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A Forgotten Album: Kalapana Plays Southern All Stars
Today is a special day, my girlfriend’s birthday! This post is in honor of her and her Japanese roots. It’s also a post about a Kalapana album that not many people know about. Enjoy!
Kalapana sat down in 1991 to create what should be a monumental album in their long list of recordings, but has been largely overlooked in their discography. My guess is that people enjoy the 1970s and 80s sound of Kalapana, but never really got used to the 90s sound of this CD.
Kalapana plays Southern All Stars—featuring ten tunes written by prolific songwriter Keisuke Kuwata—showcases the Hawaii group singing some of Japan’s most beloved songs from the 1970s and onward.
I once read that Southern All Stars is to Japan what Kalapana is to Hawaii.
It took me a long time to track down this CD which never made it to vinyl as far as I know.
Kalapana translated all ten songs from Japanese to English from the CD. A big challenge that succeeded by keeping the meaning of the original lyrics intact.
My girlfriend’s favorite Sazan song is “Itoshi no Ellie”, and we’ve been playing it on repeat for months now.
The details:
1. Sorry To Make You Cry (Keisuke Kuwata & Kalapana)
2. Unaware (Keisuke Kuwata & Kalapana)
3. Just A Little Bit (Keisuke Kuwata & Kalapana)
4. Miss Brand-New Day (Keisuke Kuwata & Kalapana)
5. Ya Ya (Keisuke Kuwata & Kalapana)
6. Melody (Keisuke Kuwata & Kalapana)
7. Please! (Keisuke Kuwata & Kalapana)
8. Capricious (Keisuke Kuwata & Kalapana)
9. Ellie My Love (Keisuke Kuwata, Varnes & Hawkins)
10. Big Wave (Keisuke Kuwata & Kalapana)
Executive Producers : Yoshiya Omata & Tom Sassa
Produced by Kenji Sano
Recorded at Garden Rake, California; Village Recorders, California (The Steve Lindsey Studio) & M-Bar, Osaka
Mixed at Garden Rake
Engineered by Gaylor Holomalia
Assistant Engineers : Greg Loskorn, Eric Anest & Hideo Ueda
Kalapana :
Malani Bilyeu : Guitars & Vocals
Mackey Feary : Guitars & Vocals
Gaylord Holomalia : Keyboards
D.J. Pratt : Guitars
Kenji Sano : Bass & Vocals
Additional musicians :
Alex Acuna : Percussion
Tris Imboden : Drums
Michael Paulo : Sax
James Studer : Keyboards & Vocals
Aura “Yesterday’s Love”
Since my interview with Toshi, whose label Cool Sound reissued an album by Aura, I’ve been meaning to post my own videos of Aura’s music… but why wait if someone else has one up?
Here’s an outstanding track about love lost, called “Yesterday’s Love”. It gives me chills to listen to! Her voice is so innocent, longing, and sad. Maybe it’s the lyrics that add that extra touch of sorrow? (BTW, I understand songs better when I write out the lyrics. Some lines might be wrong, though). Dig the funky bass lines, breakdown with hand claps, massive horns, and a *sparse* yet *bouncy* chorus. Know what I’m saying? Is it a perfect song? I think so!
I’ve been trying so hard to make you see
That loving me, baby, is just trying to set you free
I can’t understand the reason why
The certain change inside of you
That made you want to say goodbye
Yesterday’s Love, gone forever
Someone’s taking you away from me
(You know) I can’t forget the love we shared together
Baby stay, I’m still begging you, please
You had me believe in you
When you told me our love is true
You said I was the only one
Who keeps you from feeling blue
Now I realize all of your sorry lies
We were never gonna make it
All the while I played the fool
Yesterday’s Love, gone forever
Someone’s taking you away from me
(You know) I can’t forget the love we shared together
Baby stay, I’m still begging you, please
Yesterday’s Love, gone forever…
How can I forget the years we’ve been together?
Going through those changes, All the sacrifices I did
That hurt me deep inside, when you said it was over
The love we shared I can’t have when all you wanted was a friend
Yesterday’s Love, gone forever
Someone’s taking you away from me
(You know) I can’t forget the love we shared together…
A Few Finds
Recent plans to go back to the islands for a short vacation have fallen through, so I’m left digging for Hawaiian records some 2500 miles away from Honolulu.
Can’t say that these albums satisfied my need to dig through bins at Hungry Ear, Jelly’s, Rainbow’s, and all the thrift stores on O’ahu. But it was a big relief to find three of these at my doorstep when I got home (i.e. eBay/internet finds). Expect more on these soon (maybe the Kalapana LP is already too well-known to post about, but who knows if something will come of it).
Cool Sound / Cool Hawaii Japanese Record Label
Aside from say, Mackey Feary’s Black & White CD, there haven’t been too many reissues of Hawaiian LPs in the U.S. (at least the kine I’m looking for). But do you remember what I said about those Japanese record enthusiasts? Needless to say, some of the best Hawaiian funk/soul/jazz has been re-released on CD via Japanese label Cool Sound, as well as its Cool Hawaii imprint.
