Artists Archive Topic
Bill Tapia Info Needed
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Poster: Kaohiwai Subject: Bill Tapia info needed |
Posted on 6/19/03 at 8:06pm |
| information and back ground on Bill Tipia??? |
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Poster: Rossasaurus Email: kihoalu@earthlink.net Subject: Bill Tapia - here's a little bit |
Posted on 10/27/04 at 6:56pm |
Note the spelling of his last name. I', assuming this is who you're after?: Musician Bill Tapia takes a trip down memory lane as an honored guest By Burl Burlingame bburlingame@starbulletin.com Already a musician with several professional years under his belt, Bill Tapia was 19 and playing banjo with Johnny Noble's band at the grand opening of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel three-quarters of a century ago. Friday, he was an honored guest at the hotel's birthday bash. How did the events compare? "Oh, the one in 1927 was better because everyone in town was there, and everyone was just dressed to kill," recalled Tapia, now 94 and a California resident. "Wall-to-wall tuxes and elegant dresses. It was the best-dressed group I'd ever seen in my life, and we played our hearts out for them." He listened appreciatively to the Royal Hawaiian Band and called them "a good bunch of musicians." "Our band wasn't nearly so large -- eight pieces," he said. "I played banjo and ukulele, Hawaiian and popular songs. It was the Roarin' '20s, you know? 'Five-foot-two, eyes of blue, has anybody seen my gal?' Local songs like 'Royal Hawaiian Hotel,' of course. Everyone danced. Everyone! "The hotel is just as nice now as it was then, but then it was the biggest thing in the islands. Being here brings back memories of those days," he said. art DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Robert and Jermaine Thompson arrived at the party in their 1926 Ford Model T. He was hired by the hotel in 1933 as a "musical driver." Of the 12 touring cars and drivers kept on call by the hotel, five were "musical," catering to the charms of movie stars and celebrities. "We'd pick up a load of guests and caravan them to a scenic location like the Blowhole or Punaluu or the Pali lookout, and then the drivers would pull out musical instruments and entertain them on the spot. "We'd also pick them up from the steamers on Boat Day and deliver them to the hotel. The grounds were so large then and so beautiful. When we'd enter the grounds, the guests would shout out in wonder at what they were seeing. They'd scream and rave! It was so much fun. "We only drove Cadillacs and Packards, of course. My Packard was yellow and blue, seven-passenger. They borrowed it to drive President Roosevelt around when he visited. We had to keep it spick and span, and I had a devil of a time cleaning up lei petals between trips." The war came and, smelling opportunity, Tapia created his own orchestra and played for the duration. "We used to call the old Civic (Auditorium) the Blackout Ballroom," he chuckled. "We had to memorize our charts, and folks danced in total darkness." One of the youngsters playing with him was Gabe Baltazar. After the war, Tapia went to where the music was: California. He's been there ever since. "Come to think of it, this party IS better than the one in 1927, at least for musicians," Tapia said after reconsideration. "We didn't get dinner in 1927. This time, I got fed!" Do It Electric Click for online calendars and events. E-mail to Features Editor This article was from this website: http://starbulletin.com/2002/02/04/features/story1.html |
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Poster: margo king lenson Email: margo@tuicom.com Subject: Bill Tapia |
Posted on 6/23/05 at 1:57pm |
| Check out Uncle Bill's "Ukulele Jazz" chapter in vol 1 of book series, PACIFIC VOICES TALK STORY: CONVERSATIONS OF AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. Intervewed in 2001, Uncle Bill covers vaudville to Pearl Harbor to smoking marijuana w/ Sachimo ... which BTW, Uncle Bill did not dig at all. As master of talk story, he weaves the tale of his birth and life in Honolulu as the kid who didn't leave home without his uke. |
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