Apropos of this weekend's stormy weather. From the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive, here is Frank Ferera on ukulele backing up Ernest Hare singing Wendell Hall's comic song, It Looks Like Rain. (Which I'm guessing is an attempt by Wendell to follow up on the success of his It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'. Link
Would you like the original sheet music? Ok. Here.
How about It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'? Oh, alright.
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4 comments:
The few tracks that Frank Ferera cut on the ukulele in the 1920s are for me some of the best that were ever recorded with the instrument. My favorites are "I'll have vanilla", in which he provides the accompaniment to Eddie Cantor's singing (and does a wonderful solo too), and the unaccompanied solo "Ukelele dreams".
I often wonder why he doesn't get more exposure in the ukulele community, and why his fantastic playing technique isn't more discussed. I've been planning to write an article for a while, maybe I should give it a try one of these days...
I will check these recordings out!
Happy to connect you with the folks at Ukulele Magazine if you like, too, for that article.
I know his wife Helen Louise disappeared mysteriously at sea. Fascinating story.
That would be great, thanks for proposing it!
Yes, it's a fascinating story. It's too bad that there still isn't any book about Ferera's life out there, considering the role he played in the worldwide diffusion of Hawaiian music.
Re connecting you with Ukulele magazine, please please contact me at gary at ukulelia dot com.
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