New arrivals from London! A few Hawaiian 78s. A couple Sol Hoopii tracks (reissues of American records) with a b-side by Linn Milford and His Hawaiian Players, the Hawaiian Silver Strings Quartet on British Columbia (which came in the neat sleeve seen below)
Sol Hoopii and His Novelty Quartet Don’t Stop Loving Me Regal Zonophone MR 3509 LA 41 10/4/1933
Sol Hoopii and His Novelty Quartet Iniki Malie (Song of the Breeze) Regal Zonophone MR 350 LA 352 2/16/1936
Sol Hoopii’s Novelty Trio Breeze (Blow My Baby Back To Me) Regal Mr79 W142796  10/18/26
Linn Milford and His Hawaiian Players Silv’ry Moon Regal Mr 79 (war 37) 3/7/1930
Hawaiian Silver Strings Quartet Kawaihau Waltz /Honolulu March Columbia 5431 146685/146686 5/25/28

I don’t know much about these records I found at the junk store other than the fact that they are recorded on audiodisc blanks… which means these are one of a kind and not mass produced. All of them are single sided with blank backs (other than what appears to be some test cutting on the back of one record) They seem to be demos from unknown artists.. Probably recorded on these discs as they were performed… possibly these are copies of other records.  Anyway, have a look at the labels and listen to the tunes. Maybe someone on the internet will know something about them.

” Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve seen” This partial song was cut onto the back on the above “Phyllis Moore” record:

Here’s a couple 78s by Sol Hoopii and His Novelty Quartette I just got. A couple of these songs were not available previously on the internet in any format.. Regal Zonophone was a british company that released Brunswick recordings in the UK. Those are identical to the Brunswick records of the same title.

 Pidgin English Hula b/w My Isle on Hilo Bay (1935) Regal Zonophone MR 3539

Pidgin English Hula

My Isle on Hilo Bay

Oh, Lady Be Good! b/w Aloha Beloved (1934) Brunswick 01780

Oh, Lady Be Good!

Aloha Beloved

Pua o’ Kealoha b/w Hawaiian Hula Song (1930) Regal Zonophone MR 217

Pua O’ Kealoha

Hawaiian Hula Song

Here’s what Lady Be Good! Sounds like on my acoustic phonograph:

Here’s a Few 78s by Roy Acuff and His Smoky Mountain Boys from the 1940s:

Streamlined Cannonball b/w Mule Skinner Blues (1940) Columbia 20038

There’s a Big Rock in the Road b/w Po’Folks (All The Time) (1947) Columbia 37345

This World Can’t Stand Long b/w It’s So Hard To Smile (1947) Columbia 20454

Here’s a record I found recently. Apparently the Edison company only produced these “Needle type Electric” records for a couple months in 1929 before getting out of the record business all together.

The Hotel Commodore Dance Orchestra (Under the Direction of Bernhard Levitow)
Where the Sweet Forget-Me-Nots Remember (Edison 14041L) b/w Smiling Irish Eyes (Edison 14041R)

And here’s what it sounds like on an acoustic player:

I just got back from Waikiki, and you can’t come away from there not hearing about Duke Kahanamoku. There’s a big statue of him there next to the beach. He was a legendary surfer from the early 20th century. Maybe the most famous surfer ever. Anyway,  while I was there I found a Sol Hoopii record on ebay with a  song about Duke that I didn’t know existed! What Luck! So I’ll share that with you below (as well as the B side of that record and another record I bought from the same seller).

Incidentally, no one there seemed to know Sol Hoopii or play his style of music there at all. No compilations at the record shops. No bands (that I saw down in the tourist areas anyway) playing Hot jazz at all. I wish there were more bands at the hotels etc playing 1930s style hawaiian music rather than the newer easy-listening singer-songwriter style… maybe that’s just what the tourists want now. Well, EXCEPT I did find a great radio show, Territorial Airwaves, that does play a LOT of the great old historical Hawaiian music from the 78 era. You can listen to Territorial Airwaves online from anywhere at anytime here! (it’s also broadcast on all Hawaiian Airlines flights). They did a whole show about Sol Hoopii (where he played the Duke Kahanamoku track and gave a little more context than I have here) and released a nice collection of his music on CD a while back which you should buy. It contains a very nice biography of Sol in it.

So here’s 2 78 records from Sol Hoopii and His Novelty Quartet:

Duke Kahanamoku

Opelu (Feast Song)

Orange Grove In California

Ten Tiny Toes – One Baby Nose (That’s all I’m Living For)

Little Jimmy Dickens just passed away yesterday. Very sad.. He was one of the last of the old Western swing artists. Someone who’s history, as the linked article notes, reached back to the era of Hank Williams and Roy Acuff. He was 94 years old.

Here’s a 78 I have of one of his hits:

Take an Old Cold ‘Tater and Wait b/w Pennies for Papa, 1948

Here’s a couple very nice Sol Ho’opi’i records on Brunswick. I Like You is probably Sol Ho’opi’i’s most famous record.

I Like You b/w Drifting and Dreaming (Brunswick 6787) 1933

Don’t Stop Loving Me b/w An Orange Grove in California (Brunswick 6752) 1933

Also Here is a video of my cat Tiny listening to An Orange Grove in California played on my windup RCA Victrola

Another oldie from Sol Ho’opi’i and His Novelty Quartet

 Kolo Pa  b/w My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua Hawaii

Brunswick 6704, 1933

This old Brunswick record sounds quite different played on my 1920s RCA Victor suitcase phonograph. You lose some low bass but you also lose a lot of the hiss. check out both versions here (first electrical modern turntable, second acoustic phonograph):

Seems to be a Hawaiian take on Back In Hackensack, New Jersey. Which I’ll upload here for comparison. This version is by Benson Orchestra Of Chicago. (from the compilation Dancing The Devil Away – 1920’s Dance Bands Vol. 2 – released By Stephen Worth a few years ago.. but it doesn’t seem to be available anymore..)

Back In Hackensack, New Jersey

Ted Weems and his Orchestra Heartaches b/w Piccolo Pete

1929, RCA Victor 20-2175 A/B

Dig that hot piccolo solo in Piccolo Pete. Anyone know who the soloist is there? Google has failed me.