Sol Hoopii
Encyclopedia
Sol Hoʻopiʻi (ˌhoʔoˈpiʔi) (1902–16 November 1953) was born Solomon Hoʻopiʻi Kaʻaiʻai in Honolulu, Hawaii
. He was a Native Hawaiian guitarist, claimed by many as the all-time best lap steel guitar
virtuoso, and he is one the most famous original Hawaiian steel guitarists, along with Joseph Kekuku
, Frank Ferera
, Sam Ku West
and "King" Bennie Nawahi.
in 1902, into a large family, his birth making him the 21st child in the family.
As was the norm in Hawaiian families, Sol's family taught him to sing and play instruments by the time he could walk. He was playing the ukulele
by age three. By his teenage years the Hawaiian steel guitar had become his instrument of choice.
He made his debut with Johnny Noble
and his Orchestra. According to the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame, at age 17 Sol and two teenage friends stowed away on the ocean liner Matsonia
. They were discovered by passengers who were so charmed by their musical performances that the other passengers took up a collection to pay their fares. They landed in San Francisco, played a few club engagements, and eventually made their way to Los Angeles. Sol's friends returned to Hawaii, and Sol formed a trio with new associates.
, where he formed the Sol Hoʻopiʻi Trio, with Glenwood Leslie and Lani McIntyre
, including sometimes additional musicians, and he successfully performed in the local and then very popular Polynesian-themed night venues. His first recordings in 1925-28 featured often jazzy improvisation.
He recorded his best known material 1933 to 1938, as Sol Hoopii's Novelty Trio, Novelty Quartette and Novelty Five on Decca Records
and Brunswick Records
labels, like the famous Hula Girl, Ten Tiny Toes, and many more brilliant Hawaiian hula
and hapa-haole songs penned by the best Hawaiian composers like Johnny Noble and Sol Bright.
Preferring the acoustic lap steel guitar
, he switched to electric lap steel only around 1935 and developed an original tuning, in addition to the open A or open G tunings commonly in use at the time.
He very often apply bluesy and jazzy treatments to the Tin Pan Alley
standards, as well as to Hawaiian classics. His peculiar rhythmic, harmonic and melodic techniques influenced not only Hawaiian-styled musicians but also famed country and western swing steel guitarists, like Joaquin Murphy and Jerry Byrd
.
, writing and performing songs for her tours. A rare video exists of Hoʻopiʻi playing traditional hymns on his lap steel guitar, accompanied by Christian composer Phillip Stanley Kerr on the piano.
Kerr interestingly mis-pronounces Sol's name as "hope-y". (Note: prior to, and for years after, Hawaii's attaining statehood, many mainlanders mis-pronounced the state's name as How-Wah-Yah, leading to show biz jokes about the 50th state of "How Are Ya?" )
Titled Musical Moments with Sol Hoʻopiʻi and His Hawaiian Guitar, part of The Scriptures Visualized series, this was produced in 1942 by C.O. Baptista Films of Chicago. Part 2 of the video begins with Phil Kerr and Sol Hoʻopiʻi testifying about Hoʻopiʻi's Christian conversion, and contains a rare moment of Hoʻopiʻi doing a falsetto rendition of Kerr's composition I'm in Love with the Lover of my Soul.
with inventing the Hawaiian steel guitar about 1889 from an acoustic Spanish guitar. The invention of the electric steel guitar does have some connection to the Sol Hoʻopiʻi Trio in Los Angeles. Musician George Beauchamp
hired violin repairman John Dopyera
to build an instrument with amplification. Dopyera developed an electric guitar prototype. Beauchamp and Dopyera sought investors for a new company to manufacture and sell the instrument. Towards that end, they took the Sol Hoʻopiʻi Trio to demonstrate the instrument at a party hosted by millionaire Ted Kleinmeyer.
.
