When growing up on O‘ahu, we’d often go down to the lobby of the Ala Moana Hotel and listen to Cyrus Green sing.
It is difficult to describe, listening and loving his music; folks, then, were listening to other stuff. But it was a special treat to see him at the Ala Moana.
In the late-1970s, when I opened an office in Kona, Cyrus helped us celebrate the occasion with his music.
In 2008, the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts awarded Cyrus Green a Nā Hōkū Hanohano Lifetime Achievement Award. It was a well-deserved recognition.
Decades ago, Herb Kāne drew a tribute to Cyrus Green; it is three images of Cyrus. You can see in it the humble, gentle man that he was.
Posters of it were made and Herb inscribed, signed and sent me one. It’s framed and, ever since, has a prominent place above my desk. For me, it’s Cyrus and Herb watching over me.
Here is a tribute and some of his songs from Territorial Airwaves (click the link on that page):
https://territorialairwaves.com/index.php?page=30&id=249
Cyrus Lamb Green was born in Honolulu on April 18, 1935; he was second of 4 children born to Harry Wiggin Green & Jeannie Ka‘ehukai Nahale.
Raised in Kalihi & Liliha, he moved to Mānoa in early 1940s. He graduated from ‘Iolani in 1952. Cyrus played bars, lounges and showrooms in Honolulu and Waikiki.
When Tihati Productions offered him the headliner job at their new King Kamehameha Hotel show in Kona, he packed up his family and moved there permanently.
I don’t consider it a coincidence that my first appraisal assignment (an appointment without any prior notice) was valuing the estate of Cyrus Green; it started me on a long and significant phase of my career. Cyrus died March 10, 1982; I miss him.
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