"King" Bennie Nawahi

American steel guitar master from Hawaii Bennie Nawahi Nawahi.jpg "King" Bennie Nawahi Benjamin Keakahiawa Nawahi King Bennie Nawahi 1899 07 03 y Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii yes 1985 01 29 1899 07 03 Long Beach, California Musician Ukulele, guitar, steel guitar, mandolin 1919–1970 Columbia, Victor, QRS, Grey Gull, Yazoo Hawaiian Novelty Five, King Nawahi and the International Cowboys, Nawahi Trio non_vocal_instrumentalist "King" Bennie Nawahi (July 3, 1899 – January 29, 1985) was an American steel guitarist from Hawaii who was popular in the U.S. during the 1920s and 1930s. Biography Benjamin Keakahiawa Nawahi was born in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, one of 12 children. While not of royal descent, he was eventually nicknamed "King" as many show business personalities are for their particular genre. Nawahi learned to play guitar in the parks of Honolulu for pennies,Corliss Richard Hawaii's Man of Steel Time Pacific Magazine Time Inc. 14 August 2000 http://www.time.com/time/pacific/magazine/20000814/kingbennie.html https://web.archive.org/web/20010709002558/http://www.time.com/time/pacific/magazine/20000814/kingbennie.html dead July 9, 2001 often teaming with Sol Hoopii, who would later become his rival for the title "King of the Hawaiian Guitar", along with Sam Ku West.Ruymer Lorene Hawaiian Steel Guitar 1996 Centerstream Publications 978-1-57424-021-4 29 He was also known as "King of the Ukulele".Broughton Simon Ellinaham Mark Trillo Richard The Rough Guide to World Music Vol 2 (Including Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific) 2000 978-1-85828-790-4 57, 62 In 1919 Nawahi played with his brother Joe's band, the Hawaiian Novelty Five, on the Matsonia passenger liner that sailed between Honolulu and San Francisco. The group eventually became a staple on the Orpheum vaudeville circuit's North America tour.Orpheum Circuit O.R.P.H. Inc. http://www.orphinc.org/html/history.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20081211050750/http://www.orphinc.org/html/history.htm usurped December 11, 2008 22 May 2010 Bennie Nawahi separated from the group and embarked on a solo career as a singing ukulele player. Master showman Sid Grauman proclaimed him "King of the Ukulele"Memorial Sid Grauman Find A Grave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/413 22 May 2010 Find A Grave and the nickname stuck. In 1920 an act of the United States Congress established "Hawaii National Park" (later split into Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Haleakalā National Park), shining a spotlight on the islands. The 1920s became a heyday for all things Hawaiian, including novelty acts of the vaudeville genre. Among Nawahi's novelty stunts was playing Turkey in the Straw on Hawaiian guitar with his feet.Drowne Kathleen Huber Patrick The 1920s 213 Greenwood 2008 978-0-313-36163-0 Tin Pan Alley went with the Hawaii craze and between 1915 and 1929 produced such ditties as Hello Hawaii How Are You? (1915) (when many pronounced the state's name as How-Wah-Yah), Oh How She Could Yacki Hacki Wiki Wacki Woo (1916), Hula Hula Dream Girl (1924) and That Aloha Waltz (1928). There is some evidence Bennie Nawahi also used the name "J. Nawahi", as the Victor Library lists the tune Hula Blues by "J. Nawahi (instrumentalist : steel guitar)".J. Nawahi UCSB Libraries http://victor.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/talent/detail/9063/Nawahi_J._instrumentalist_steel_guitar 23 May 2010 Regents of the University of California By 1928 Nawahi had begun recording for multiple record labels,Hawaiian String Virtuoso Yazoo Records http://www.yazoorecords.com/2055.htm 22 May 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101129145422/http://yazoorecords.com/2055.htm 29 November 2010 dead dmy-all including Columbia, Victor, Q.R.S. and Grey Gull, under multiple names (including Red Devils, Q.R.S. Boys, Slim Smith, Hawaiian Beach Combers, Georgia Jumpers, Four Hawaiian Guitars and King Nawahi & the International Cowboys), with bandmates that included soon to be Sons of the Pioneers, Tim Spencer (singer) and Leonard Slye (later to become cowboy star Roy Rogers). Blindness and later life One night in 1935 while driving home from a performance, Nawahi was suddenly struck blind. No medical cause was ever identified.Bennie Nawahi Brad's Page of Steel http://www.well.com/~wellvis/nawahi.html 22 May 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100507014605/http://www.well.com/~wellvis/nawahi.html 7 May 2010 live The loss of vision was permanent, but he never allowed it to impede his life, as he continued performing and touring until the 1970s, when he was partially paralyzed by a stroke. Nawahi set a remarkable swimming record for blind people in 1946. He swam the 22 miles of choppy Pacific Ocean waters from San Pedro, California to Santa Catalina Island in just over 22 hours, guided only by coach John Sonnichson and a bell on a lead boat. He appeared briefly in the 1985 Academy Award-nominated documentary film on Roy Smeck, Wizard of the Strings.Wizard of the Strings Internet Movie Database https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090332/ 22 May 2010 He died in Long Beach, California on January 29, 1985. Discography From Honolulu To Hollywood: Jazz, Blues & Popular Specialties Performed Hawaiian Style (2008) CD (The Old Masters) Hawaiian String Virtuoso: Steel Guitar Rec 1920's (2000) CD 2055 (Yazoo) References 2 External links Nawahi, Victor Library Category:Steel guitarists Category:Ukulele players from Hawaii Category:Native Hawaiian musicians Category:People from the Territory of Hawaii Category:Musicians from Honolulu Category:1899 births Category:1985 deaths Category:Articles with quotation marks in the title Category:American mandolinists Category:Blind folk musicians Category:American blind guitarists Category:20th-century American guitarists Category:Guitarists from Hawaii Category:American male guitarists Category:20th-century American male musicians