It’s hard for me to tell, but some of these reissues might not be available anymore. If they are, I’ll gladly buy the whole lot the next time I visit Japan (whenever that is…). Most of the Cool Hawaii reissues were released in 2003-4, and there’s been a few Cool Sound reissues of Hawaiian artists. Why am I blogging about this? I can’t find a Cool Sound/Cool Hawaii discography available in English, and reading katakana is tedious for me, so I’ll compile that list here:
COOL HAWAII
Number :: Artist :: Album Title
COHI-1001 :: Ray Gooliak:: Home Away From Home
COHI-1002 :: Ray Gooliak :: Isle Say
COHI-1003 :: Tender Leaf :: S/T
COHI-1004 :: Mackey Feary & Nite Life :: S/T
COHI-1005 :: Mackey Feary :: Touch Sensitive
COHI-1006 :: Island Band :: I’m Your Capitan
COHI-1007 :: V/A :: Island Mellow 1, Hawaiian AOR Now & Then
COHI-1008 :: Lance Jyo :: Dreamwalking
COHI-1009 :: At Second Glance (V/A) :: At Second Glance + 2
COHI-1010 :: V/A :: Island Mellow 2, Hawaiian AOR Now & Then
COHI-1011 :: Toma/Natto :: Revisited
COHI-1012 :: Richard Natto :: Won’t Take No For An Answer
COHI-1013 :: Toma/Natto :: 3XO/Third Time Around
COHI-1014 :: Richard Natto :: Richard’s St.
COHI-1015 :: George Street :: Living On Daydreams
COHI-1016 :: George Street :: Magic Lady
COHI-1017 :: George Street :: Seasons
COHI-1018 :: Mike Lundy :: The Rhythm of Life
COHI-1019 :: Mike Lundy :: Inner Flame
COHI-1020 :: Maurice Bega :: 2 Hearts
COHI-1021 :: V/A :: Island Mellow 3, Hawaiian AOR Now & Then
COHI-1022 :: Audy Kimura :: Looking For “The Good Life”
COHI-1023 :: Audy Kimura :: A Gift Of Song
COHI-1024 :: Johnson Enos :: S/T
COOL SOUND (Hawaiian artists only)
COOL-114 :: Aura :: S/T
COOL-115 :: Nightwing :: Island Holiday
COOL-118 :: Music Magic :: S/T
COOL-119 :: Music Magic :: One Man Lady
Wow, I have only a few of these right now (bold). I need to hear more! I wonder why they stopped Cool Hawaii at 24 releases? And how much else is Cool Sound is hiding from us? Hmm…
Babadu – Babadu!
When you live in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, you wake up everyday and it’s beautiful outside. When you live in the Pacific Northwest, summer stops by for two months or so. The rest of the year you wake up and it’s gray, dreary and rainy outside.
That’s why I like Babadu. His music is sunny (do I use that term too much?), and it’s reminiscent of the happy, heavenly sound of Stevie Wonder, whose songs are always full of joy (or joyous sorrow). Babadu even grunts and shouts, just like Stevie. One listen and I feel like smiling—even if the blue sky is nowhere to be seen in Portland, Oregon.
His LP was produced by Kirk Thompson, one of the original members of Kalapana. Thompson’s “All I Got to Give” stands out as one of the best tracks on the album. It’s a jazzier, cooler version than Lemuria’s (whose LP Thompson also produced). But unlike Lemuria’s female vocalist, Babadu sounds like he really believes in this song. His voice convinces me that his soul is reaching out with every lyric. While the Lemuria version is funky, it doesn’t move me emotionally (it’ll get me dancing though).
Lui Williams + a confession
I started ALOHA GOT SOUL out of a passion for this music. Every album I blog about is not in my record collection, and I don’t have a library of knowledge stored in my head either. I’m here because I want to learn more, discover great music and share what I find. In the future I’ll own these records if I’m lucky to come across them!
Which brings me to the album Lui, by Maui guitarist Lui Williams. What the full album sounds like is a mystery to me. So far I’ve come across two snippets: “My Lover” and “Oh, Oh (I Think I’m Fallin’ in Love)”. The first is a laid-back jazz track about longing for a certain someone. This makes me want to walk barefoot in the sand.
On the upbeat side is “Oh, Oh”, with twangy rhythm guitar accented by Lui’s own soloing (I’m guessing). Beyond the chorus is a single lyric, “I would like to know / What it’s like to be in love”. I’d like to know whether Lui dubbed his own vocals, or if background singers are helping him.
Rip Curl Recordings (Japan) recently pressed a limited run of Lui CDs. I have yet to find an online store with any left in stock.
Lui still performs on Maui. Plus, he’s got a MySpace with two nice tracks, “My Maui” and “Paoa Liko Kalehua”. Pretty mean, Lui!
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