The Aloha String Quartet, 1927

Website · Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 18 May 2007 2:23 pm

From the Changing Times exhibit at UCLA. Anyone know anything about these guys?

Gary Lynch · Post by **Gary Lynch** » 18 May 2007 2:48 pm

Was there a tricone out in 1927? I thought 1928 was the earliest?

"National resonator instruments made from 1928 to 1940 were louder than conventional acoustic guitars of the era. They were also very popular with Hawaiian and Blues musicians in the late 1920's and early 1930's."

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 18 May 2007 3:04 pm

Love the microphone.

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 18 May 2007 3:14 pm

1927 was the first year ... I have a '27 (via Paul Warnik).

I was always afraid to buy one ... knowing very little about resonators ...

But when I saw Mr. Warnik selling a few of his ... I couldn't resist.

And I'm glad I did ... its a beauty and sounds better than it looks.

It's in the Brozman Book ... # 227 ... Style 1

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 18 May 2007 3:31 pm

You are right Mike, cool microphone

The guy on the steel looks like a guy I saw on an old "wanted by the FBI" poster.

Regards BILL

Gary Lynch · Post by **Gary Lynch** » 18 May 2007 3:33 pm

Alright, yes indeed it's there. Looks like very few were made in 1927.

The player of the tricone in this photos looks like an Islander?

Darrell Urbien · Post by **Darrell Urbien** » 18 May 2007 6:27 pm

I'm going to guess this is for KHJ, the Times' radio station in those days (Chris Knutsen was an early performer as well, on harp-steel guitar). This is a great shot! I'll have to dig through my saved LA Times searches, but I can probably tell you who the players are from old newspaper clippings, and maybe find a review of the band. The name really sounds familiar... Great find!

Darrell Urbien · Post by **Darrell Urbien** » 18 May 2007 6:58 pm

OK, here's what I could find in my records. There may be more/different info but this is all I saved on my local hard drive.

In 1925 there was a performance on KHJ by the "Aloha Trio" which comprised:

Robert Kauahi, steel guitar
R. Vierra, ukulele
Ben Kekua, guitar

(all printed spellings, so please forgive if any are in error)

Vierra later would go on to form his own group, I believe.

The Times review states they played "strictly Hawaiian music."

Then on September 25, 1927, from 8-10pm, the Times Aloha String Quartet were featured on KHJ. According to the next day's review:

"The Times Aloha String Quartet furnished the group numbers on the studio broadcast including popular airs and tunes of the day, interspersed with piano solos by Clyde Jewett and Steel guitar selections by Noah Allinkov, both members of the quartet."

From looking at the photos, the steel players look VERY similar. But keep in mind the photo I'm looking at for the 1925 date is much less clear than this one from 1927. If they are the same person (Kauahi) then I suppose either the paper's review could be wrong, or someone else in the band may have doubled on steel (not uncommon) and he was the one who performed the solo.

I find it very interesting mandocello is being used in this setting (playing bass parts, I would guess?).

George Keoki Lake · Post by **George Keoki Lake** » 19 May 2007 7:03 am

It's probably an impossible dream...but wouldn't it be nice if an old recording survived featuring this group ? It's been known to happen and often found in the old record library archives of long established radio stations.

http://www3.telus.net/public/lake_r/

AJ Azure · Post by **AJ Azure** » 19 May 2007 10:01 am

There happens to be a company that makes a replica of that microphone in a dynamic mic format. those old carbon mics were very hissy but, looked awesome.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 19 May 2007 10:31 am

Look at the audience on the right! And another guitar player standing in the shadows on the left. The twin birdcages! Great photo!

Les Cook · Post by **Les Cook** » 19 May 2007 2:36 pm

The Ben Kekua you mentioned ,Darrell, was a member of Sam Ku West's band in 1928 .There's a photo of him in the booklet to our Grass Skirt CD of Sam Ku West on page 9. Doesn't resemble any of the musicians in Brad's picture .
Vierra's Hawaiians were a popular touring troupe in the 20s and early 30s ...there must be photos of those guys

Website · Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 19 May 2007 4:54 pm

Vierra's Hawaiians were a popular touring troupe in the 20s and early 30s ...there must be photos of those guys.

