Jesus Q. Castro "Jess Castro Sings" (Charter Records, 197--?) (LP)
(Produced by Ray Elldred & Ellis Miller)
Jess Castro started his musical career as a teen while growing up in Guam... He moved to the mainland in order to pursue his dreams though he found it hard to get a foothold. The liner notes inform us that he first moved to Arizona, where he did agricultural field work, and later moved to Washington state, which is where he was living when he cut this set at Ripcord Studios. It's mostly a set of country covers, though he also sings a Chamorro-lyric song "Hafa Adai," by fellow Guamian Johnny Sablan, and caps things off with "Tiny Bubbles," just for good measure. Unfortunately, they don't tell us about the musicians backing Castro on this album, though doubtless they were part of Ellis Miller's regular studio crew for the Charter projects. This appears to have been his only album...

Country Comfort "Volume One: We Are The Children" (Hana Ola Records, 1995)
(Produced by Irv Pinensky)
Country rock/AOR pop, Hawaiian-style. Country Comfort was one of the first popular bands to showcase a new generation of Hawaiian artists -- younger performers who were ready to move beyond hapa haole novelty songs as well as more traditional music, and embrace pop styles from the mainland. They wrote songs in English that dealt with contemporary topics, including the evocative "Waimanalo Blues," a beautiful acoustic-based song that lamented the commercial development of Hawaiian lands and the alienation that many native Hawaiians felt as they saw hotels and houses sprout up along local beaches. Musically, this '70s set was island music's answer to mainland bands such as America, Bread and Seals & Croft, including covers of some popular songs, original material and a little bit of slack-key guitar. It's mostly straight-up soft pop with too-smooth vocal harmonies and some slight hints of twang, and a smattering of boogie rock. Not my cup of tea, but probably a good reflection of the kind of music popular at beachside jam sessions; it was certainly a popular record on Hawaiian radio at the time, and was one of the biggest-selling albums of the early '70s.

Country Comfort "Country Comfort II" (Hana Ola Records, 1995)
(Produced by Irv Pinensky)
Better produced, slicker but with the same basic soft-pop sound, though more focussed musically and more distinctly country-rock... Kenny Loggins would be proud. Interesting to hear the slide guitar and pedal steel really come so completely full circle, traveling first from the islands into early hillbilly music, then into Nashville pop, then LA's session scene and '70s country-rock, which is the style being imitated here by islanders who largely let go of the "Hawaiian" sound that brought steel playing to the world. Some songs are nice, but overall I can't get really into this album. Nonethless it is interesting historically, and for folks who were there at the time, having this music reissued decades later is doubtless a real blessing.

Country Comfort & Billy Kaui "The Very Best Of..." (Hana Ola Records, 1992)
(Produced by Irv Pinensky)
This retrospective combines tracks from the two Country Comfort albums, as well as several songs from singer Billy Kaui's 1977 solo album... The general trend is towards the soft-pop sound that Kaui came to specialize in, but there's a little bit of their folk and country leanings as well, particularly on their classic "Waimanalo Blues," "Honky Tonk Wines," and "Hello Waimanalo." A nice introduction to their work, although you might also just want to try each of the three original albums.

Ernie Cruz "Recorded Live On The Big Island" (Big Island Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Chip Douglas Hateleid)
Hawaiian songwriter Ernie Cruz, Sr. was nicknamed "the Waimea Cowboy," and was the father of several notable musicians. This album features country-pop with a Hawaiian tinge, mostly cover tunes with songs by Kris Kristofferson, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, along with a couple of Hawaiian-language songs to round the album out. There are some originals including "Molokai Cowboys," "Green Rolling Hills Of California" (by Cruz) and Hawaiian-themed songs such as "Nanakuli" by Jesse Kalima and "Kamakani Ka Ila Aloha" by Matthew Kane... In the 1990s, Cruz's son -- Ernie Cruz, Jr -- formed a Hawaiian pop band called the Ka-au Crater Boys.

Joe Dawn "Capitol Of The State I'm In" (Nod Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Don Ho)
Singer and ukulele player Joe Dawn was a member of Hawaiian bandleader Don Ho's stage show during the 1970s, and brought a novel country sound to the groups pop vocals/hapa haole repertoire. On this album he sings country-folk material such as John Denver's "Sunshine On My Shoulders" and "Take me Home Country Roads," as well as some honkytonk oldies by Lefty Frizzell, Merle Haggard and Hank Williams, as well as a couple of tunes that showcased his yodeling abilities. Steel guitar legend Jerry Byrd was one of the session musicians.

