Ever since my youth, I enjoyed listening to music. The rock and roll era had hit--Elvis, the Big Bopper, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Stones, the Beatles, and all those great motown groups. And there was folk, big band, and jazz, of course. But despite the popularity of mainstream music, I somehow bucked convention and gravitated toward that narrow little niche called country-western music.
HEY JIM, WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH THIS? YOUR ASSIGNEMENT WAS TO WRITE A BLOG ABOUT OUR HAWAIIAN CRUISE YOU DUFUS!! DO YOU HAVE A-D-D OR SOMETHING?
OK, just hang with me a bit and it will come clear, I promise.
As I matured (stop laughing, Jan!), I started listening more carefully to some of these country songs—you know, the ones about tractors and mama and cheatin’ and drinkin’ and jail. And no matter how corny the lyrics or nasally the timbre of the singer’s voice, there was just something about these songs that grabbed me…a sound that was missing from all the other popular music of the day.
JIM, I’M WARNING YOU, YOU BETTER START FOCUSING ON HAWAII!!!
OK, OK. It wasn’t until my first trip to Hawaii at the end of ’69 that I got my first real taste of Hawaiian music. Wow, there was that sound again…the sound that I always enjoyed about country music was alive and well here in the islands! Who knew?
Well, guess what I discovered? That magic sound I kept hearing in country-western music had it’s roots in….drumroll please….Hawaii!! Yep, way back in 1889 (or thereabouts) some Hawaiian yokel named Joseph Kekuku (that’s abbreviated, his full name would take an entire paragraph) dragged a piece of metal across the strings of his Spanish guitar. Intrigued, he made further refinements at his school’s machine shop, turning out a steel bar to slide over the strings. He also changed the strings from gut to steel and raised them so they wouldn’t hit the frets. From that day forward, Hawaiian music would never be the same. The Kika Kila, or steel guitar, had been born. The sound of this instrument would change Hawaiian music forever, and would soon have a huge impact on American music as well.
Hawaiian steel guitar started as an instrument laid across the player’s lap, hence the term “lap steel.” The player slides the steel bar to a point directly above the fret markers while plucking the strings with picks attached to the fingers of his right hand.
Over time the lap steel evolved to incorporate more strings and necks to support more tunings. Then legs were added so that the heavier instrument could stand on its own.
In the 1930’s electrical amplification was incorporated. That’s when “the sound” really came to life. Hawaiian music went mainstream, becoming very popular on the mainland in the 1920’s and 30’s. In fact, the sound of the steel guitar was prominent in the most popular program in radio history, “Hawaii Calls,” which broadcast from 1935 to 1975.
In the US, hillbilly bands quickly embraced the new sound and developed a new music style called Western Swing. In the early 1940’s and 50’s a few good ol’ country boys did some tinkering of their own, adding multiple foot pedals and knee levers to raise and lower the pitch of specific strings. And this, friends, is how the “Pedal Steel Guitar” came about. Whereas lap steel predominates in Hawaiian music, pedal steel is what gives country music that special “twang.”
Today, both lap and pedal steel guitars come in a wide range of shapes and configurations. Despite their differences, there is a commonality to them all—that unmistakable sound that uniquely flavors both Hawaiian and country-western music.
So there you have it. The complete, albeit abbreviated, history of the Kika Kila--steel guitar--the Hawaiian invention that literally changed the sound of music. I hope this brief intro will enrich your enjoyment of Hawaiian music as we cruise the islands in October.
For examples of some artistic and creative steel guitar music, click on the following youtube links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRyStdaFvYE The Moment (acoustic lap steel)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdTa9MzgF6s Sleepwalk (amplified lap steel)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnHL4R6bmOQ Song of the Islands (quad neck "lap" steel)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqmIKfL_VS4 Farewell Party (pedal steel)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awr4-uia1mI What a Friend (pedal steel)
Jim has asked me to make some changes to his article. Please note the end section of the blog article. It now has links that can access you easily to the appropriate YouTube Video reference. Check it out!
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