Early Music Memories

My parents brought me to Hawaii sometime around my 4th or 5th month. There was time for them to set up house in Schofield Barracks, ahead of my Father's ASA assignment in Korea. There was even time for some sight-seeing. My memories are mostly a jumble. But a few things stand out.

For one thing, there was a record player, from which there came sounds of interest. I didn't know what the sounds meant at the time, but I eventually found out. Bing Crosby was my parents' favorite. This wasn't one of the records we had in 1949, but it came to be my own all-time favorite not much later, and it gives the flavor of Crosby's singing for those too young to know who he was.



Then there was a trip to what must have been a mock ancient Hawaiian village. During our visit my Father carried me on his shoulders so I could see over a crowd. Some performers sang and danced to a Hawaiian chant. Two years later I recited the chant from memory to my Hawaiian friends. Here is a clear modern recording of the first half, which is the half they discussed, before getting into an argument over one of the lines (the last line you hear), by Halau Hula Ka No'Eau. It is the song of King David Kalakaua that begins Kaulilua I Ke Anu O Wai`ale`ale.



After that I had a long-lasting prejudice against the record player music. It wasn't that the sounds were bad, but there were no people in the record player. At the Hawaiian village there had been people.