Bud Tutmarc, a Christian Hawaiian steel guitar player based in Seattle, was a close personal friend of Sol's and stated that Sol died in Seattle. On May 27, 1953, only 6 months before Sol's death, the two friends recorded a live Seattle performance of Indiana March (Sol on steel guitar); a three-in-one gospel medley (Sol and Bud steel guitar duet) - Mansion Over the Hilltop, It Is No Secret and Aloha Oe; a medley of At Calvary and Power In The Blood (Sol solo ukulele instrumental); and I'll Go With Him (ukulele and Sol vocals).
Tutmarc passed away December 4, 2006, and his web site photo page has a snapshot of Sol and Bud having what looks like a one-on-one jam session. (photo #6 of the "Middle Years" gallery)
Wherever he died, Hoʻopiʻi is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
.
Sol Hoʻopiʻi's guitar and memorabilia make an appearance in the 2004 novel The Celestial Jukebox.
Garrison Keillor
does a brief tip of the hat to "Sol Hoʻopiʻi and his Royal Hawaiians" in his 2004 novel Love Me
Author Simon Leng likens George Harrison
's slide guitar work with the Traveling Wilburys
to "a 1990s Sol Hoʻopiʻi" in his 2006 book on the works of the British legend.
The Steel Guitar Hall of Fame inducted Hoʻopiʻi in 1979.
, Waikiki Wedding
, and even some Charlie Chan
mystery movies. He also performed in the soundtrack for the Betty Boop
cartoon Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle
.
Compilation CD
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
. He was a Native Hawaiian guitarist, claimed by many as the all-time best lap steel guitar
Lap steel guitar
The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
virtuoso, and he is one the most famous original Hawaiian steel guitarists, along with Joseph Kekuku
Joseph Kekuku
-Biography:Kekuku was born in Lāie, a village on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaii. As a boy, he would experiment with guitar technique, sliding ordinary household objects across the strings to see what sounds could be produced. By the time he was an adult, he had developed a unique style of playing...
, Frank Ferera
Frank Ferera
Frank Ferera was a Hawaiian musician who recorded successfully between 1915 and 1930. He was the first star of Hawaiian music and influenced many later artists.-Biography:...
, Sam Ku West
Sam Ku West
Sam Ku West was an American steel guitar player from Honolulu, Hawaii he died in Neuilly sur Seine near Paris, France.-Career:West first performed professionally as a member of Irene West's touring band, adding the "West" surname to his birth name, Sam Ku, Jr....
and "King" Bennie Nawahi.
Early life
Born Solomon Hoʻopiʻi Kaʻaiʻai, in Honolulu, HawaiiHonolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
in 1902, into a large family, his birth making him the 21st child in the family.
As was the norm in Hawaiian families, Sol's family taught him to sing and play instruments by the time he could walk. He was playing 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....
by age three. By his teenage years the Hawaiian steel guitar had become his instrument of choice.
He made his debut with Johnny Noble
Johnny Noble
-Further reading:...
and his Orchestra. According to the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame, at age 17 Sol and two teenage friends stowed away on the ocean liner Matsonia
Matsonia
Matsonia may refer to:*Matsonia passenger steamship built for Matson Lines. Served as USS Matsonia in 1918-1919. Renamed Etolin in 1937 and served as USAT Etolin in 1940-1946. Scrapped in 1957....
. They were discovered by passengers who were so charmed by their musical performances that the other passengers took up a collection to pay their fares. They landed in San Francisco, played a few club engagements, and eventually made their way to Los Angeles. Sol's friends returned to Hawaii, and Sol formed a trio with new associates.
Sol Hoʻopiʻi Trio
By 1924, Hoʻopiʻi had moved to Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where he formed the Sol Hoʻopiʻi Trio, with Glenwood Leslie and Lani McIntyre
Lani McIntyre
Lani McIntyre was a Hawaiian guitar and steel guitar player who helped to popularize the instrument, which eventually became a mainstay in American country and western music....
, including sometimes additional musicians, and he successfully performed in the local and then very popular Polynesian-themed night venues. His first recordings in 1925-28 featured often jazzy improvisation.
