Speedy West "Steel Guitar" 1960

                In both its pedal and non-pedal forms, steel guitar is one of my favorite instruments.  It’s a highly emotional instrument with very few limits.  While many instruments (such as horns) are limited to single notes, steel guitars can play single note melodies, double note harmonies, and full complex chords.  Notes can also be slid into, and volume and tone (thanks to electricity) can be altered to great effect.  Speedy West makes use of every sound imaginable from this amazing instrument.  He also creates sounds that are other worldly and downright weird.  If you are looking for a record that contains only pleasant background steel guitar playing, then “Steel Guitar” is not your record.  If you are looking for a record with playing that is fun, playful, strange, bombastic, innovative, and smile inducing, then “Steel Guitar” is your record. 

                “Speedin’ West” starts things off with a vivacious beat and some fancy twin lead playing.  I would be interested in talking to Speedy to see what kind of emotion he was trying to express in this song.  There is a playful, cartoon jubilance that bounces straight off this song into your ears.  The solos are about as zany as you can get.  You might be fooled into thinking Speedy was just messing around if the things he came up with weren’t so difficult to play and express.  If you tried to convey what Speedy plays with only words and facial expressions, it would be extremely difficult.  Either that or people would think you are a delightful maniac. 

                There is a lumbering exotic vibe to “West of Samoa.”  A slippery low guitar, which descends like a boa constrictor down a tree, sets the tone.  In the background, birdcalls (an Exotica staple) are created by an electric guitar.  It’s only an approximation of a birdcall, which makes it sound that much stranger.  The main melody is a wonderful Hawaiian tune that drips with humidity.  It’s lazy, breezy, and calm.  Back and forth, the two parts of the song alternate between the dark and the daylight.  It’s the perfect mix of eeriness and beauty. 

                It is important to recognize the work of Jimmy Bryant, who plays guitar on this album as well.  Not doing so would be like not mentioning Art Garfunkel when you talk about Paul Simon, or Billy Strayhorn when you talk about Duke Ellington.  Speedy and Jimmy were musical partners and pushed each other on their respective instruments.  Jimmy incorporated a lot of Be-Bop into his country licks.  He was also the first guitarist to kill it on the Telecaster.  This guy absolutely rips, and his Telecaster really gave him as distinctive tone compared to other jazz and country players of the day.  Take a song like “Caffeine Patrol.”  Jimmy trades solos with Speedy, and starts with some lyrical and catchy playing that experiments with wide intervals between notes.  In his second break, he pulls out some straight up Charlie Parker Bop, that sounds like a line of freshly blown bubbles popping in succession.   

                Other highlights on this album include “This Ain’t the Blues,” which has Speedy creating some vocal like effects on the steel.  As I listen to this song, the sounds (which I love) remind me of my high school Spanish class (which I loathed.)  I remember my teacher showing us how to “roll our R’s” with our tongues.  Speedy actually creates a similar sound as he plays the melody.  “Stealin’ the Moonlight” is a slow moving beauty with some juicy triplets that keeps things interesting.  This is exactly the song you (as in me) would want to hear at 1:30 in the morning at a smoky bar.  Also, pay attention to Jimmy Bryant’s dazzling guitar lick at the very end of the song.

Tones:  Picture the craziest Psychedelic 60’s album cover you can imagine.  That is what Speedy’s playing sounds like to me.  He is able to create some of the most out there tones on the steel guitar that I have ever encountered.  Sometimes it sounds like a synthesizer, and sometimes it sounds like a squirt of water in the face. He also gets some great wah wah sounds by playing with his tone control.  It’s not all weird though; he can also rein it in and play sweetly and elegantly. 

Cover note:  Lots of steel guitars!  Did I mention I like the look of steel guitars as well?  They are so simple, sleek and clean.  I count at least 18 (some are just pieces though) on the cover.  I like the purple one to the left of Speedy’s head best. 

Price Paid:  $1 or $2 at a record show at the fairgrounds.  It did not have an inner sleeve, but it looked like it was in good condition (which it was.)  I had never heard of Speedy, I just knew I liked steel guitars, and his name sounded awesome (which it is.)  It is one of my great pleasures in life to be able to try new music on vinyl for small amounts of money.  Some are duds, but then you find fun stuff like this.  What a joy!

Bottom line.  Good for people who like Country, Jazz, Texas Swing, Hawaiian, Exotica, and novelty music.  It’s the kind of record that you can play for your family because it’s fun on a superficial level.  They can be diggin’ how fun it sounds, but you can be grooving on all the cool technical stuff Speedy and Jimmy play.  Not only that, you can point out all of the amazing musicianship to your buddies who are music lovers like you.  $3, $4, or $5 would be a nice asking price. One more thing, this is not a stereo recording.  It plays in glorious mono!

Billy Mure "Hawaiian Percussion" 1961

                I picked up this pretty little record the other day and did a little research on it.  It turns out that Billy Mure just recently died this September at the age of 97, not too far away from where I live in Florida.  I thought it would be fitting to give this album the attention it deserved.  In addition to his solo albums, Billy was also the man who arranged Bobby Freeman’s late 50’s hit “Do You Wanna Dance?” He was also known for records that were filled with overdubs and crazy guitar work.  This, however, is a more straight forward affair.    