Doyle And Leilani "At The Sky Dome" (1974-?) (LP)
A bit of a mystery disc. This super-amateur duo mixed Hawaiian pop and hapa haole songs ("Pearly Shells," "Tiny Bubbles") with early 'Seventies soft rock and several country songs, including hits such as "Delta Dawn," "For The Good Times," "Help Me Make It Through The Night," "Tie A Yellow Ribbon," and "Top Of The World," as well as another Carpenters classic, "Superstar." This was apparently their only album, recorded live at the Revolving Sky Dome Lounge in Arlington, Virginia. Alas, there's no biographical info about the artists, not even their last names, or anything about backing musicians -- although I think this is just the two of them with a drum machine and organ. There's also no date on the disc, though judging from the repertoire -- which includes "Top Of The World" -- a big hit in December, '73 -- I'd say 1974 is our best bet. You can hear crowd chatter in the background although it seems doubtful these guys really did many live gigs; this disc really seems like more of a personal memento than a professional calling card. It's possible this couple was Mr. and Mrs. Donald Joseph Doyle, who met and married in Hawaii, although her obituary (1941-2019) made no mention of any interest in music.

Myra English "Drinking Champagne" (Hula Records, 1968-?) (LP)
(Produced by Don McDiarmid Jr. & Bill Lang)
The first album by Hawaiian country singer Myra English (1933-2001) whose 1968 version of "Drinking Champagne" became a huge regional hit on the islands. English started out as a child performer -- growing up in Paia, Maui, she led her own band and performed regularly during the 1940s. She moved to Honolulu after she graduated high school in 1951 and sang and played ukulele at military service clubs before moving to the mainland with her husband, a military man who moved around a great deal. In 1968, while living in Seattle she heard Cal Smith's version of "Drinking Champagne" and recorded a Hawaiian-ized version of the song after moving back to Honolulu. The success of her single led to a gig at the Outrigger Hotel, and to the recording of this full-length LP, which features a few Hawaiian-themed songs, such as "Ku'u Sweetie" and "Aloha Ka Manini," along with a bunch of country covers, including Bill Mack's "Drinking Champagne" and contemporary hits such as "For The Good Times" and "Many Happy Hangovers To You." Riding her local celebrity, Ms. English became a tourism spokesperson and was friends with several of Hawaii's biggest stars, such as Genoa Keawe and Melveen Leed.

Myra English "Oh How I Miss You Tonight" (Hula Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Don McDiarmid Jr.)
It's mostly Hawaiian-themed songs this time around, although there's some country material as well... the tracks include "Remember My Island," "Biding My Time," "Maui Moon," "Kuulei," "Pu'u Anahalu," and of course the title track.

The Fifth String "Hawaiian Grown Bluegrass" (Oshure Mountain Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Earl Hughes)
Straight-up progressive bluegrass, with tips of the hat towards contemporary country folks like Emmylou Harris and the Flying Burrito Brothers... The group included Joe Dye (banjo), Marj Dye (bass), Sam Hayakawa (mandolin), producer Earl Hughes on fiddle and guitar, Don Staib (banjo, dobro and guitar), Vicki Staib (guitar) and everyone chiming in on vocals. The material is all mainland stuff, tunes like "Fox On The Run" and "Rawhide," as well as some Emmylou classics like "Blue Kentucky Girl" and "Roses In The Snow." Not that this reflects any failing on Fifth String's part, but does anyone know of any Hawaiian bands that did bluegrass versions of island music? You know, a lightning-fast "Aloha Oe," or even a twangy "Tiny Bubbles"? Just wondering.

Earl Hughes "Hawaii's Ambassador To Country Music" (19--?) (LP)
Fiddler Earl Hughes really had a thing for the non-mainland, non-lower 48 states... But why he jumped ship from Hawaii to Alaska -- or why he never made it to Puerto Rico -- I really can't tell you. Anyway, this album looks to be mid-to-late-'70s vintage... Much later on, he became Alaska's country music ambassador. (Which raises another question: how do you get that job? Do you get appointed by Chet Atkins or Billy Sherrill? Oh, wait, no... In this case it was Hawaii's governor, George Ariyoshi who dubbed him ambassador... which I'm sure meant he could park anywhere he wanted to in Nashville...) Anyway, this is Mr. Hughes backed by a compact group called Tumbleweed Connection, which included Jim Decker on bass, Richard Freeman playing lead guitar, Earl Hughes playing fiddle, piano and pedal steel(!), and Doug Pang-Kee on drums. Side One showcases original material by Hughes and friends, including novelty numbers such as "Mechanical Bull Riding Cowboy," "Parking Lot Lover," and some Hawaiian-themed tunes; on Side Two he covers twangy faves like "Whiskey River" and "Orange Blossom Special," as well as "South's Gonna Do It Again," which is kinda funny because isn't, like, Hawaii way further south than the southern states? According to the liner notes, this was his second album.