He recorded his best known material 1933 to 1938, as Sol Hoopii's Novelty Trio, Novelty Quartette and Novelty Five on 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....
and 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...
labels, like the famous Hula Girl, Ten Tiny Toes, and many more brilliant Hawaiian hula
Hula
Hula is a dance form accompanied by chant or song . It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visual dance form....
and hapa-haole songs penned by the best Hawaiian composers like Johnny Noble and Sol Bright.
Preferring the acoustic lap steel guitar
Lap steel guitar
The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
, he switched to electric lap steel only around 1935 and developed an original tuning, in addition to the open A or open G tunings commonly in use at the time.
He very often apply bluesy and jazzy treatments to the Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
standards, as well as to Hawaiian classics. His peculiar rhythmic, harmonic and melodic techniques influenced not only Hawaiian-styled musicians but also famed country and western swing steel guitarists, like Joaquin Murphy and Jerry Byrd
Jerry Byrd
Gerald Lester "Jerry" Byrd was an American musician who played Lap steel guitar in country and Hawaiian music.-Career:...
.
Christian ministry
In 1938, Hoʻopiʻi gave up his secular career to join the evangelist Aimee Semple McPhersonAimee Semple McPherson
Aimee Semple McPherson , also known as Sister Aimee, was a Canadian-American Los Angeles, California evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and 1930s. She founded the Foursquare Church...
, writing and performing songs for her tours. A rare video exists of Hoʻopiʻi playing traditional hymns on his lap steel guitar, accompanied by Christian composer Phillip Stanley Kerr on the piano.
Kerr interestingly mis-pronounces Sol's name as "hope-y". (Note: prior to, and for years after, Hawaii's attaining statehood, many mainlanders mis-pronounced the state's name as How-Wah-Yah, leading to show biz jokes about the 50th state of "How Are Ya?" )
Titled Musical Moments with Sol Hoʻopiʻi and His Hawaiian Guitar, part of The Scriptures Visualized series, this was produced in 1942 by C.O. Baptista Films of Chicago. Part 2 of the video begins with Phil Kerr and Sol Hoʻopiʻi testifying about Hoʻopiʻi's Christian conversion, and contains a rare moment of Hoʻopiʻi doing a falsetto rendition of Kerr's composition I'm in Love with the Lover of my Soul.
Steel guitar invention
Philip Kerr mentions in the 1942 Baptista video that Hoʻopiʻi "was the originator of this electric guitar that he's playing." Hoʻopiʻi himself does not make that claim on camera. However, the claim comes up again in 1950, in a Florida Newspaper announcing, "Sol Hoopii, king of the Hawaiian guitar and originator of the electric guitar..." as part of the entertainment line-up for a church anniversary. Most historians credit Joseph KekukuJoseph Kekuku
-Biography:Kekuku was born in Lāie, a village on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaii. As a boy, he would experiment with guitar technique, sliding ordinary household objects across the strings to see what sounds could be produced. By the time he was an adult, he had developed a unique style of playing...
with inventing the Hawaiian steel guitar about 1889 from an acoustic Spanish guitar. The invention of the electric steel guitar does have some connection to the Sol Hoʻopiʻi Trio in Los Angeles. Musician George Beauchamp
George Beauchamp
George Delmetia Beauchamp was an inventor of musical instruments and a co-founder of National Stringed Instrument Corporation and Rickenbacker guitars....
hired violin repairman John Dopyera
John Dopyera
John Dopyera was a Slovak-American inventor and entrepreneur, and a maker of stringed instruments. His inventions include the resonator guitar and important contributions in the early development of the electric guitar....
to build an instrument with amplification. Dopyera developed an electric guitar prototype. Beauchamp and Dopyera sought investors for a new company to manufacture and sell the instrument. Towards that end, they took the Sol Hoʻopiʻi Trio to demonstrate the instrument at a party hosted by millionaire Ted Kleinmeyer.
Final days and death
Solomon Hoʻopiʻi Kaʻaiʻai died November 16, 1953. His place of death has been listed alternately as Los Angeles, California or Seattle, WashingtonSeattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
.