Yes, there is.
There's also Vierra's Royal Hawaiian Singers and Players.

Michael Lee Allen · Post by **Michael Lee Allen** » 20 May 2007 9:15 am

REMOVED

Darrell Urbien · Post by **Darrell Urbien** » 20 May 2007 10:10 am

On second look, the steel players don't look all that much alike. I got fooled by the hair...

Thanks for the tip, Les, I'll go home and look at my copy of the booklet to confirm Kekua's presence in the 1925 Times picture. If it's him then that would identify all the members of the trio.

In that case, I'm going to guess the steel player's name (in the 1927 UCLA photo) IS Noah Allinkov. I tried searching for that name in the LA Times Historical database, but couldn't find anything. That doesn't necessarily mean there's nothing there, though. I think the LA Times uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to handle microfilm searches - no human could be tasked to do such an enormous and boring task. But sometimes the OCR misses stuff. For example searching for Knutsen didn't find most of the stuff I've found on Knutsen, even though his name was spelled correctly and fairly prominent in the articles. Sometimes you have to go about it the long way 'round, searching for things like performance reviews, etc.

Interesting about Vierra. If it's the same guy (again have to look closely again at the pictures) his 1923 band had a Knutsen (Seattle era) harp guitar. In 1923, Knutsen is already in Los Angeles. Did the HG player buy the guitar in Seattle? Lots of Hawaiians in Seattle too. Or did he buy it in LA? It's also entirely possible he got it second hand, in either city... Or neither city...

It's interesting to look at these old photos and wonder whether all these people knew each other... The locations where people lived, worked, and played in LA were all so close. I get the feeling there was a real "community" of musicians and luthiers... In the teens/'20s - Weissenborn, Knutsen, the Schiresons, the Dopyeras; later - Rickenbacher, Dickerson, Fender... All vying for the attention of up and coming players. These are the things I'll probably never know for sure but are fun to think about.

John Bushouse · Post by **John Bushouse** » 20 May 2007 10:27 am

Darrell, I am patiently (or impatiently) awaiting your Knutsen Achives article. I just got the latest Aimee Semple McPherson book in the mail. I'm pretty sure there aren't any musical references in there, but I'm interested in learning more a movement involving both Knutsen and Sol Ho`opi`i.

Darrell Urbien · Post by **Darrell Urbien** » 20 May 2007 10:36 am

Yeah, you and Gregg both.

George, I wish I could find old recordings for KHJ (and for KFSG, Aimee Semple McPherson's station - which would have Sol Hoopii, CS Delano, possibly Knutsen, and other Hawaiian acts). Unfortunately the dates are a problem, as recording broadcasts off the air was not really possible back then (at least according to the Library of Congress librarian I spoke to).

Colin Brooks · Post by **Colin Brooks** » 21 May 2007 4:03 am

A uke playing R. Vierra who was in LA at the time was the Bob Vierra who played, and was photographed with Sol Hoopii. He is on the left in this pic.

The pre production tricones with extra holes that Bob, Sol and Buddy Silva are holding date from early/mid 1927 according to Bob Brozman

Darrell Urbien · Post by **Darrell Urbien** » 21 May 2007 10:34 am

He looks a lot like the player in the Aloha Trio press photo from 1925. But not so much like anybody in the Vierra's Hawaiians chautauqua cards. I dug a little more through the UofI site and found out why - the Vierra in those cards is Albert Vierra (a relation?).

Dan Sawyer · Post by **Dan Sawyer** » 21 May 2007 11:34 am

The young woman backstage on the left is holding a cello.

Great photo by the way, thanks for posting it.

Darrell Urbien · Post by **Darrell Urbien** » 28 Feb 2008 4:54 pm

I know you were all holding your breath on this one, so just wanted to let you know...

Further research confirms the steel player is Noah Allinkov (or Allinokov).