The Steel Guitar Forum

An article by Pat in a back Issue of Aloha dream raises some interesting points, one of which is, If Joseph Kekuku picked up a bolt from a railway track and discovered the 'slide' way of playing guitar, how did he do that in the early to mid 1880's, when the railroad only came to Oahu on November 16th 1889 ?

Perhaps he found it on Kauai where a plantation railroad was started in 1881.

Jude

In May 1989 there was a program "Steel Guitar Music" on the local PBS in Hononlulu in celebration of 100 years of the Steel Guitar. In the program for that week (which I have and also the tape) this is what is said and I quote. "One hundred years ago, a young musician named Joseph Kekuku enrolled at Kamehameha Schools. Under the guidance of his machine shop instructor, he made some remarkable modifications to his guitar that marked the birth of the steel guitar prototype". Those appearing in the show were Jerry Byrd, Alan Akaka, Barney Isaacs and Merle Kekuku.

Also in the Congressional Record of the Senate of the United States on April 12, 1989 Sen. Akaka had this to say.

Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct pleasure to honor a dear friend of mine Jerry "Manu" Byrd during the centennial of the Hawaiian steel guitar. Jerry Byrd is a steel guitarist in the sense that Rembrandt was a painter.

In Hawaiian steel guitar circles, Jerry is known simply as The Great One. Thousands throughout the world have enjoyed his singular musical skill, which brings forth the fantasies and realities of our island paradise: perfumes of tropical flowers, swaying palms, pounding surf, colorful rainbows, surfers, and hula maidens. More importantly, Jerry's steel strings evoke our Hawaiian spirit of aloha.
I feel priviledged to join Jerry's many friends and his family in saluting him for his contribution to Hawaii. Jerry has shared his talent so unselfishly, not only with the listening public but with the many students he has taken under his tutelage.
I want to extend a big mahalo to Jerry "Manu" Byrd for all he has done for music and Hawaii.

So I think it is proper to say the birth of the steel guitar was 1889. Whether Joseph found a bolt on a railroad track is pure conjecture as many other stories exist that it was a metal comb, pocket knife, etc. Who knows in the school machine shop many different pieces of metal would be available. Lore has a way of distorting facts and people draw conclusions from the lore that cast real dates and places in error.

I read an article in a guitar magazine years ago in which Ry Cooder stated that he was almost sure that the Hawaiians learned slide from a black man who was a deckhand on a ship that was in port there on- loading cargo. I think he even named names etc.. It sounded to me like a giant leap of politically correct faith then and still does.

And if "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die", which is in Nevada, then why would I be in Folsom Prison in California?

And if the train's in California, why is it rollin' on down to San Antone? That song will never fly!

Jude

And if "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die", which is in Nevada, then why would I be in Folsom Prison in California?

And if the train's in California, why is it rollin' on down to San Antone? That song will never fly!

but, Johnny only recorded this song for the "Cash"

When I was a kid in Pearl City just before WW2 I talked with several steel players and they all seemed to believe the story that Jake Keliikoa was adamant on. Kekuku was walking down a narrow guage railroad on a sugar plantation and dropped his portagee guitar on a track and the strings slid on the metal track. He liked the sound so he went to a shop and had a bar made. This is as well as I can remember the story and I really don't know if Jake was making the story up.

I believe that the book "The Hawaiian Steel Guitar and Its Great Hawaiian Musicians" edited by Lorene Ruymar has extensive coverage of this same question.
The Amazon online reader allows internet users to see the portion of the book regarding Mr. Kekuku without owning the book (although you should all have a copy of it anyway, in my opinion).

Great thread, I am enjoying all the comentary.

Why discount Gabriel Davion ?

The slide guitar developed in many cultures around the world, but there are many deep connections between Hawaiian guitar and Indian music. The earliest known report of anyone playing slide guitar in Hawaii dates from 1876, when Gabriel Davion, an Indian boy kidnapped by Portuguese sailors and brought to Hawaii, is reported to have been playing slide guitar on his lap. Of course, there are Indian string instruments that utilize slide known to have existed since the 11th century A.D.

AND :-

After leasing Campbell's ‘Ewa and Kahuku land in order to start two sugar plantations Dillingham obtained a government charter for a railroad. It was granted by King David Kalakaua on September 11, 1888, and soon after the OR&L was organized. After securing the necessary capital, Dillingham broke ground in March 1889 with a goal of connecting the twelve miles between Honolulu and ‘Aiea (as demanded in the charter) by the fall of 1889. On November 16, 1889, the king's birthday, the OR&L officially opened for traffic, giving free rides to more than 4,000 curious and excited people that day. Over the next ten years the OR&L would see exponential growth.

BROKE GROUND in March 1889..?

Ewa 1
Built 1890 by Baldwin Locomotive Works

Wheel Arrangement: 0-4-2T with tender

Weight: 12 tons

First steam locomotive used on the Ewa
Sugar Plantation.

My wife bought Lorene Ruymar's book for me for Xmas in 1999, and that's what got me back into the steel guitar thing after 40+ years away from it. Looking back to 1999, it's sure been an expensive hobby and trip.At this point I kinda wish she woulda bought me somethin' else.
The controversy about who "invented" the steel guitar will never end, so I don't really care who did.

basilh wrote:...If Joseph Kekuku picked up a bolt from a railway track and discovered the 'slide' way of playing guitar, how did he do that in the early to mid 1880's, when the railroad only came to Oahu on November 16th 1889 ?