Bud Tutmarc, a Christian Hawaiian steel guitar player based in Seattle, was a close personal friend of Sol's and stated that Sol died in Seattle. On May 27, 1953, only 6 months before Sol's death, the two friends recorded a live Seattle performance of Indiana March (Sol on steel guitar); a three-in-one gospel medley (Sol and Bud steel guitar duet) - Mansion Over the Hilltop, It Is No Secret and Aloha Oe; a medley of At Calvary and Power In The Blood (Sol solo ukulele instrumental); and I'll Go With Him (ukulele and Sol vocals).
Tutmarc passed away December 4, 2006, and his web site photo page has a snapshot of Sol and Bud having what looks like a one-on-one jam session. (photo #6 of the "Middle Years" gallery)
Wherever he died, Hoʻopiʻi is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery is part of the Forest Lawn chain of Southern California cemeteries. It is at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, on the lower north slope at the far east end of the Santa Monica...
.
In popular culture
The Sol Hoʻopiʻi Trio appears as a house band wearing "...pink shirts and matching trousers, with red cummerbunds and leis..." in the 1998 novel Damned in Paradise.Sol Hoʻopiʻi's guitar and memorabilia make an appearance in the 2004 novel The Celestial Jukebox.
Garrison Keillor
Garrison Keillor
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality. He is known as host of the Minnesota Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio...
does a brief tip of the hat to "Sol Hoʻopiʻi and his Royal Hawaiians" in his 2004 novel Love Me
Author Simon Leng likens George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
's slide guitar work with the Traveling Wilburys
Traveling Wilburys
The Traveling Wilburys were an English–American supergroup consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty, accompanied by drummer Jim Keltner...
to "a 1990s Sol Hoʻopiʻi" in his 2006 book on the works of the British legend.
Awards
In 1996, Hoʻopiʻi became an honoree in the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame.The Steel Guitar Hall of Fame inducted Hoʻopiʻi in 1979.
Soundtracks
Hoʻopiʻi performed in a number of Hollywood "jazz" movies like His Jazz Bride, and later he was involved in the exotic movies craze, appearing notably in Bird of ParadiseBird of Paradise (1932 film)
Bird of Paradise is a 1932 American film directed by King Vidor, starring Dolores del Río, Joel McCrea, and Richard "Skeets" Gallagher and released by RKO Radio Pictures.-Plot:...
, Waikiki Wedding
Waikiki Wedding
Waikiki Wedding is a 1937 musical film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Bing Crosby. Bing plays the part of Tony Marvin, a PR man charged with extolling the virtues of Hawaii. The female lead is Shirley Ross....
, and even some Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1919. Loosely based on Honolulu detective Chang Apana, Biggers conceived of the benevolent and heroic Chan as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes, such as villains like Fu Manchu...
mystery movies. He also performed in the soundtrack for the Betty Boop
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in...
cartoon Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle
Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle
Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle is a 1932 Fleischer Studios Betty Boop animated short, directed by Dave Fleischer. It is now public domain.-Plot:...
.
Discography (partial)
78 RPM singles- Brunswick Sessions 1933-34
- Hula Girls - Brunswick 6768
- King Kamehameha - Brunswick 6873
- Ten Tiny Toes, One Baby Nose - Brunswick 6687
- King's Serenade - Brunswick 6950
- Decca Sessions 1938
- Twilight Blues - Decca 2560
- Stack O' Lee - Decca 2241
- Fascinatin' Rhythm - Decca 2280
- Farewell Blues - Decca 2241
Compilation CD
- Sol Hoʻopiʻi in Hollywood Grass Skirt
Filmography
- Radio Kisses (1930)
- Divorced Sweethearts (1930)
- Flirtation WalkFlirtation WalkFlirtation Walk is a 1934 romantic musical film written by Delmer Daves and Lou Edelman, and directed by Frank Borzage. It focuses on a soldier who falls in love with a general's daughter during the general's brief stop in Hawaii, but she leaves with her father for the Philippines before their...
(1934) - High Tension (1936)
- Hawaiian Nights (1939)