CoronaVinyl Day 141 (Hawaii): Waikiki by Ed Kamanaloha Kenney

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is Hawaii, and I actually have a couple albums with Hawaiian music.  Granted, I have no idea how or when I obtained them, but I assure you, it was all legal.

My choice for today is Ed Kamanaloha Kenny's 1965 album Waikiki, named, of course, after the famous neighborhood in Honolulu.  Kenney was a native Hawaiian, born to a Hawaii-Chinese mother and a Swedish-Irish father.  He released seven albums of Hawaiian music between 1960 and 1977, and prior to that, he had success on Broadway, particularly as the romantic lead in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song.  His second wife was a hula dancer named Beverly Noa.  How Hawaiian is that?  He and Beverly headlined shows at the legendary Royal Hawaiian Hotel and the Halekulani Hotel for many years, and he was also the headliner at a popular Waikiki nightclub called Don the Beachcomber's.

Recorded in Hawaii, the album is exactly what you'd expect and want from Hawaiian music.  Kenney's soft baritone lays the aural scene for easy listening songs about the islands, some in English and some in Hawaiian.  These are the types of songs that you would want to be listening to as you're lounging on a beach with a tropical drink in your hand.

The album isn't on Spotify, but I found YouTube videos foe each side, so I embedded those below.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Waikiki"

The title track is a dreamy ode to Waikiki, as the title implies.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Kalalea"
Kalalea is a famous mountain in Kauai that has appeared in many films, including Raiders of the Lost Ark, Six Days, Seven Nights, and Tropic Thunder.  The song is sung in Hawaiian, so I have no idea if it's full of expletives.