My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii
| "My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaiʻi" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Ted Fio Rito and His Orchestra | |
| Format |
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| Recorded | December 13, 1933 |
| Genre |
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| Length | 3:08 |
| Label | Brunswick Records |
| Writer(s) |
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"My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaiʻi", written by Tommy Harrison, Bill Cogswell, and Johnny Noble in Hawaii in 1933, was a hit song in the Hawaiian musical style known as hapa haole. One of the earliest recordings by Ted Fio Rito and His Orchestra reached number one the charts in 1934.Honolulu Magazine listed it as number 41 in a 2007 article, "50 Greatest Songs of Hawaii". It has been heard in many movies and television shows and has been covered dozens of times, the title sometimes shortened to "My Little Grass Shack" or "Little Grass Shack".
The song was first written by Tommy Harrison and Bill Cogswell for Kona's Independence Day celebration in 1933. The scene was set by the Kona Historical Society:
Kealakekua Bay was the setting for the annual Fourth of July canoe races... During the festivities, a new song written in honor of the occasion was sung for the first time in public. As unfamiliar lyrics rang out over the water, smiling hula dancers swished to and fro, laughing as they imitated swimming fishes and eating two-finger poi with their nimble fingers. The crowd applauded their approval and demanded an encore performance.
Cogswell, a Montana native working in Honolulu who in the 1950s became managing director of the Hawaii Visitors Bureau, was accompanying visitors to the Big Island of Hawaii when he wrote the lyrics, a parody of a 1924 song, "Back in Hackensack, New Jersey". Harrison, who composed the music, showed the song to Hawaiian songwriter and band leader Johnny Noble, a leading figure in hapa haole music. Noble had already heard the song but rejected it because of its similarity to "Hackensack" and because "everyone seemed to have claimed writing it." Harrison persisted and Noble relented upon the recommendation of Variety Magazine correspondent Mabel Thomas.
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