Earl Hughes "Alaska's Ambassador Of Country Music" (CD)

Warren Johnson "Time And Time: Hawaii's Own Country" (MDL Records, 1988) (LP)
(Produced by Rick Asher Keefer, Eric M. Petersen & Marcelo Vendiola, Jr.)

Julie & The Electric Rangers "Front Burner Country" (Lehua Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Charles Bud Dant & Herb Ono)
Recorded in Honolulu, Hawaii, this album captures a band led by itinerant twangsters Julia Gudmundson Shultz (1954-1989) and her husband, drummer-vocalist "Uncle Roy" Schultz (1951-2019) who were originally from Washington state and Minnesota, respectively. The Schultzes both had long musical backgrounds -- she was a multi-instrumentalist who started out in a Bellingham, WA band called Mossy Rock, which played regionally along the west coast of Canada and the US. In 1978 she moved out to Hawaii and was playing in a group called The Foundry when she and Roy met, later forming the Electric Rangers, which became one of the go-to country groups on Oahu. They're backed here Andrew DeVelschow on banjo and steel guitar, lead guitarist J. W. Lathrop and John Schatt on bass. The repertoire is basically that of an Emmylou Harris cover band, a bunch of well-chosen "girl" songs from the country-rock era, including a slew of tunes from various Emmylou albums -- "Amarillo," "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues," "Feelin' Single, Seein' Double," "I'll Go Steppin' Too" and "Two More Bottles Of Wine" -- along with Lacy J. Dalton's "Hillbilly Girl With The Blues," Dolly Parton's "Jolene" and Tammy Wynette's "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad," and even a version of "Jackson." There are two original tracks on here, "Seven Years In Prison (Seven More To Go)," and Julia Schultz's "So Lonely," though mostly this seems to be a set of songs that were just plain fun to sing. The Rangers played a lot of gigs on the islands and probably acted as a house band for numerous touring stars (Loretta Lynn seems to have been a friend of theirs). They also toured on the mainland, mostly in their old Pacific Northwest stomping grounds. In the late 'Eighties the Schultzes were thinking of winding things down and settling down after the birth of their son Jonas; in 1987 Julia fell ill while working in Nashville and was eventually diagnosed with cancer; she succumbed in 1989 after a two-year struggle. Roy Schultz later moved south, to Texas and to Alabama, where he formed a new group and continued to record as the Uncle Roy Band. (Thanks to the Icelandic heritage newsletter Logberg-Heimskringla for their extensive obituary of Ms. Gudmundson Shultz.)

Bill Kaiwa "Paniolo Country-Western" (Lehua Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Murata & Bob Lang)
Singer Bill Kaiwa (1934-2011) was a city kid born near Honolulu and grew up in Papakolea, on the island of Oahu. In his teens he was sent by his family to live with a rancher on Kauai, where he learned how to work as a paniolo (cowboy) and became fluent in the Hawaiian language, becoming known as a conservator of traditional music and was a Hawaiian Music Hall Of Fame inductee. Most of Kaiwa's albums were more island-themed, though this one is a solid set of mainland country classics, pairing croonable '60s/'70s-era hits such as "By The Time I Get To Phoenix,""Everything Is Beautiful," "Help Me Make It Through The Night" and "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" with older material such as "Cool Water," "Make The World Go Away" and "Release Me." Kaiwa apparently worked for several years as a tour bus driver, and would often serenade his passengers with traditional songs... Man, that woulda been a cool tour! He's backed here by fellow islanders Cyrus Green (bass), Bobby Larrison (ukulele), Billy Hew Len (steel guitar), Hiram Olsen (12-string guitar) and Wayne Reis on ukulele. Although Bill Kaiwa's big hit was a song called "Boy From Laupahoehoe" (named after a stretch of the Big Island's north beach) his family didn't actually have connections to the area: like so much of Hawaiian music, it probably just sounded really cool when he sang it.

