Ray Kinney
Encyclopedia
Ray Kinney was a singer
, musician
, composer
, orchestra leader
and performer
on radio, stage and screen.
to Irish-Hawaiian parents William & Pilialoha Kinney. At age 15 he and his six brothers were sent to school in Salt Lake City, Utah
. Already skilled on the ukulele
and with a fine tenor
voice, Ray and his brothers formed their own band and began touring the western US. He returned to Hawaii in 1920 upon the death of his mother.
"Prince of Hawaii" by noted Hawai'ian composer Charles E. King. The opera began touring in California in 1926.
In 1928 bandleader Johnny Noble
chose Kinney among others to appear on his radio show. The show originated from station KPO in San Francisco and was basically an hour long promotion for Hawai'ian tourism
. Later that year Brunswick Records
signed Noble, with Kinney as one of the singers, to a contract that resulted in 110 singles
being issued. Those 78s
and the show helped introduce and popularize Hawaiian music in the US mainland
and lead to a national tour and then an 11 month engagement at the Palace Hotel
in San Francisco..
While working in a Taro
factory in 1934, Kinney was approached by bandleader Harry Owens
to join his orchestra for their opening at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel
.
Ray appeared on the premiere
broadcast of Webley Edwards
' "Hawaii Calls
" radio show from the Moana Hotel
in July 1935. He regularly appeared on the show for a number of years.
Decca Records
signed Johnny Noble and His Orchestra, with Kinney as vocalist, to a contract in 1936. The "phenomenal" sales results kept them under contract for four years.
Kinney became the first Hawai'ian entertainer to be in a major Broadway
production when he and the "Aloha Maids" were cast in the Olsen and Johnson
Broadway revue "Hellzapoppin'" in September 1938. The show lasted 1,404 performances and ran until December 1941. 1938 also saw Kinney beat out the likes of Rudy Vallée
and Guy Lombardo
in a New York popularity poll of American singers as well as begin a four year stint in the "Hawaiian Room" of New York's Hotel Lexington leading his own orchestra.
Alfred Apaka
was hired by Kinney in 1940 as his vocalist at the "Hawaiian Room" and was featured on several Kinney recordings.
Kinney's 1941 musical short
"Ana Lani" is frequently mixed up with the 1947 "Hawaiian Hula Song".
During the war years
, Kinney toured 157 military bases and clubs becoming a favorite of Hawaii's 442nd Regiment.
The end of the war saw Kinney return to Hawaii and join Don McDiarmid's Orchestra performing at the Kewalo Inn as vocalist and bass fiddle player.
In 1949, Kinney discovered Eddie Kamae
and took him on tour and finally, in 1959, adding Kamae to the "Royal Hawaiian Hotel Orchestra".
Kinney also composed many songs during his career including "Across the Sea", "Not Pau", "Hawaiian Hospitality", "Maile Lau Li`ili`i", "Island Serenade", "Kalapaki Bay", "Ululani", and "Leimana."
. Kinney noted it was "somewhat of a miracle" that his recording career had lasted nearly forty years and almost 600 songs.
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, orchestra leader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
and performer
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
on radio, stage and screen.
Biography
Kinney was born in Hilo, HawaiiHawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
to Irish-Hawaiian parents William & Pilialoha Kinney. At age 15 he and his six brothers were sent to school in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
. Already skilled on the ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
and with a fine tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
voice, Ray and his brothers formed their own band and began touring the western US. He returned to Hawaii in 1920 upon the death of his mother.
Early career
Ray was cast in 1925 as the lead in the operaOpera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
"Prince of Hawaii" by noted Hawai'ian composer Charles E. King. The opera began touring in California in 1926.
In 1928 bandleader Johnny Noble
Johnny Noble
-Further reading:...
chose Kinney among others to appear on his radio show. The show originated from station KPO in San Francisco and was basically an hour long promotion for Hawai'ian tourism
Tourism in Hawaii
Hawaii is the name of several islands and are among the numerous Pacific Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Of these, the islands which have significant tourism are: Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and Lānai....
. Later that year Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
signed Noble, with Kinney as one of the singers, to a contract that resulted in 110 singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
being issued. Those 78s
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
and the show helped introduce and popularize Hawaiian music in the US mainland
Contiguous United States
The contiguous United States are the 48 U.S. states on the continent of North America that are south of Canada and north of Mexico, plus the District of Columbia....
and lead to a national tour and then an 11 month engagement at the Palace Hotel
Palace Hotel, San Francisco
The Palace Hotel is a landmark historic hotel in San Francisco, California, located at the SW corner of Market and New Montgomery streets. Also referred to as the "New" Palace Hotel to distinguish it from the original 1875 Palace Hotel that it was built to replace, the present...
in San Francisco..
