Hawaiian Steel Guitarist Frank Ferera’s final 78 RPM release! Regal Zono G 21796

[@Caligari...]

Thank you very much for the rare Recordings of the Great Frank Ferera ! Do you know of any recordings of Joseph Kekuku ? I am a big fan of the early Hawaiian music but I have never heard what Joseph Kekuku sounded like . Thanks again . I just found a couple of tracks with Joseph Kekuku playing on with "Layton and Johnstone" * Tell me More 1:14 in solo * I'll see you in my Dreams 1:15 in solo *When you and I were Seventeen 1:25 in solo by Kekuku Thank you

[@ChristoRuppenthal]

@@Caligari... yes, I’m aware of those recordings of Layton & Johnstone. I have transfers somewhere. There are some early Edison cylinder recordings from the second sessions with any Steel Guitar on them from 1911. I have yet to track them down though. He is also credited as an accompanist on some of the early Toots Paka ecordings. But July Paka recorded steel parts. He also recorded the first commercially available recording of the Steel Guitar at those same cylinder sessions. Joseph recorded his cylinders the next day.

[@Caligari...]

@@ChristoRuppenthal Thanks for that information Christo , It looks like Joseph Kekuku didn't do a whole lot of recording or there just isn't much available , he isn't on any CD's that I'm aware of. I thank you again for your knowledge on the subject .

[@michaelkienhofer6394]

Dobro Player "Charlie Nixon" did a version of his own with Lester Flatt and The Nashville Grass,,Always wondered where the early Dobroist got there inspiration from. Thanks !

[@keithgrant969]

Your tribute and recognition of Frank Ferera is most welcome and timely. With his immense and unsurpassed recording output he has been singularly dismissed, neglected and overlooked yet he was unquestionably one of the seminal figures of the first generation of steel guitarists. Understandably and perhaps inevitably, far greater focus has been made in the past on the second generation of steel guitarists including such names as Sol Hoopii, Bennie Nawahi, Sam Ku West and Jim & Bob amongst many other outstanding players. Thus have the first generation have very largely been overshadowed and eclipsed with such names as Joseph Kekuku, July Paka, Walter Kolomoku and Pale K. Lua Keith Grant

[@ChristoRuppenthal]

This is all very true. Thanks for the thoughtful comment Keith. You are spot on,

[@stanthesteelguitarman8228]

Nice to hear Frank Ferera's final issued recording for the first time. Although his steel guitar playing style was outdated by the 1930s' he has left us a legacy of diversified music in his recordings. I very much feel that our established Hawaiian players of today, though excellent within the framework of what they do, should also try to venture further afield in their music! I very much enjoyed your excellent overview of Frank's career, Christo.

[@stanthesteelguitarman8228]

If someone doesn't begin to push the boat out - as Santo and Johnny did 60 years ago, the Hawaiian steel guitar will soon be dead and buried. Of course Frank Ferera's style and technique has been outdated for over 90 years, though I do agree his playing has always been tasteful and impressively accurate throughout. I myself have always enthused over Sol Hoopi'i through to Jules Ah See, but I see very little extra beyond. All I'm suggesting is that Hawaiian players of today should try to include other melodic music in their repertoires, just as Frank, Sol and other pioneers did in the 1920s and '30s - also over here in the UK by Felix Mendelssohn and his Hawaiian Serenaders throughout the 1940s.@@PrewarGuitarMusic

[@stanthesteelguitarman8228]

Oh yes, I agree with you there! But I was actually referring to today's native Hawaiian steel guitar players, great though they are, who tend to stick to a very limited Hawaiian related repertoire and only branching out to play Santo and Johnny's "Sleepwalk", it would seem, judging by what I view of them on You Tube. Like you, I hate the non melodic, soulless trends of so called modern music and I just wish there was some way to get around such a problem. There is a vast amount of lovely, non Hawaiian, melodic music composed over the years suited to the Hawaiian playing style which would surely attract larger audiences. Unfortunately, I find that most people today don't even know what a steel guitar actually is!! @@PrewarGuitarMusic