Oahu Music Company
Cleveland, Ohio , United States | |
Area served | International |
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Products | Steel guitars, Spanish guitars, accordions, amplifiers, music, music instruction, music publications, music accessories |
The Oahu Music Company was a music education program in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s to teach students to play the Hawaiian Guitar. Popular culture in America became fascinated with Hawaiian music during the first half of the twentieth century[1] and in 1916, recordings of indigenous Hawaiian instruments outsold every other genre of music in the U.S.[2] By 1920, sales of Hawaiian guitars and instruction had become well established and Oahu Music Company was the leading purveyor of these programs.[3][4]: 70 The organization canvassed nearly every city in the United States, often door-to-door, selling both their Oahu-brand instruments and lessons for young people to join their weekly classes.[5]
Oahu Music was founded in
Harry G. Stanley
Oahu's founder, Harry Stanley had a flair for showmanship.
The company published a magazine called "The Guitarist " in the late 1930s which was sent to their mail order students worldwide. The name was later changed to "Music Magazine ". It was largely a promotional tool to keep students interested, but also an advertising means for Oahu products. The company sold guitars, amplifiers, sheet music, and accessories
Notable former students
One of Oahu's young pupils in the 1930s was
Bud Isaacs was another hall of fame (1994) steel guitarist who took Oahu courses as a youth. Isaacs' mother enrolled him in Oahu's school located above the local confectionary in Bedford, Indiana about 1938.[12]: 246 Isaacs did not care for the Hawaiian music he was being taught, preferring the jazzier Western swing music (and tunings) of Noel Boggs.[13] Nevertheless, Isaacs persisted in his studies.[12]: 246 He went on to perform professionally with country artists including Red Foley, Little Jimmy Dickens, and Chet Atkins on the road and in recording sessions.[14] Isaacs made country music history in 1954 as the first person to play pedal steel guitar on a hit record.[15]
Doug Jernigan a steel guitarist born in Pensacola, Florida, took lessons from Oahu as a youth in the late 1950s.[16] He played country music on a lap steel, then went to pedal steel.[17]: 36 He became a successful session musician in Nashville and branched out into jazz, making nine instrumental albums in both jazz and country genres. He is a frequent performer on the Grand Ole Opry and was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1994.[17]: 36
Lloyd Green is another Hall of Fame[18] steel player who began with Oahu.[19] In 1944 at age seven Green's family was told he was too young for Oahu lessons, the minimum age being fourteen. After a "test lesson" showed his aptitude, the rule was waived. Green played on thousands of country music recordings over a quarter-century beginning in the mid-1960s.[19]
References
- ^ "Bird of Paradise Brought Hawaiian Music Fad East". The Washington Herald. No. 4188. April 14, 1918. p. 1. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
- ^ Shah, Haleema (April 25, 2019). "How the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed American Music". smithsonianmag.com. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ a b Wright, Michael (November 28, 2018). "Island Style: How Hawaiian Music Helped Make the Guitar America's Instrument". acousticguitar.com. Acoustic Guitar. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ ISBN 1574240218.
- ^ Bradshaw, Tom. "Jeff Newman: Steel's Foremost Instructor". Steel Guitarist. 3 (September 1, 1979).
- ^ "Elbern H "Eddie" Alkire Personal Papers and Music Instrument Collection, 1926-1997archon.library.illinois.edu". archon.library.illinois.edu. University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ Beaumier, Doug (May 21, 2013). "The Guitarist Magazine". bb.steelguitarforum.com.
- ^ a b Bromham, Nathan. "Guitar List: Oahu Guitars". guitar-list.com. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ ISBN 9781574241341.
- ^ Leavelle, Charles (August 16, 1941). "Music Festival On Tonight; It's Finest of All". Vol. C, no. 196. Chicago Tribune. pp. 1–2. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
- ^ Scott, Michael (1979). "The Pedal Steel Pages/Hall of Fame/ Inductees 1978–2016". b0b.com. International Steel Guitar Hall of Fame. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
- ^ a b Cundell, R. Guy S. (July 1, 2019). "Across the South: The origins and development of the steel guitar in western swing (PhD Thesis)" (PDF). b0b.com. Adelaide, Australia: University of Adelaide. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
- ^ Stubbs, Eddie (January 20, 2006). Bud's Bounce/Album Liner Notes. Hamburg, Germany: Bear Family Records. p. 6.
- ^ "Bud Isaacs/Artist Biography". allmusic.com. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
- ^ Oermann, Robert K. (September 9, 2016). "LifeNotes: Pedal Steel Pioneer Bud Isaacs Passes". musicrow.com. Music Row Magazine. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
- ^ Haines, Rob; Cantrell, Erica (November 1, 2012). "Artist Interview: Doug Jernigan". youtube.com. Mel-Bay. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- ^ a b Eastman, Bud (December 1, 1978). "Doug Jernigan". Guitar Player. 12, No. 12 (December, 1978).
- ^ Scott, DeWitt. "The Steel Guitar Hall of Fame/". scottysmusic.com. The Steel Guitar Hall of Fame. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
- ^ a b Kienzle, Rich (September 1, 2008). "Lloyd Green: From the A-Team to Americana". Vintage Guitar (September, 2008). Retrieved August 16, 2021.