This music on this record is Old Timey Polynesian. Yes, there are love songs and hulas here, but also war chants, histories, prayer, and protest songs. The ukulele and guitar can be heard, but so too shell trumpets and the nose flute; old drums made of shark’s belly or sting ray; and hand-clapping, thigh-slapping, foot-stomping body percussion.
The music on this record is not for the tourist trade; it’s Old Timey Polynesian. Yes, there are love songs and hulas here—but also war chants, histories, prayers, and protest songs. You’ll hear the ukulele and guitar (even an electrified steel guitar)—but listen for the shell trumpets and the nose flute. And the old drums—their skins made of shark’s belly or parts of the stingray. Bodies were the percussion instruments—hand-clapping, thigh-slapping, finger-snapping, foot-stamping.
FROM THE ORIGINAL LINER NOTES (1968)
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