                Yes!  Another version of “Hawaiian War Chant!”  I am really amazed how many great versions of this song there are.  This one is bouncy and the melody is picked swiftly on the guitar. It’s very nice in a very non threatening kind of way.  However, after an organ break, the guitar turns savage.  Billy’s really not foolin’ around here.  As the song goes darker, this guy tears into his first solo on the record with some aggressively sharp guitar stabs.  It’s nasty sounding, especially by 1961 standards.  Then the steel guitar comes in and saves the day.  Like a loud drunkard being settled by his friend, the steel pacifies the guitar solo and the jaunty mellowness continues. 

                That’s one thing I really like about this record:  the songs don’t always keep the same rhythm throughout the entire song.  “Song of the Islands” is a wonderful example.  It starts off straight, with a major focus on the percussion, then starts to swing ever so slightly.  About ¾ of the way through, it kicks into high gear and gives us a beat we can really dance to.  It then slows down one more time and takes us home. 

                The organ sound on this album is absolutely heavenly.  It’s watery and dreamlike.  Sometimes it chirps like a cricket, and sometimes it just tickles your ear, but what it really does is make you feel something.  Some of the repeating figures played in “Kalua” sound like some of the 70’s arpeggiated synthesizers I have heard on some Todd Rundgren (among many others) tracks.  It makes me picture a gigantic piece of glass that has a million spider web-like cracks in it.  If someone could play those cracks, that’s what it would sound like.  It feels like some kind of effect, but because this was released in 1961, it’s more than likely just some good old fashioned fancy finger work.  Billy arranged/created some very interesting sounds that weren't explored until almost 15 years later.  I love hearing this kind of stuff.     

                There is a cover of “Sleep Walk” on here as well.  Considering the year this came out, and the instrumentation of the album, it is a very logical choice.  However, it’s really hard to capture (let alone top) the magic of the original Santo and Johnny version.  Billy’s take is adequate and close to the original, so it feels more like a rehash instead of a re-imagining.  It strikes me as something the record company would have asked him to include.  

                I actually passed over this record once.  It was only $.50 (what the heck was I thinking?) at a pawn shop. I told my wife that I saw a cool record with a geometric pineapple on it, but passed it up.  She told me I should go back and get it, and I am so glad I did.  This is everything I wanted it to be: cool percussion, cool guitar licks, cool steel guitar, and very cool greasy hair on Billy’s picture on the back cover.  Sometimes, wives are cool and make you delicious things to eat.  Sometimes wives are very cool and tell you to go back to the store to buy awesome records.  My wife was very cool that day.      

                On another personal note, buying this album so soon after Billy's death makes me wonder about the timing of things.  I would have loved to make the short drive to where Billy lived and see him play a show or get a guitar lesson.   My understanding is that he was still playing regularly.  Check out this link.  How often is it that someone from the 50's is still out there doing what they love?  I do consider myself lucky to have found this record though, and have heard a lot of good things about his other more layered guitar work.  I actually found a copy of "Supersonic in Flight" the other day, but it was scratched and unplayable.  That's how it goes sometimes.  

Tones:  Like I said, that organ is the surprise hit of this album.  It’s as inviting as a hug on a cold day.  The percussion is also captured nicely.  It is difficult for me to tell what the bamboo log is, and what the temple block is, but I like ‘em when I hear ‘em, and according to the liner notes, they're on here.  

Cover Note:  Geometric figures, weird paintings that have little to do with the actual music, and huge advertisements of stereo sound are all good signs when it comes to records collecting.  This one has an orange square pineapple and three other geometric modern marvels on it.  Mine also has an actual orange sticker placed on the bottom right that says “STEREOPHONIC.”  Was stereo some kind of selling point in the late 50’s or something?  Just kidding.

Price paid:  If you see a record that looks cool to you for any reason and it’s only $.50, just buy it.  Don’t be silly like me and have your wife tell you to go back and buy it.  I really must have been having an off day.  I think I had a job interview or something.  Anyway, $5.00-$8.00 is fair.  This is well above average.  

Bottom line:  It’s fun.  It’s melodic.  It has nice sound, and it has a great cover.  My wife also likes this record, so I advise you to throw your headphones away in the garbage (or keep ‘em, whatever) and listen to this with your family and friends.  Billy’s the man.  Let's go dig through some boxes, find Billy's records, and give his music the spins it so desperately deserves.  

Arthur Lyman "Hawaiian Sunset" (1959)

                What a sleepy little record.  This may be one of the quietest albums I own.  Literally, the amount of sound coming off the grooves is far less than any other album I have.  However, what it lacks in volume, it make up for in dynamic range.  The playing is so soft that I feel like if someone dropped a glass in the background, my headphones would explode.  When instruments are played this softly, it almost can make you feel somewhat uneasy.  I went to an experimental music show at a Boston conservatory once.  I was told it would be a very quiet show, but I had no idea that the lack of sound would actually make me feel anxious.  It was almost like the sound of my own breathing was interrupting the songs or something.  This record is not that extreme, but does have some elements of that.  At the end of the day, I really do like this record, but I think it makes my wife feel weird.  I can get that.  There are also these big conch shell bellows that explode the volume (I’m looking at you “Ke Kali Nei Au.”)  The whole trip is intriguing. 

