to talk about contemporary Hawaiian pop like "My Island Girl" but I can't remember any of the artists.

― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 25 April 2003 14:16 (10 years ago) Permalink

BBT, I just found his "Ke'ala's Mele"

online:

Shoots! Not the same!!

The one I'm thinking of is an old Tradewinds (TS 103) vinyl lp titled Leonard Kwan and his slack key guitar which I think is superb, and it was released on CD someplace unless I am totally .... you know ....

Opihi Moemoe
Yellow Ginger Lei
Opihi Momona Nui
Nanenahewiki
Opihi Bounce
Nahenahe
Pau Pikikia
Kaneohe Mame E
Manini
Silvers Threads Among the Gold
Maori Brown Eyes
Opihi Moemoe

― bflaska, Friday, 25 April 2003 14:39 (10 years ago) Permalink

Does anyone hear speak Hawaiian?

― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 25 April 2003 14:44 (10 years ago) Permalink

hear = here

― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 25 April 2003 14:44 (10 years ago) Permalink

Can you here me now? ;)

― Baked Bean Teeth (Baked Bean Teeth), Friday, 25 April 2003 14:54 (10 years ago) Permalink

Amateurist, you ever patronized tropicaldisc.com? A prominent Chicago DJ (Steve Dahl) has championed a lot of the big names in Hawaiian/slack key circles over the years, and he used to always plug that site. I would even venture to guess that Dahl was my first exposure to the genre of slack key going back to the early '90s...weird.

― Baked Bean Teeth (Baked Bean Teeth), Friday, 25 April 2003 15:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

You still listen to Dahl? I almost always do during lunch and driving home. The music he makes himself is a poor-man's Jimmy Buffet (which sounds redundant).

― buttch (Oops), Friday, 25 April 2003 15:45 (10 years ago) Permalink

buttch, I've fallen off the Dahl tip the last coupla years, even though I do enjoy his show when I tune in on my commute home. He broadcasts just a couple of floors above my office and I even see him in our building on occasion, but...I dunno. Seems that the Gulf War Dos and arrival of baseball has kept me more glued to NPR and the Score more than anything, along with random CDs in the car stereo.

― Baked Bean Teeth (Baked Bean Teeth), Friday, 25 April 2003 18:19 (10 years ago) Permalink

9 years pass...

this is post 1990 but this kid kills one of my favorite songs, ffwd to about 0m45s when he starts the song:

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 2 November 2012 05:44 (6 months ago) Permalink

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