The Kapakahi Jug Band "The Kapakahi Jug Band" (Mark Custom Recording Division, 1981)
(Produced by Fred B. Li)
A musically diverse blues/jazz/swing-stringband from Honolulu, Hawaii, this farflung retro collective included Richard "Pee Wee" Drake (washboard, percussion), Duane Preble (washtub bass), Jan Killam (vocals), Pan Wilson (banjo), Bart Potter (guitar) Janice Hanley, Don Sharp, Autumn Hancock (violin), Jeremy T. Stewart (musical saw ) and many others. Mixed into the repertoire is a bit of hapa haole Hawaiiana, including a version of Gus Kahn's "Ukulele Lady," always a favorite. The band's long history dates back to 1965, when "girl" jugband singer Jan Killam met proto-hippie guitarist Pan Wilson, later joining University of Hawaii art professor Duane Preble to form a loose-knit ensemble which stayed together in various forms well into the 21st Century. This was the band's only album, lost in the mists of time until everyone was surprised when an Asian specialty label offered to reissue the record on CD... and even sent them some royalty checks!

Gabe Kila & The Nanakuli Sons "Paniolo Country" (J-San Records, 1974-?) (LP)
A sometimes-country concept album about the Hawaiian paniolo cowboys, who among other things helped invent the first slide guitars, which moved from the islands into the mainland country style. Led by ukulele player Gabriel K. Kilakalua, Jr. (1937-2004) the Nanakuli Sons were an early house band at the Kuilima Hotel on Oahu's north shore, which opened in 1972. The band also included drummer Jimmy Dawson, organist Sterling Kalua and bassist Dennis P. Keohokalole who, like Gabe Kila, were veterans of other popular bands and set out on their own in the early 'Seventies. They recorded two albums the same year, this studio set along with a live album recorded at the hotel's White Whale Lounge. While they did play traditional material and sang some songs in Hawaiian, the Sons also had a distinctly hapa haole (touristy) feel; the title track has sort of a pop-country feel, as did much of the album, complete with banjo and fiddle. Worth a spin!

Gabe Kila & The Nanakuli Sons "Return To Paniolo Country" (J-San Records, 1975-?) (LP)

Melveen Leed "Melveen's Hawaiian Country" (Lehua Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Charles Bud Dant)
Born on Molokai, singer Melveen Leed made her way through Honolulu's entertainment scene to become one of Hawaii's best-known performers. She recorded numerous albums, including several with a country flair, and toured extensively on the mainland, even appearing on the Grand Ole Opry.

Melveen Leed "My Hawaiian Country" (Lehua Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Charles Bud Dant & Herb Ono)
Backed by an A-list Nashville crew, Leed combines island themes and country moods, with Hawaiian-ized versions of "Before The Next Teardrop Falls," "Crazy" and "Secret Love," as well as a slew of Hawaiian songs. Producer Bud Dant contributes some original material, such as "Country Girl" and the title track, "My Hawaiian Country," as well as English-language translations of classics by Eddie Kamae and Helen Desha Beamer. The session players include Harold Bradley, Ray Edenton, Grady Martin, Hargus Robbins and Bobby Thompson, as well as steel guitar super-picker Jerry Byrd, who was known for his mastery of both styles.

Melveen Leed "Hawaiian Country Girl" (Lehua Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Charles Bud Dant & Herb Ono)

Melveen Leed "Grand Old Hawaiian Music, Nashville Style" (Lehua Records, 1983) (LP)

Melveen Leed "Melveen's Hawaiian Country Hits" (Lehua Records, 1996) (CD)

Melveen Leed "Melveen's Hawaiian Country Hits, v.2" (Lehua Records, 1996) (CD)

Bill Lendrum "Try A Little Kindness" (Crown Records, 1969) (LP)
Assuming it's all the same guy, Bill Lendrum seems to have moved around a lot during his career... Known as "Pineapple Bill" Lendrum, he lived in Hawaii and sang hapa haole-style island-themed novelty songs, as well as country stuff. I'm not sure where he was living when he cut this album, but in the early '70s he was considered a "local legend" in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he recorded for the Goldust label, and had some of his music recorded by other local artists. In 1975 he recorded a second album for the Oklahoma City-based Homa label and later, in the late 1980s, Lendrum was living in Griffin, Indiana but still playing music, and even won a national talent contest sponsored by the True Value hardware company. This album seems to have been packed with original material.

