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Topic: Genoa Keawe Online |
Jeff Au Hoy
From: Honolulu, Hawai'i
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Posted 24 May 2005 2:22 pm
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Auntie Genoa has a website! Please see www.genoakeawe.com .
I credit this woman more than anyone for keeping steel guitar "alive" in Hawai'i. Through the 60's and beyond, while other groups treated the instrument as an optional nicety, Genoa considered it part of the integral sound and always insisted on having a steel player in the group.
If young people in Hawai'i are finding steel guitar cool again, it is due in large part to her music. Many other styles have faded over the years, but young people still remain in awe of her performances. To my memory, Benny Rogers was the first steel player I ever heard on record as a child (that album was Genoa's "Party Hulas"). I am still captivated by that music.
Auntie Genoa is a personal inspiration and hero to whom I owe so much for getting me started in music. She is the reason I play steel guitar and love Hawaiian music. [This message was edited by Jeff Au Hoy on 24 May 2005 at 03:26 PM.] |
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Bill Leff
From: Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Posted 24 May 2005 2:38 pm
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Agree 100%. She's often described as a national treasure, and that's the truth.
I'll always love the sound of the Benny Rogers steel in her group. Those kinds of hula vamps are also what got me interested in trying to play steel, and I still can't get enough of 'em (I wish I could play them like that too. They sound easy, but at least for me, not!!!)
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Mike Neer
From: NJ
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Posted 24 May 2005 3:32 pm
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I like Party Hulas a lot, too. That is a great sounding record. I also like some of the earlier records too. |
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Andy Volk
From: Boston, MA
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Posted 25 May 2005 4:08 am
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What's with that "hide and seek" navigation? Beautiful graphic design but maddening navigation. Nice music, of course. |
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Bob Stone
From: Gainesville, FL, USA
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Posted 25 May 2005 5:45 am
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I too am a longtime fan of Genoa Keawe. Knowing that she was such a supporter of steel guitar puts the icing on the cake.
Thanks for the link and the insights, Jeff. |
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Rick Collins
From: Claremont , CA USA
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Posted 25 May 2005 6:41 am
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...great Hawaiian sound, Jeff. I want to see that group the next time I come over.
Rick |
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George Keoki Lake
From: Edmonton, AB., Canada
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Posted 25 May 2005 10:33 am
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Genoa Keawe, Lena Michado, Rose Moe, Nina Kealiiwahamana are 4 of the greatest female vocalists ever to come out of Hawai'i Nei...and Genoa is the Queen of them all! Her son Gary Aiko has to be the greatest male vocalist since the immortal Alfred Apaka.
Don't you just love the sound of Alan Akaka's steel guitar on this web site ?...every note so pure and clean!
But hey, this web-site is sure confusing...everything is in constant motion. Otherwise, it certainly has the best of Genoa to be heard today.  |
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Jeff Au Hoy
From: Honolulu, Hawai'i
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Posted 25 May 2005 11:47 am
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Keoki, the website does not contain any steel playing by Alan Akaka.
You are hearing Benny Rogers on the opening and Guestbook page, Herbert Hanawahine on the Performances and About page, and Henry Ka'alekahi on the Discography page. |
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George Keoki Lake
From: Edmonton, AB., Canada
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Posted 25 May 2005 1:35 pm
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Well, you could have fooled me! I'd swear it was Alan playing ! |
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Denny Turner
From: Oahu, Hawaii USA
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Posted 25 May 2005 2:45 pm
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Quote: |
She's often described as a national treasure, and that's the truth. |
Yes indeed. Auntie is the epitomy and icon of Aloha.
Aloha,
DT~
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Jeff Strouse
From: Jacksonville, Florida, USA
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Posted 25 May 2005 3:10 pm
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Auntie Genoa and her Hawaiians are my favorite group. I've had the pleasure to see them twice, and it was the best performance I'd ever been to in my life. I agree with Keoki...Gary has the best voice in the Islands since Alfred Apaka. And, her granddaughter Mandy has a beautiful voice as well. She reminded me a lot of Auntie Genoa when I saw her sing. She resembles her too...she also inherited that beautiful smile from her grandmother! I hope Mandy will make a CD or two soon...her voice is so smooth and pure. If I lived in Hawaii I would be at the Marriot every Thursday night. |
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Don Kona Woods
From: Hawaiian Kama'aina
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Posted 25 May 2005 4:06 pm
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What endears many to Auntie Genoa Keawe is that she knows and sings many of the (old) songs that no one else remembers.
Numerous steel guitar players have played steel guitar with Auntie Genoa, and perhaps many more have wanted to.
Billy Hew Lin is another notable who has played steel with Genoa Keawe.
I believe going even further back Edward Liliko'i played steel when Auntie Violet and Auntie Genoa sang together in the old days.
Aloha,
Don[This message was edited by Don Kona Woods on 25 May 2005 at 05:08 PM.] [This message was edited by Don Kona Woods on 25 May 2005 at 05:10 PM.] [This message was edited by Don Kona Woods on 26 May 2005 at 09:23 PM.] |
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Jeff Au Hoy
From: Honolulu, Hawai'i
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Posted 25 May 2005 5:04 pm
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Quote: |
Well, you could have fooled me! I'd swear it was Alan playing ! |
Actually, Alan Akaka's style is unique and quite different from that of Benny, Herbert, and Henry. Alan does fret Rogers style vamps here and there, but employs a Jules Ah See type slower, wider vibrato combined with Byrdish precision, which makes for a very different feel. And he plays a Canopus (as opposed to a Fender Stringmaster) which results in a different tone altogether. |
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Mike Neer
From: NJ
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Posted 25 May 2005 6:15 pm
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I love Billy Hew Len's intro to Hawaiian Wedding Song. The sound kills me--not alot of sustain, but very real and soulful. [This message was edited by Mike Neer on 25 May 2005 at 07:27 PM.] |
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Evelyn Whitney
From: Muskegon, MI 49441 USA
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Posted 26 May 2005 7:41 pm
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Leonard T. Zinn wants Auntie Genoa to know he loved her website.
He sends love and good wishes for a continued future blessing everyone who hears
her songs. L. T. |
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Don Kona Woods
From: Hawaiian Kama'aina
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Posted 27 May 2005 10:13 pm
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According to the Website,
We have all misspelled her title.
It is Aunty Genoa Keawe, rather than Auntie.
 |
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