The
Ukulele Craze
Special to gmh TODAY
T
he uklele has arrived in Gilroy. It came on a circuitous
route, originating in Europe and introduced to Hawaii
in 1879 when a Portuguese immigrant named Joao
Fernandez jumped off the boat and started strumming and
singing with his branguinha (a small guitar-like instrument,
sometimes called the machete). The Hawaiians were so
impressed by his fi ngerboard prestidigitations that they called
the instrument “ukulele,” which translates to “jumping fl ea.”
Fernandez and the instrument became a local sensation and
the reigning monarch Kalakaua even learned how to play.
By 1900 the sound of the ukulele was ubiquitous across the
Hawaiian Islands.
The ukulele made its way to the mainland in the 1900s
when the Panama Pacific International Exposition lured over
17 million visitors with hula dance and song at the Hawaii
Pavilion. What mainland Americans lacked in understanding
of their exotic territory’s music, they made up for in
enthusiasm. Cutesy Hawaiian kitsch became big business. By
the 1920s, Sears Roebuck and other department store catalogs
offered low-priced ukuleles. Dozens of Hawaiian novelty songs
were popularized. For four decades, the sounds of Hawaii and
the ukulele drifted over the air to hundreds of radio stations.
Then came the electrified guitar sounds, Elvis Presley
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gyrating, Chuck Berry doing the Twist, and rock-and-roll. The
ukulele looked and sounded like a toy and got put away in the
old toy box.
Decades later a new generation of musicians quietly picked
up an occasional ukulele and beginning in the 1980s some
rock-and-rollers used it in their productions, mostly to sound
more folksy and authentic. Beatle George Harrison, a serious
ukulele player and devotee, wrote and played passionately.
Paul McCartney strummed a ukulele on his 2002 tour as a
tribute to George. George later wrote an introduction to Jim
Beloff’s ‘60s Uke-In Songbook, “Everybody should have to play
a uke. It’s so simple to carry with you and it is one instrument
you can’t play and not laugh! It’s so sweet and also very old.”
The great ukulele revival arguably really started in 1993
when Hawaiian musician Israel Kamakawio’ole scored a
surprise hit with his medley of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”
and “What a Wonderful World.” And then, in 2006, a video
of Hawaiian player Jake Shimabukuro was uploaded to the
new YouTube video service, and the world suddenly had to
recalibrate is assessment of the humble ukulele. Other celebrity
ukulele players include Zooey Deschanel, William H. Macy,
Mr. Schuester on Glee, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder (with
a Grammy Award winning ukulele album) Cybill Shepherd,
JULY/AUGUST 2017
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