DIG IT! UMBRELLA DRINK TIME IS HERE!

While the majority of the Southwest U.S. is baking in three digit heat, out here on the coast it's really nice, high seventies with the ocean water temperature about 67 degrees. After a swim today I was walking around the hood and passed a house on my route, about a half block from the beach. A bunch of bikes were on the sidewalk outside the house, raggedy ass beach cruisers. There were people on the front deck and from the smell they had some high grade weed. What struck me was that they were listening to. It was old school Hawaiian music, as in the pedal steel, lap steel type. Tourist-y shit.

I was just going to put a couple Jerry Byrd cuts up because he did just that sort of thing. I already had a couple bookmarked but decided to look for more. At Rocky 52, I saw that Byrd was one a part of Danny Huaana and the Islanders, so I headed to Internet Archive and just searched for "the Islanders", and found Harry Kalani And The Islanders. I listened to a few cuts and the music was a lot like Byrds'. So, did the Islanders just change band leaders? I headed to Discogs to look for credits (the LP cover has none) and I found what would be considered a warning that a rabbit hole was ahead. The search result came up with several different titles by different groups. I clicked on one at random, Willie Alunuai And His Band – Hawaiian Holiday. The song list was the same as the one on Harry Kalani And The Islanders. I scrolled to where I was hoping the credits would be and saw this: "Release is issued on at least 10 labels, and credited to..." and goes on to list seven different groups "(and possibly more)". At the end of the day, tourist-y cash-in or not, and no matter who did it, it's great. It's got a cool vibe and some neat variations. Dig the licks on "Hawaiian Holiday".

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Jerry Byrd - Hanalei Moon mp3 at Rocky 52
Jerry Byrd - Elmer's Tune mp3 at Rocky 52
Harry Kalani And The Islanders – Hawaiian Holiday mp3 at Internet Archive
Harry Kalani And The Islanders – Luau Lei mp3 at Internet Archive
Harry Kalani And The Islanders – Aloha Oe mp3 at Internet Archive
Harry Kalani And The Islanders – Hawaiian Holiday (the whole LP) at Internet Archive