“Hawai‘i had been promoting itself as paradise in the Pacific for half a century, landing squarely on America’s pop-culture map in 1915 when San Francisco’s Pan-Pacific Exhibition introduced hula girls, steel guitars, and ukeleles.”
“That year the mainland was swaying to songs like ‘On the Beach at Waikiki,’ ‘Song of the Islands,’ and ‘Hello, Hawaii‘, How Are You?’”
“Bing (Crosby) heard them on the family record player, and the following summer he watched Jolson light up Spokane’s Auditorium with ‘Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula.’ A fancy for ukeleles swept the nation in the 1920s.”
“Yet it was not until the mid-1930s, when Hawai‘i started its own recording industry and began broadcasting shortwave, that kindling was provided for an all-out Hawaiian vogue. Bing lit the match in the spring of 1937.” (Gary Giddins)
The year before, Bing was on an extended vacation in Hawai‘i. “Bing is said to have appeared in a rathskeller in the native district of Honolulu and acted as master of ceremonies besides singing. Also, he has discovered Harry Owens’ song ‘Sweet Leilani’”. (BingMagazine))
“‘As the choir was finishing the vocal chorus, I saw Bing moving in,’ Owens writes. “‘What’s the name of the song?’ he asked. ‘Sweet Leilani,’ I told him. … ‘Can’t pronounce it,’ said Bing, and he danced away.’”
“‘In 20 minutes, he was back at the bandstand. ‘How about playing that song again, Harry? You know, the one I can’t pronounce.’ We played ‘Sweet Leilani’ again. In fact, no less than five more times Bing requested the song he couldn’t pronounce.’” (Honolulu)
“After hearing the song, Bing asked Harry Owens if he could use it but Owens did not want to let it go as it was dedicated to his daughter, Leilani.”
“Bing finally convinced him to agree on the basis that a trust fund could be established into which all the royalties from the song could be put for the benefit of Harry’s daughter Leilani and any additional children that might come along.”
“The next morning after reaching this agreement, Bing and Harry met in a recording studio: ‘We’ll knock out a rough recording,’ said Bing. ‘Something to take back to Hollywood with me. But first Harry, just hum me the melody from the top all the way through. I want to be sure of every note. I don’t read music, you know.’”
“‘I hummed. Then Bing took over and tried it just once with the little group. How fast he learned! Once through and he knew it perfectly. Turning to Sakamoto, he said, ‘Okay, Joe, put on a pie.’ We made a rough recording and called it a day.” (Owens; (BingMagazine))
From December 19 through February 1937, “Bing films Waikiki Wedding with Shirley Ross, Bob Burns, Martha Raye, and Anthony Quinn. … It was originally planned to make the film in Hawai‘i in color but this idea had to be shelved because of Bing’s radio commitments.”
“Surely no mainlander, and very few islanders, honestly have had such a lengthy love affair with the Hawaiian Islands as Harry Owens. It’s a love affair that’s been productive of a whole clutch of fine songs”.
“When I think of all the songs I sang of Harry’s, one song in particular comes to mind. I had spent about a month in Hawaii, and while there, I heard, among others, a lovely song called ‘Sweet Leilani.’”
“I was to start a picture called ‘Waikiki Wedding’ on my return home, and I brought the song home with me, intent on using it in the picture, but the score for the film had already been written, and the producer was adamant in his refusal to try and squeeze in another one.”
“He had a point there, too, because the score, written for the picture by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin contained some lovely material. Such songs as ‘Blue Hawaii’. I fought manfully for the inclusion of ‘Sweet Leilani’, even to the point of walking off the picture for a day, and brooding at the golf course.”
“The song was already a hit in Honolulu, and it didn’t take any musical clairvoyant to discern that it would have similar success in the States.”
“I finally won my point, and the song was included in the picture, in a simple scene with a little Hawaiian child.” (Bing Crosby; BingMagazine)
“Harry Owens wrote this song in just an hour, to celebrate the birth of his daughter in 1934.” (Honolulu) Lyrics used in the film are:
Sweet Leilani
Heavenly flower
Tropic skies are jealous as they shine
I think they’re jealous of your blue eyes
Jealous because you’re mine
Sweet Leilani
Heavenly flower
I dreamed of paradise for two
You are my paradise completed
You are my dream come true
“(W)hen Bing Crosby sang the hapa-haole tune in his movie Waikīkī Wedding, it became a worldwide phenomenon … Harry B. Soria Jr. says, ‘It caught on hugely, even among an uninitiated Mainland audience, because it was a very nostalgic, lovely melody that was easy to remember.’” (Honolulu)
“‘Sweet Leilani’ dominated sales charts for an astonishing six months, more than a third of that period in the number one spot (it was pushed aside briefly by another Bing Crosby record, ‘Too Marvelous for Words’).”
“As the best-selling American disc in eight years, since the stock market crash, it was acclaimed as a turning point for the recording industry and a good sign for the national economy. That the record also boosted movie queues gave Hollywood reason to cheer as well.” (Gary Giddins)
“‘That was just one of the good things that happened to me through Harry Owens, his music, and his songs. I can’t think of anybody more knowledgeable, or more qualified, to write about Hawai‘i and what it means to him than Harry Owens.” (Bing Crosby; BingMagazine)
Follow Peter T Young on Facebook
Follow Peter T Young on Google+
Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn
Follow Peter T Young on Blogger
