King Bennie Nawahi

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King Bennie Nawahi with his guitar

"King" Bennie Nawahi (born July 3, 1899 in Honolulu , Hawaii Territory , † January 29, 1985 in Long Beach , California ) was an American musician who played Hawaiian music. He was also called the King of the Hawaiian Guitar .

Life

Childhood and youth

Bennie Nawahi was born in Honolulu ( Oʻahu , Hawaiʻi) as Benjamin Keakahiawa Nawahi . As a child he learned the ukulele , steel guitar and mandolin . He taught himself to play and was a professional musician by the age of 20. As a teenager he performed in the parks of Honolulu until he joined his brother Joe's band. Together with the Hawaiian Novelty Five , he performed on a sailing ship to entertain the crew. The ship sailed regularly from San Francisco to Honolulu.

Career

After going to sea until 1919, he toured the United States with a vaudeville show called the Orpheum Vaudeville Circuit . He left the band in the early 1920s and focused on his solo career.

At the end of the decade he recorded various records for Columbia Records , RCA Records and a few other labels. He played with various bands such as the Four Hawaiian Guitars , the Hawaiian Beach Combers and the QRS Boys . He then moved to Los Angeles , where he formed his own band, King Nawahi and the International Cowboys . The later actor and country star Roy Rogers also played in this band at the time . Nawahi combined traditional Hawaiian music with blues and jazz , which contributed significantly to its popularity. He influenced Jerry Byrd , who gained great fame in the 1940s. But Nawahi was hit by a personal setback. When he drove home from a concert in 1935, he lost his sight for inexplicable reasons. His doctors were unable to restore his eyesight. Despite his disability, Nawahi continued his career with success. He was also involved as a competitive athlete. He trained for long distance swimming races, in which he was not unsuccessful. He was the only blind athlete to swim from San Pedro to Catalina Island, a distance that took him approximately 22 hours. Nawahi performed publicly until the mid-1970s when he was partially paralyzed by a stroke .

King Bennie Nawahi died in 1985 at the age of 86.

Title (selection)

  • Hawaiian Melody
  • Honolulu Bound
  • California blues
  • Guitar rhythm
  • Waikiki Blues
  • My Girl From The South Sea Isles

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ According to other information, so in SSDI , 1897.
personal data
SURNAME Nawahi, King Bennie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nawahi, Benjamin Keakahiawa (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American country singer
DATE OF BIRTH July 3, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Honolulu
DATE OF DEATH January 29, 1985
Place of death Long Beach (California)