Bill Lendrum "Hapahaule Cowboy" (Homa Records, 1975-?) (LP)

Robin Luke "Susie Darlin' " (Bear Family Records, 1991) (LP)
Classic late 'Fifties/early 'Sixties teenpop and rockabilly from Honolulu highschooler Robin Luke, who was just sixteen when he cut his big 1958 hit, "Susie Darlin'," for Hawaii's maverick rock indie, Bertram International Records. The song got licensed by mainland major label Dot Records, and rose to hit #5 on the American pop charts, briefly propelling Luke to international fame, which included multiple appearances on American Bandstand and other TV programs, as well as international reissues in Canada and the UK. Various recording sessions followed, with larger orchestrations as the show biz pros briefly took over his career. Robin Luke dropped out of the entertainment world, though -- his parents insisted he go to college and finish his education -- but he left behind enough tracks to merit a full-on Bear Family reissue.

Jack Rivers & The Detours "At The Sand Box, Honolulu Hawaii, Sand Island Road" (Sandbox Records, 19--?) (LP)
A veteran West Coast honkytonker from the post-WWII era, Jack Rivers (1917-1989) really made his name in Los Angeles, where he recorded for Capitol Records and cut influential versions of "Dear Oakie" and "Detour." Rivers worked his way through a variety of popular bands, most notably backing Johnny Bush as well as western star Jimmy Wakely. Although he was pretty successful in LA, from there Rivers moved around a lot, starting in the 1950s with a long stint in Seattle where he recorded for a series of small labels, including several of his own imprints. This undated album documents a Hawaiian interlude, where Rivers and his band headlined a nightclub on Sand Island, in the Honolulu harbor. It's not clear when this LP came out, although it looks early 'Seventies to me; the inclusion of "Little Old Wine Drinker Me" (a song that actor Robert Mitchum took to the charts in 1967) makes this at least a late 'Sixties outing. This edition of his band The Detours included singers Sunny Estes and Sheila Tilton, as well as Warren Johnson and drummer Jim Webb, each of whom got solo spotlight numbers.

Len Ryder "Way Out West In Waikiki" (Frontier Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Lang & Don McDiarmid)
A groovy, fun, brisk live album from Canadian steel player and singer Len Ryder, recorded as a memento of his residency at a country bar in Honolulu called the New Frontier. A veteran of Evan Kemp's band in Vancouver, Ryder had a deft, Speedy West-like touch and keeps this small combo humming... The biggest surprise, though, is that this isn't an instrumental album but instead showcases a ton of swell original songs, with various bandmembers singing lead. Though the liner notes only discuss Ryder and the club, the other musicians seem to have included John Ott and spotlight vocalist Muriel Tilton, a yodeling local gal who -- as one half of the Tilton Sister duo -- recorded several singles in the late 'Fifties/early 'Sixties on Bertram International, a pop-'n'-country-oriented Hawaiian label that I would very much like to learn more about. This is a great record with a solid West Coast country sound... Not super-sure when it was recorded, but my copy has a 1971 date handwritten on it, though this looks more like a mid-'Sixties kinda record, maybe 1966 or so(?). According to the liner notes, Ryder had been holding down this gig for several years before they made this record, though he did eventually return to Canada and remained active in several bands over the decades.

Johnny Sablan "Chamorro Country" (Hafa Adai Recordings, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Johnny Sablan)
Micronesian singer Johnny Sablan was a native of Guam who dedicated his music to the preservation of the hyper-local Chamorro language, often mixing Chamorro and English in a variety of musical genres. Legit country music was a significant part of his repertoire and he often created bilingual versions of country standards, although most of his records featured original pop or soul numbers he wrote or solicited from his fellow Guamanians. Born in 1947, Johnny Sablan moved to the US mainland with his parents in the early 'Sixties, where he came to the attention of record execs at Columbia, who signed him to record a handful of teenpop singles and booked him to tour with their other artists. After living in Los Angeles for a couple of years, he returned to Guam in '63 and kept a fairly low profile while finishing school, but in 1967 he entered a music contest that explicitly celebrated Chamorro culture, which inspired his lifelong mission to record and promote Chamorro music. He recorded the first all-Chamorro album, "Dalai Nene," in 1968 and started his own record label in 1971, and though he moved back to California for the rest of the decade, he continued to discover and promote younger artists from Guam. This is one of his more country-oriented albums, a stylistic interest that's probably not so surprising considering all the American servicemen stationed on the island.

Johnny Sablan "Johnny Sablan Sings..." (Hafa Adai Recordings, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Johnny Sablan)
On this album Johnny Sablan included adaptations of classics such as "Release Me," "Your Cheatin' Heart" and, perhaps most appropriately, a version of the already-bilingual Freddy Fender hit, "Before The Next Teardrop Falls." There also some pop standards, like "Makin' Whoopie" and "Pearly Shells," while Side Two of the album is given over to all-Guamanian material, mostly original material composed by Mr. Sablan. Some of his other albums had country themes as well, though I think not all of them... It might take a while to sort it out.