While working in a Taro
Taro
Taro is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the family Araceae . Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated, and is the subject of this article. More specifically, this article describes the 'dasheen' form of taro; another variety is called eddoe.Taro is...
factory in 1934, Kinney was approached by bandleader Harry Owens
Harry Owens
Harry Owens was an American composer, bandleader and songwriter.-Biography:Harry Robert Owens was born April 18, 1902, in O'Neill, Nebraska. He learned how to play a cornet in a small band on an Indian reservation in Montana.-Early years:He worked the vaudeville circuit by age 14. Owens studied...
to join his orchestra for their opening at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel
Royal Hawaiian Hotel
Royal Hawaiian Hotel, also known as the Pink Palace of the Pacific, is a hotel located at 2259 Kalākaua Avenue in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. One of the first hotels established in Waikiki, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel is considered one of the flagship hotels in Hawaii tourism...
.
Ray appeared on the premiere
Premiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
broadcast of Webley Edwards
Webley Edwards
Webley Edwards was a World War II news correspondent and Hawaiian radio personality.-Early life and education:...
' "Hawaii Calls
Hawaii Calls
Hawaii Calls was a radio program that ran from 1935 through 1975 that featured live Hawaiian music conducted by Harry Owens, the composer of "Sweet Leilani"...
" radio show from the Moana Hotel
Moana Hotel
The Moana Hotel, also known as the First Lady of Waikīkī, is a famous historic hotel on the island of Oahu, located at 2365 Kalākaua Avenue in Honolulu, Hawaii. Built in the late 19th century as the first hotel in Waikiki, the Moana opened its doors to guests in 1901, becoming the first large hotel...
in July 1935. He regularly appeared on the show for a number of years.
Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
signed Johnny Noble and His Orchestra, with Kinney as vocalist, to a contract in 1936. The "phenomenal" sales results kept them under contract for four years.
Kinney became the first Hawai'ian entertainer to be in a major Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production when he and the "Aloha Maids" were cast in the Olsen and Johnson
Olsen and Johnson
John Sigvard "Ole" Olsen and Harold Ogden "Chic" Johnson were zany American comedians of vaudeville, radio, the Broadway stage, motion pictures and television. Their shows were noted for their crazy blackout gags and orchestrated mayhem...
Broadway revue "Hellzapoppin'" in September 1938. The show lasted 1,404 performances and ran until December 1941. 1938 also saw Kinney beat out the likes of Rudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
and Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
in a New York popularity poll of American singers as well as begin a four year stint in the "Hawaiian Room" of New York's Hotel Lexington leading his own orchestra.
Alfred Apaka
Alfred Apaka
Alfred Apaka was born Alfred Aholo Apaka Jrin Honolulu, Hawaii to vocalist Alfred Aholo Apaka Sr. Alfred was a graduate of President Theodore Roosevelt High School where he was an athlete and ROTC cadet captain...
was hired by Kinney in 1940 as his vocalist at the "Hawaiian Room" and was featured on several Kinney recordings.
Kinney's 1941 musical short
Musical short
The musical short can be traced back to the earliest days of sound films.Performers in the Lee De Forest Phonofilms of 1923-24 included Eddie Cantor, George Jessel, Abbie Mitchell and comic singer-dancer Molly Picon, plus the team of Noble Sissel and Eubie Blake...
"Ana Lani" is frequently mixed up with the 1947 "Hawaiian Hula Song".
During the war years
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Kinney toured 157 military bases and clubs becoming a favorite of Hawaii's 442nd Regiment.
The end of the war saw Kinney return to Hawaii and join Don McDiarmid's Orchestra performing at the Kewalo Inn as vocalist and bass fiddle player.
In 1949, Kinney discovered Eddie Kamae
Eddie Kamae
Eddie Kamae is one of the founding members of Sons of Hawaii. He is a 'ukulele virtuoso, singer, composer, film producer and primary proponent of theHawaiian Cultural Renaissance.-Biography:...
and took him on tour and finally, in 1959, adding Kamae to the "Royal Hawaiian Hotel Orchestra".
Kinney also composed many songs during his career including "Across the Sea", "Not Pau", "Hawaiian Hospitality", "Maile Lau Li`ili`i", "Island Serenade", "Kalapaki Bay", "Ululani", and "Leimana."
Later career
Ray signed his last recording contract at age 65 with RCARCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
. Kinney noted it was "somewhat of a miracle" that his recording career had lasted nearly forty years and almost 600 songs.