t was featured in a famous Shirley Temple movie hula vignette, and still
is heard behind TV advertising today. After 86 years, it's available on
recordings by dozens of artists (from Hawai'i's own Roland Cazimero to
the father of the Gibson solid body guitar, Les Paul). It is the tune
that started an industry, kicked off a craze and thereby changed history
and how we think about Hawai'i. It is "On the Beach at Waikiki" composed
by Henry Kailimai.
"On the Beach at Waikiki" seems like such a simple tune today. To understand its mana or power, try and imagine what it was like in America in 1915 when the song was published.
• America
in 1915
• Birth of an Industry
and a Craze
• Kailimai Bio
• Ford Hawai'ian Quintet
rizona had become the 48th state, just three years earlier. Hawai'i and Alaska
were still U.S. territories and decades away from becoming states. Both territories
seemed extremely far away and exotic.
"Aloha 'Oe" composed by Queen Lili'uokalani (picture at right) was probably the only Hawai'ian song known by the American public at the time. "Aloha 'Oe" was largely distributed via sheet music, as the recording industry was just getting underway.
The Great War was already going on in Europe but the United States had not yet entered the foray. The country was in the midst of celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the Pacific Ocean by the explorer Balboa, and rejoicing over the rebuilding of San Francisco after the devastation of the 1906 earthquake. All of these festivities were brought to a climax at the Pan Pacific International Exposition [PPIE] held in San Francisco in 1915.
Birth of an Industry and a Craze
ne of the more popular exhibits at the PPIE was the Hawai'ian exhibit. During
the hula dancing and music, a song was played. It was half in English and
half in Hawai'ian, or as the style came to be called hapa haole. The English
lyrics made it more accessible to non-Hawai'ian speakers. It was provocative;
it talked about an exotic place and a beautiful "sweet brown maiden." The
rhythm and melody were catchy and memorable. "On the Beach at Waikiki" was
an instant hit, and had many long-lasting ramifications.
Mainlanders wanted to go experience the islands for themselves. Tourists started booking passage on ocean liners in droves to go stay at the Pink Palace in Waikiki. Tourism became and still is the number one source of revenue in Hawai'i.
The American public went "crazy" for Hawai'ian music. Hawai'ian music dominated the popular American music industry for years.
At the turn of the 20th century, Tin Pan Alley was the name given to the publishing business that hired composers and lyricists on a permanent basis to create popular songs. Publishers used heavy promotional campaigns to market songs to the general public in sheet music form with attractive covers. Originally, Tin Pan Alley was a nickname given an actual street (West 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue) in Manhattan where many of the fledgling popular music publishers had their offices. In time, it became the generic term for all publishers of popular American sheet music, regardless of their geographic location. With the popularity of "On the Beach at Waikiki," Tin Pan Alley started cranking out knockoff Hawai'ian songs. Most of these songwriters had never been to Hawai'i. Since they had no knowledge of the Hawai'ian language, songs that made no sense were published—and sold thousands of copies like "O, How She Could Yacki Hacki Wicki Woo."
Many companies like Sears got into the 'ukulele manufacturing business to keep up with the public's demand for the instruments they needed to play Hawai'ian or Tin Pan Alley songs.
Henry Ford of the Ford Motor Company visited the Hawai'i Exhibit at PPIE. He was so enraptured with the music that on October 27, 1915, he wrote a letter to H.P. Woods, the Resident Commissioner of the Hawai'i Exposition Commission at PPIE, asking that five of the Hawai'ian musicians be allowed to travel with their families to Detroit, Michigan under his auspices to engage in work as musicians. Those five musicians were: Frank Kema, William Lincoln, Robert Waialeale, Gordon Piianaia and Henry Kailimai.
enry K. Kailimai [1882-1948], born in the Kohala District on the Big Island
of Hawai'i, the son of William Henry and Kaaipelana Kailimai, became an
accomplished musician and teacher of music. He moved to Oahu where he
was a respected member of the LDS or Mormon Church and played organ for
church services. He was also a protégé of Ernest Kaai, the
first major Hawai'ian talent agent, and worked around the island playing
as one of Kaai's musicians.
In 1902, Henry married Louisa [Luika] Opu. Louisa was born on the island of Maui in 1883, the daughter of Solomon and Kahalealiilii Opu. Island legend and song tell of Solomon Opu, seven feet tall, and so strong he could carry 300-pound bales of cotton, one under each arm.
Over the years, Henry's talent for writing songs and making music brought him island fame. Music was his life, and it ultimately earned him an international reputation that warranted an invitation to perform at the PPIE in San Francisco.
In published accounts of the Exposition, Henry's Royal Hawai'ians were listed as a star attraction. One of the many people captivated by Kailimai's musical talents was Henry Ford who invited him to Detroit to become a resident musician providing music for Ford Motor Company entertainment functions.
Kailimai took Henry Ford's offer of work in the Midwest. By December 1915, Louisa and seven of their children had joined him in San Francisco, and the family was on its way to Detroit. One son, John, was given to a cousin of Louisa who was barren. John was brought up on the island of Ni'ihau with the Oliva family. As a teenager, he moved first to Oahu and then joined the Kailimai family in Detroit.
hile in the employment of Ford, Henry Kailimai was the manager of what became
known as the Ford Hawai'ian Quintet. This group of musicians would perform
regularly at company functions and were booked for private parties as well.
In 1916, the group traveled to Orange, New Jersey where they played for employees of the Thomas A. Edison company. According to a letter sent to Ford's secretary by an Edison employee, the Quintet met and made a hit with Mr. and Mrs. Edison. The group eventually played at the marriage of Edison's daughter, and went on to the Edison Recording Studio in New York where they made several records.
During all this time, Ford's only stipulation was that the Ford Hawai'ian Quintet confine themselves to Hawai'ian music as they had done in the Hawai'i Building during the Exposition. The stipulation was not a confinement but rather a goal for Henry Kailimai who worked at maintaining the Hawai'ian-ness in his music throughout his life.
Hawai'ian music scholars and family members speculate that Henry Kailimai wrote many more songs during his lifetime than he is given credit for now. Perhaps he sold them to other musicians who published them under their own name. Or perhaps they've just been lost over the years. There is documentation however, naming him as the composer of "Little Honolulu Lou," "Sweet Brown Maid of Kaimuki," "Paradise Isle," and of course his most popular tune, "On the Beach at Waikiki."
