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“Eddie Would Go”
Lee Gonsalves
(Moonsurfer Productions)
Musician-songwriter Lee Gonsalves teamed up with Hawaii record industry veterans Gordon Broad and Dave Tucciarone last summer to record “Eddie Would Go,” an earnest and expository account of the 2016 Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau big-wave surf contest at Waimea Bay and the events leading up to it.
On this recently released six-song CD, the song is heard in a slightly different version that omits the names and scores of the surfers who placed after 2016 Eddie winner John John Florence. The cover art has been changed, and the liner notes have been updated to mention the struggle to keep “the Eddie” going after the partnership between the Aikau family and Quiksilver was suspended for unspecified reasons later in 2016.
Gonsalves, who sings and plays ukulele, gets essential support from Broad, Terry Brown (“ukulele background and solos”) and keyboardist David Kauahikaua. Broad has been a presence in local music for almost 50 years; he owns an important place in local music history as the composer of “Sweet Lady of Waiahole” — recorded by 3 Scoops of Aloha in 1985, it was one of the first locally written songs to use reggae rhythms, quickly became a local hit and is now a classic.
Broad’s experience as a local pioneer in karaoke track production is a valuable musical resource. Kauahikaua is also a master at creating karaoke-style music from synth tracks and computer files.
Gonsalves shows the breadth of his musical horizons with the other songs. “Eleu Mikimiki,” written by Charles E. King, translates into English King’s observation that “it is the lively one” who takes the “prize.” The kaona (hidden meanings) in King’s original Hawaiian lyrics can only be guessed at.
Gonsalves credits the late Sonny Chillingworth with suggesting many years ago that he record the song known variously as “Portuguese Folk Song” and “Chamarita.” The second title is an alternative spelling of the Portuguese word “chamarrita,” which refers to a musical rhythm popular in the Azores.
Broad wrote the other three. “Ono fo U,” which Gonsalves recorded and first released in 2015, is a novelty song based on a translation of the Hawaiian word “ono” as “crave” or “hungry for.” Gonsalves runs through an almost endless list of island foods he’s “ono fo’,” adding that most of all, “My honey, I ono fo’ you.”
“Ete Ete Camouflage” is a slice of local life in Laie. “My Kuulei” describes a clandestine relationship.
Giving credit where it’s due, Gonsalves’ work will certainly inspire other people who have access to audio-recording and music-creation software to take their own best shot at becoming recording artists.
Contact Gonsalves at leegonsalves808@gmail.com.
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