The Steel Guitar Forum

Matt Rhodes wrote:So was Bernie Kaai's name pronounced "Kāi", "Ka'ai", or "Kā'ai"?

(yes, it does matter to me)

Ka`ai (accent on the second syllable). It probably should be written with `okina, but that is a matter of preference to the person whose name is it, now, isn't? Just as many want to put an `okina in Ka`apana, and Led has said repeatedly, "Nope."

There should probably be one in Kua`ana, as well. But I have found no evidence on record that he had ever spelled it like that.

It was a different time. The `okina and kahako were not in regular use back then.

Garcia, Bill.

(that's Texpanish for "thanks")

Could someone please give me the chord charts for How d ya do in B11th I think its in F, or at least at the 5th fret inB11th as in the first 1st track listed by Basil, my thanks in advance

Kevin Brown wrote:Could someone please give me the chord charts for How d ya do in B11th I think its in F, or at least at the 5th fret inB11th as in the first 1st track listed by Basil, my thanks in advance

I don't have a guitar in front of me, but working from the sound clip that Basil posted...

C9* (4 measures) / F (4 measures) / C9* (4 measures) / F (4 measures)

Cm (1 measure) / F9 (3 measures) / Fm (1 measure) / Bb9 (3 measures)

C9* (4 measures) / F (1 measure) / Eb9** (1 measure) / F (1 measure)

*The rhythm guys will often be alternating between Gm and C9 here.

**David is playing Eb9 but I have also heard other players play Bb9 here. I don't know how it was written and don't have the original Andy Iona version handy.

Here's a cut from Bernie when he was playing with the Polynesians.

http://www.freefilehosting.net/download/3c77l

Derrick Mau wrote:Here's a cut from Bernie when he was playing with the Polynesians.

http://www.freefilehosting.net/download/3c77l

I did a whole segment of him on my radio program a few weeks ago when I featured steel guitar in the 1950s. Do you have the recordings of Bernie with the Ray Andrade Orchestra? Very cool stuff!

(By the way, Derrick, I found some sound clips of you playing with Keauwena. Great stuff, brah!)

Ka`ai (accent on the second syllable). It probably should be written with `okina, but that is a matter of preference to the person whose name is it, now, isn't? Just as many want to put an `okina in Ka`apana, and Led has said repeatedly, "Nope."

There should probably be one in Kua`ana, as well. But I have found no evidence on record that he had ever spelled it like that.

In Hawaii, there is also an informal and formal way to the spellings.

Informal: Kaai
Formal: Ka'ai

Aloha,
Don

Hi Bill,

Glad you liked the music. Keauwena is not together anymore. The bass player left for Japan and group fell apart shortly after.

Good to hear that you're back on the radio. Can you give us some information as to when you're on the air?

Mahalo!

Derrick Mau wrote:Hi Bill,

Glad you liked the music. Keauwena is not together anymore. The bass player left for Japan and group fell apart shortly after.

Good to hear that you're back on the radio. Can you give us some information as to when you're on the air?

Mahalo!

Sorry to hear about Keauwena. I suppose I will have to move back to Hawai`i and you and I can start a new group?

My Internet radio program, Ho`olohe Hou, features mostly rare and out of print classics of Hawaiian music. It airs Sundays at 3pm PST (6pm EST / 1pm HST) at 50th State Radio. There is typically a theme for each program. For example, for two Sundays in January, the program featured two dozen steel guitarists of the 1950's. Last Sunday's program featured Pua Almeida on the occasion of his birthday, and this Sunday will honor Bill Kaiwa on his birthday (with recordings featuring the steel guitar of Billy Hew Len, David "Feets" Rogers, and your friend Bobby Ingano). On March 2nd and 9th, I will play four hours of Jerry Byrd in honor of his birthday. That program will feature some very rare Byrd from my personal collection (by permission of Jack Byrd). (Mahalo, Jack.)

To find out more about the kinds of music I spin on this program, check out my blog at www.hoolohehou.com.

Thanks for the shout out, Derrick. I hope to catch up with you when I am in Hawai`i nei the first two weeks of April...

Many thanks for the information Bill. I'm sure there is a lot of people here on the Forum that will be tuning in to your wonderful program.

Hope to meet up with you in April. Ward Center will be featuring me on April 6th. It's the complex closes to Ward Ave where the Island guitar shop is.
We play from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. I'll be doing mostly singing and will jump on the steel for two numbers. Bobby Ingano will back me up on steel guitar, and we'll also have some hula dancers that will come up for a few songs.