                As I mentioned in my post of Hugo Winterhalter’s album “Goes…Hawaiian,” I love “Hawaiian War Chant.”  This version may be one of my favorites, just because it is so different.  First, it starts off in a minor key instead of the traditional major.  It changes to major, but not just the major version of the regular key.  It moves to the relative major.  It is a very basic song to start with, so I really like how Arthur and the boys make it their own. 

                “Hilawe” is only 1:11 seconds long and the group makes every second count.  My buddies and I used to do a lot of “Top 5” lists and one of the topics was songs under 2 minutes.  They are pretty rare to begin with unless you really dig punk music.  “Hilawe” would make my list any day of the week.  It feels a little anachronistic on the record because it is a guitar number and has no vibraphone.  It’s quite charming in its simplicity and performance though.  You can even hear that Arthur’s lowest string on his guitar is a bit desafinado.  Perhaps the concept of the exceptionally short song is somewhat underexplored.  It sure does work here. 

                Because this record is so quiet, there is also strange background noise to be heard.  Strap on some headphones and listen to “Island of Golden Dreams.”  There is a tinkling sound that can be heard right at the beginning behind the band.  Humming and breathing are heard often as well.  Because this album, as well as many of his others, was recorded at the Henry J. Kaiser Aluminum Dome, you can hear creaks of metal as well.  These superfluous bits are part of the Lyman sound as far as I am concerned, and they certainly add to the strange quality of these recordings. 

Tones:  I don’t think I mentioned how beautiful the playing actually is.  Arthur’s tone is soft as rabbit’s fur and makes you feel like your eyes are closed even when they aren’t.  The guitars are also barely strummed and have that old string tone I enjoy so much (I never change my strings on my acoustic until they break.)  Check out the bowed double bass on “Harbor Lights.”  The tone is so low that strings must be about to 15 feet long to obtain it.  I also want to own a celesta one day after hearing this album. It’s not all “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” with that instrument.     

                  

Cover Note:  Very basic, but fitting.  How can you not enjoy a picture of a Hawaiian Sunset?  There are also two little silhouettes at the bottom right if you have never noticed them. 

Price Paid:  $5.00 at an antique shop.

Bottom Line:  After writing this I have concluded that this is a very avant-garde album.  It never truly settles in and even when it starts to, something weird happens.  With that being said, I am always glad I listened to it, and feel better for having done so.  I’d pay $1.00-$5.00 for a clean copy.  Don’t buy a scratchy copy though.  It’s too quiet for that.    

Hugo Winterhalter "Goes...Hawaiian" (1961)

                So, I’m just going to say it. I am a sucker for “Hawaiian War Chant.”  My wife has been singing it to our 1 year old boy all day and he has been laughing his butt off to it.  I have been playing it on the guitar and it just feels so doggone right.  The first time I heard this tune was on Arthur Lyman’s “Hawaiian Sunset.”  I liked the heck out of it then, even though I would later find out that it was not a very “straight” version.  In fact, it may well be the most laid back version on record.  Every other interpretation is always kicking in some way.  Hugo Winterhalter’s version is no exception.    

                The best way for me to describe this song and record as a whole is to say it that sounds like a heartbeat underwater. The way the upright bass and drums hit against the massive reverb wall is astounding.   You thought “Pet Sounds” had a lot of reverb.  Hugo has taken the plunge and has invited us to drown with him.  The strings, however, seem to float on top of the rhythm, slightly out of the reverb.  It makes for a great combo.  I wonder if old Hugo had any say in the amount and placement of the reverb, or if it was just the engineer.  Either way, it’s a defining quality of the album.  The guitar is also awash and totally beautiful in both tone and affect. 

                The song selection is mostly Hawaiian standards with no originals that I can see.  This is not a bad thing though.  “Hawaiian Wedding Song,” “Sweet Leilani,” and “Hawaiian Sunset” were all played to death in the 50’s and 60’s, but they were done so for a reason.  The melodies are beautiful and stick with you.  

Cover Note:  What’s not to like?  There is a lone Hawaiian girl, a lone pineapple, and a lone straw hat.  None of which are interacting.    I’m not even sure the girl is really Hawaiian, but who the heck cares.  When I’m looking through record bins, these kinds of covers make me stop and at least give the song list a second look. 

Price paid: $1.00 at a pawn shop.  When I asked the lady behind the counter if the store got records in very often, she said that they do not buy them anymore.  That’s a shame because I picked up about 7 cool records there, and they were all in nice shape, and all $1.00. 

Botton line:  Far above average Hawaiian record with tons of reverb, cool strings, and good song selection.  This is better than background music and worth a listen with headphones if you got ‘em.  Pick it up if you find it.