Sweet Leilani

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Sweet Leilani is a song by Harry Owens from 1934. It was first released in 1937 on the soundtrack of the film Waikiki Wedding , sung by Bing Crosby . At the Academy Awards in 1938 Owens received the Oscar for " Best Song " for his composition .

History of origin

In October 1934, the composer Harry Owens, then director of the orchestra at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikīkī , became a father for the first time. Owens wrote a lullaby for his newborn daughter Leilani, which he called Sweet Leilani and which is part of the Hawaiian music. In the weeks and months that followed, Owens played the song at the evening dances at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. One evening Bing Crosby was among the guests, who liked the song very much. Preparing for the film Waikiki Wedding , Crosby was so excited by Owen's song about Leilani that he suggested it to Paramount Pictures for the film. The song made it into the film, was sung by Bing Crosby and won the 1938 Oscar for " Best Song ". The song was hugely successful and became Crosby's first release to hit the 1 million sales mark. Owens himself released the song in 1957 on the Voice Of The Trade Winds album .

Chart success

Sweet Leilani reached number 1 on the US radio charts and stayed there for 28 weeks.

Cover versions

Sweet Leilani has received numerous covers, including 1956 by Benny Goodman and 1967 by The Waikiki’s . Jazz pianist Joe Bushkin published his interpretation of the song on the 1965 album Night Sounds of San Francisco . In 1981 Perry Como played it on tour and the recording was released on the LP Perry Como Live on Tour . On the 1988 released double live album You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 by Frank Zappa there is another version of the song, recorded in 1969 at a concert in Stratford . A recording by Elvis Presley was never intended for publication, but it found its way onto the CD In A Private Moment .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Leilani means heavenly lei or royal child , cf. Leilani in Hawaiian Dictionaries
  2. ^ Kristin Lawler: Radical: The image of the surfer and the politics of popular culture , University of New York, 2008; Pp. 117 and 120. here online at books.google, accessed on January 6, 2012.
  3. ↑ Lorene Ruymar: The Hawaiian steel guitar and its great Hawaiian musicians , 1996, p. 77. ISBN 1574240218 ; here online at books.google, accessed on January 6, 2012.