By the way everyone, Cumquat Records have new CD releases with Bernie Kaai/D. Kua'ana and Johnny Pineapple. Check it out. Aloha

Revisited and MY broken links are now fixed.. FWIW.

FWIW indeed - mahalo nui loa for these Basil! Can you please name the title of the album? Front cover art available anywhere? Pardon the slavering greed of a starry-eyed newb.

EDIT: will absolutely understand if you don't wish to post such information here, and I believe I've figured out the album.

Mahalo nui loa, Bas! btw, the link to B6 is still broken. - Jack

My understanding is there is no B6 because the album had only 11 tracks; 6 on side A and 5 on side B. Is this right?

My bad.. no such thing as track
6B..

If this is you being bad, I can't wait for one of your good days!

Crikey, some of my earliest posts there, had'nt played lap in public at that point !
still as hungry now, thanks Basil

One stand-out track on a great album, for me, is My Isle Of Golden Dreams. I’m not particularly fond of the song; it is not one of Gus Kahn’s greatest. Even Alfred Apaka's takes lack conviction. But as a steel guitar piece, David Keli’i made it memorable.

Kevin,

I'm pretty sure David is using his G13th for all but the percussive little chord solo part using low bass strings (E13th). You get to David's G13th from a basic 6-string C6th by lowering the bottom 3 strings:

CEGACE ==> BDFACE

The bottom 5 strings are just a B11 minus the root and transposed down a major third.

You can hear him playing this is G11th mode and then throwing in the 13th (the top string) -- a sound you wouldn't get on a B11th.

You can also hear the big major 7th at the end of the tune, which is just the top 4 strings of this tuning.

I hope all is well on your side of the pond...

Best, John

Hi John - with all due respect which you very much deserve, wondering how you came to this conclusion? The photos of the session here show he played a D8 Rickenbacker:

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=107162

Hello, Mike.

I did not see the photos you cite. Very interesting, by the way!

My opinion is based on what I hear. I know the sound of the G13th tuning. Listen to the clip at 1:43. It's a strum using all but the 2nd string of this tuning.

I used to think David did it by adding a high G# to a standard B11th and I did that for a while. Then Alan Akaka told me he got that 13th sound by just retuning a standard C6th -- the same thing as B11th (with that high 13th) but in a lower register... much more mellow sounding. And that's what you notice about this track. It has a darker tone. And the major 7th on top is gorgeous.

You mentioned David's double-neck in those studio photos, but if you look closely I think you can make out that it's his usual triple-neck. I can't make out all the keyheads, but it was pretty common to mix 6-, 7-, and 8-string tunings on this particular model, the cabinet-style doubles and triples. You could order them in any configuration you wanted. So one of those might be a 6-string neck. I'm sure there are players in Hawaii who would know.

Another possibility... There could be an 8-string version of this tuning with a couple of bass strings that he didn't play, for example. Or, he could have just left a couple of strings off the tuning if it was an 8-string neck. Or he could have simply brought along a frypan for this tune... Very hard to say.

I've spent countless hours listening to David and incorporating his ideas into my own playing. I'm a bit less familiar with this particular period of David's career near the end of his life. So I wouldn't stake my life on it, Mike, but it's an educated guess that the core sound of this track are those six strings (BDFACE).

I wanted to post this, since this tuning is a bit obscure and hasn't really gotten its due. And David was famous for taking a basic 6-string C6th and manually retuning it -- sometimes during the course of a tune, some of us suspect.

Regards, John

Thanks so much for all this John, EXACTLY the kind of information I love to read, and please don't think I was being skeptical - just sincerely wanted to know how you arrived at this. And your experience and knowledge came to the fore just as I expected.

thanks again, all the best -

Mike.

Derrick Mau wrote:Many thanks for the information Bill. I'm sure there is a lot of people here on the Forum that will be tuning in to your wonderful program.

Hope to meet up with you in April. Ward Center will be featuring me on April 6th. It's the complex closes to Ward Ave where the Island guitar shop is.
We play from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. I'll be doing mostly singing and will jump on the steel for two numbers. Bobby Ingano will back me up on steel guitar, and we'll also have some hula dancers that will come up for a few songs.

By the way everyone, Cumquat Records have new CD releases with Bernie Kaai/D. Kua'ana and Johnny Pineapple. Check it out. Aloha

Eh, Dderrick! I'll be there. - Jack

Eh, Dderrick! I'll be there. - Jack

Is this an internet stutter!

I wish I could be there to join you.
I have played at the Ward Center during the May Day celebration.
I like the informal atmosphere at Ward Center.
It is a nice place to play Hawaiian steel.
So Giv em, Derrick.

Aloha,
Don

Thanks John for the particularly informative post.