Track Listing

1. My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii - Kanui & Lula
2. Pame Sti Honolulu
3. Don't Sell It (Don't Give It Away) - Oscar Woods
4. Milenberg Joys
5. My Little Blue Heaven - Jimmie Tarlton
6. Why My Craf Vex With Me
7. Down in Waikiki
8. Honolulu Stomp
9. U Like, Noa Like
10. Mindinao March
11. Everybody Does It in Hawaii - King Oliver,
12. Ghost Dance
13. You'll Never Find a Daddy Like Me
14. Portena Es Una Papa
15. Has My Gal Been Here - Casey Bill
16. Smiles
17. Clowin' the Frets - Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel Trio
18. Caresses Venitiennes
19. Guitar Rag - Sylvester Weaver
20. Cat's Whiskers
21. Happy Hawaiian Blues
22. Drifting and Dreaming
23. Sliding on the Frets - Andy Sannella

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #224133 in Music
• Released on: 2000-06-13
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.com
The craze in all things Hawaiian of the early 20th century resulted in a viral effect upon the entire music industry: suddenly, everyone wanted to hear the stylish sounds of the steel guitar in their tunes. On Slidin' on the Frets, we can see exactly how far this obsession went by hearing music of mainlanders and Europeans imitating the islanders. The 78s gathered here range from sentimental ballads (Jimmie Tarlton's "My Little Blue Heaven," Jimmy Yates' Boll Weevils' "Smiles") and the blues (Oscar Woods's double-entendre tune "Don't Sell It--Don't Give It Away") to jazz (King Oliver's "Everybody Does It in Hawaii") to the just-plain surreal (Bezos' Hawaiian Orchestra's "Pame Sti Honoloulou"--where the Greek ensemble combines yodeling and steel guitars to hilarious effect). If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the Hawaiians of the 1920s and '30s should be blushing with joy by the sounds on this disc. This is weird, wonderful, and--more often than not--utterly fascinating music that paved the way for future country, jazz, and blues styles. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews

Hot-cha Hawaiian style - where the humuhumunukunukuapua'a go swimming by
First of all, if you like the kind of stuff that R. Crumb collects and performs (see my other reviews) make a beeline for this disc, it is prime, prime hot playing from the 20's & 30's. There's something for everyone here, from the wistful version of Jimmie Tarlton's "My Little Blue Heaven" to the seedly blues of Oscar Woods ("Don't Sell It - Don't Give It Away") to the jazz of King Oliver and many other styles. There is an appearance by Nelstone's Hawaiians who also cut the mustard enough to appear on Harry Smith's landmark "Anthology of American Folk Music". Among the many gems here are some of the wildest old time recordings ever made, such as a scorching 1927 version of "Milenberg Blues" by Rodney Rogers' Red Peppers (the original was co-written by Jelly Roll Morton). The hands-down winner in the totally unhinged department is the spastic "Pame Sti Honoloulou" by a Greek orchestra with slide guitars, bouzouki, ukeleles & frantic incomprehensible yodeling. Regardless of the setting or style, the playing on each song - all by different artists - is uniformly brilliant, passionate and thrilling. There aren't many compilation discs out there with this level of musicianship from start to finish, and the international scope of the groups involved shows just how far-reaching the Hawaiian craze was in the early 20th century. This is a great disc to explore if you already appreciate bottleneck blues and pedal steel guitar and want to hear something completely different that predated both of those styles.