The Steel Guitar Forum

hi there,
i've been listening to a cd on document records entitled 'hawaiian rainbow: hawaiian music on edison', and was wondering what thoughts people had as to what is the earliest recording of hawaiian steel guitar?
unleashing the debate!

The earliest one I've been able to find is Toots Paka's Hawaiians from 1909 doing "One Two Three Four". The steel guitarist is apparently Joseph Kekuku.

This website says the first recording was made in 1899 in San Francisco. This is an Edison cylinder recording of steel guitarists Tom Hennessey and July Paka, with Anthony Zablan and others.

I don't have the book with me, but "The Hawaiian Steel Guitar and Its Great Hawaiian Musicians" edited by Lorene Ruymar probably has the answer. Another resource might be "Popular American Recording Pioneers: 1895-1925" by Frank Hoffmann, B Lee Cooper, and Tim Gracyk.

In her book. Lorene confirms what you say, Brad.

Brad is correct. Mal Rockwell found a 1909 (only the year is confirmed) cylinder recording of "One, Two, Three, Four," with Kekuku, most likely in the Toots outfit. They did record several sides in a New York session on October 23, 1909, including a rendition of "One, Two, Three, Four." The 1899 session is a big unknown to us. No proof exists that anyone at that session was playing a steel guitar. Cylinders from the session were never commercially released, and seem to have perished in the 1906 earthquake.

√ Thanks for that, John

This recording of Honolulu Tom Boy was recorded in New York two days after One Two Three Four on 10/25/09 according to Malcolm Rockwell's discography. Malcolm also suggests that July Paka was probably the steel player with Joseph Kekuku possibly on guitar.

http://www.authentichistory.com/1898-19 ... iians.html

(Malcolm's discography has now recordings of Toots Pak listed in 1911.)

Guy, I'm personally not convinced that Paka was recording steel guitar that early, and after speaking with Malcolm about it, I think he would agree that we cannot determine with certainty who was playing what instrument on these sessions. For a long time folks have assumed that Paka was playing steel throughout the duration of the Paka troupe's existence, but at this point it seems much more likely to me that Kekuku was on steel with the Paka troupe until he left around 1912. It was at that point, I believe, that Paka took over the steel duties. But we are speculating on a lot of this, for sure!

Very interesting, John. I can't wait to see more of the results of your research in your book.

There are a couple of photos on this Youtube video of One, Two, Three, Four that may be of interest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27un_hjgrrw

Although this isn't the oldest it is in the general time frame 1914.
KAWAIHAU WALTZ by Pale K Lua and David K Kaili

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GriHmRvIeC4

With these early recordings, I think you have to try to get into the frame of mind when the music and the technology were new. The whole experience was novel. It is of course relative to what it was in the process of replacing. Horizons were much farther off, and generally it was a much quieter world, especially at night. In the absence of motor traffic a performance might be heard at a good distance.

That parlour warble and the semi operatic delivery, reminiscent of feather bowers and handlebar moustaches, had been popular in the 19th century, but would soon disappear. Many influential musicians first heard the Hawaiian guitar in tent shows and in theatres and described the fascination of something totally new. But for us the records can only hint at that experience unless we have some talent to jettison all the influences subsequent in popular music and imagine what they would have been 1900.

I'm struck by how many of the earliest recordings also featured xylophone. You just don't get to hear a good steel guitar/xylophone duet nowadays.