The Tilton Sisters "Hawaii's Favorite Teen-Age Singers" (Bertram International Records, 1963) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Bertram)
A thoroughly charming album by the teenpop duo of Gwen Tilton and Muriel Tilton, sisters from Oahu, Hawaii, who were in the first wave of Hawaiian rock'n'roll. They were star performers on the Bertram International label, which fielded dozens of youthful pop and rock performers, including founder Bob Bertram, as well as the Lawrence Brothers, who were the backing band on this album. According to the liner notes, the Tilton Sisters were nineteen years old when this LP came out, though they started performing professionally when they were thirteen, and many of the tracks here first came out as singles, circa 1959-62. The music is a lively mix of light rockabilly, rock-oriented teenpop and pop novelties with sibling harmonies and fairly basic accompaniment by the Lawrences. These recording show some of the the technical limits of the early Hawaiian rock scene: with its flat, primitive sound, it's not a very well-produced record, but it oozes authenticity. The gals have a spunky teenage flair, reminiscent of rockabilly/pop stars as Lorrie Collins, Wanda Jackson and Brenda Lee, and while these tracks never muster the same explosive power as those mainland gals, the low-key feel is part of the charm. I think the Tiltons were twins, but outside of a couple of discographies , there is very little information about either of the gals online, presumably because they got married and changed their names. I'm not sure if Gwen Tilton stayed in show business, though Muriel was still in the game in the late 'Sixties when she was backing Canadian steel player Len Ryder while he had a residency at a country bar in Honolulu called the New Frontier, and sang on his album, Way Out West In Waikiki. Any additional info is welcome!

Zion Mountain Folk "Grass Roots Music" (Light Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Jack Joseph Puig)
An all-gospel folk-bluegrass set from a longhaired band from the Kona coast of the island of Hawaii. This group featured Steven Smith (guitar), Ruth Smith (mandolin) Harry Browning (banjo), Herb Melton (bass) and Jim Pennington (harmonica), with fiddler Byron Berline sitting in as well. Mahalo!

Various Artists "GREETINGS FROM HAWAII -- THE ALOHA STATE" (Bear Family Records, 2004)
A swell set of Hawaiianized hillbilly music! What with introducing the slide guitar into the American musical palate and all, Hawaiian music has had a profound influence on the development of country music, and Hawaiian-themed novelty songs have a long history in the hillbilly tradition. This is a fun, frolicking set of island-themed country exotica, with hillbilly hulas from everybody ranging from Skeets McDonald and Cecil Campbell to Hank Locklin, Rex Allen and the Sons Of The Pioneers. Certain artists such as Hank Snow and Marty Robbins, who had longstanding fascinations with Hawaiian-style melodies, have several songs on here, alongside one-off oddities by the likes of jazz singer Teresa Brewer ("Lula Rock A Hula") and rockers Bill Haley ("Me Rock A-Hula") and Buddy Knox ("Hula Love"). Many of these are songs that have appeared elsewhere, but it's kinda fun to have them all together in one place, so you can kick back and dream of the old cattle drives by the ocean's edge. Recommended!

Various Artists "KKUA: HOME GROWN, v.2" (KKUA Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Paul Scoles & Susan Ashby)
One of several albums released by radio station KKUA. There is a smidge of country music tucked in amid the soooper-cheesy pop and folk on this sampler of local artists spread across several islands. There seems to have been a conscious effort to move away from more traditional music and hapa haole novelty tunes, and to present a slicker, more "modern" sound... Among the country tunes is "Kona Country Song," a fairly ragged-sounding tune by Becky Mello, a mainland expat who was apparently originally from Fresno, California. You can probably sift through this set and find a few okay tracks, but not much here that wowed me.

Various Artists "ROCK-A-BILLY 1958" (Bertram International Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Bertram)
Only a couple of the artists on Bob Bertram's label managed to record full albums -- Robin Luke, The Tilton Sisters, and that was about it. Meanwhile, the remaining singles cut by artists such as Danny Dalton, Tom Moffatt, and the Lawrence Brothers languished in the vaults, though Mr. Bertram gathered a few for this collection, before closing shop in the late 'Seventies. More in the rock camp, but there's definitely some twang int here as well.

Hick Music Index