Obviously he didn't. The story was made up later. I don't know how many of you have handled railroad spikes, but I can tell you that they're many times heavier than a bar, are rough cast, with no round edges. I would defy anyone to produce a slide sound with one that would be in any way musical.
The Hawaiian guitar originated from the Hummel, which has always been played from above, and often with a bar. People were playing the hummel with a bar as early as the 16th century.

But Alan, it could have just as easily originated from one of the Indian instruments Basil mentioned, or something from Africa, or aliens from outer space. All anyone has is some BS story passed down and embellished through time. Everyone involved has some kind of axe to grind or ideology to promote. We will never know "the truth" - it's probably some combination of many "truths."

I think it is quite possible the Hawaiian Guitar could've existed without the Hummel (for example). But I don't think it's possible for the Hawaiian Guitar to exist without Hawaiians.

But I don't think it's possible for the Hawaiian Guitar to exist without Hawaiians.

Not necessarily. I have seen no evidence of American Country music in America before Columbus. (a reductio ad absurdum, I know)
Immigration and colonisation, cultural or physical, can bring new influences which overwhelm the indigenous.
In those circumstances a compensatory legend might seem important.
Hence the Railway spike.
Cheers
Dave

If Joseph Kekuku picked up a bolt from a railway track and discovered the 'slide' way of playing guitar, how did he do that in the early to mid 1880's, when the railroad only came to Oahu on November 16th 1889 ?

Would it be possible for the bolt to have existed in the early 1800's? Therefore the story about the bolt may be true about Joseph Kekuku, but the Railroad story about him may be untrue. You know, people always want to add color to a story.

All you need is a bolt to play the steel guitar and not a railroad!

Aloha,
Don

Dave Boothroyd wrote: Immigration and colonisation, cultural or physical, can bring new influences which overwhelm the indigenous.
In those circumstances a compensatory legend might seem important.
Hence the Railway spike.
Cheers
Dave

Are the contributions of Hawaiians important or not? You seem to say they're only reacting to cultural imperialism. How quaint! Ah, if only the Mighty Hummel had been introduced in say, Panama, then the early part of the 20th Century would've seen a Panamanian Guitar craze that swept the world...

Don, didn't Kekuku play with a more knife-like steel anyway? I'm pretty sure knives go way back.

Regardless of who "invented" it, the so-called "Hawaiian Guitar" seems to be the instrument that became a world-wide sound in the early 20th century, due to people like Sol and Tau Moe.
There seem to always be different opinnions and legends about who started what. Whatever the source, we all love the steel guitar in it's various forms that are around today, and we are lucky that somebody really DID get it going

I would second the suggestion to read Lorene Ruymer's book on the steel guitar and its great hawaiian musicians. She discusses everything that's been mentioned here in detail.

Maybe someone from the mainland happened to be carrying a railroad spike, and dropped it unintentionally. Later, Joseph Kekuku spotted it, picked it up and immediately said to himself, "Hey, that looks just like a tone bar..." So he rushed home with it, ran it along the fingerboard of his guitar, (and probably tore grooves in the top.. )

Charles Wilder wrote:I read an article in a guitar magazine years ago in which Ry Cooder stated that he was almost sure that the Hawaiians learned slide from a black man who was a deckhand on a ship that was in port there on- loading cargo. I think he even named names etc.. It sounded to me like a giant leap of politically correct faith then and still does.

I've not known Ry Cooder to be accused of nor guilty of provincial or convenient belief nor have I known him to even consider historical facts nor couch them in [sic] 'politically correct' terms.

Cooder's record among musicians and musicology stands on its own and, if, in fact, he has information about the origins and advances in any genre of music, I'd listen knowing that his statements were rooted in verifiable data and not an agenda.

I know for a fact he is and has been close to several families on the islands and is respected (deservedly so) there. I am going to assume this post was some sort of aside without fact and leave it at that.

If Ry Cooder said it. He is not one to trifle with the facts.

Alan, or someone correct me if I'm wrong please. But aren't spikes used to fasten the rail to the ties, and plates and bolts used to fasten the rails to each other? If so, that might explain the "bolt" theory.

John Billings wrote:Alan, or someone correct me if I'm wrong please. But aren't spikes used to fasten the rail to the ties, and plates and bolts used to fasten the rails to each other? If so, that might explain the "bolt" theory.

Yes, in North and Central America the rail is nailed down to the cross-ties with spikes, which are rectangular in cross-section. Where the rails join at the ends they are bolted together with fishplates. The rail itself is flat-bottomed. In Europe the rail was originally reversible, in that it had a running surface on top and bottom, and when it became worn they turned it over. Because of this there were metal plates between the bottom of the rail and the sleepers (crossties), and the rail was bolted down with track screws, not spikes. In recent years most of the reversible rail (known as bullhead) has been replaced by flat-bottom rail similar to that used in North America, but in Europe the track is held down with spring clips. All over the world, wooden crossties/sleepers are gradually giving way to concrete, as the wood supplies dwindle. Whether reinforced concrete will last longer than wood is debatable, since there are still some wooden crossties around which were laid down by the pioneers in the 1880s !

But the problem here is not whether he used a track spike or a rail bolt, it's the fact that at that time there were no railroads on Hawaii.

Alan, my friend, I bow to your superior knowledge of railroad tech! I was just thinkin'! My railroad facts go no further than Lionel!