My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii
"My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii", written by Tommy Harrison, Bill Cogswell, and Johnny Noble in Hawaii in 1933, is a Hawaiian 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 on 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 is sometimes shortened to "My Little Grass Shack" or "Little Grass Shack". Composition The song was written by Tommy Harrison and Bill Cogswell for Kona's Independence Day celebration in 1933. The scene was set by the Kona Historical Society: 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. He faced two challenges: Revising the melody to avoid conflicts with "Hackensack" without altering Cogswell's words, as he was "inspired by the lyrics" and their "nostalgic appeal", and crafting the song into a hit: In naming "My Little Grass Shack" one of the "50 Greatest Songs of Hawaii", as chosen by a panel of experts, Honolulu magazine singled out Noble's contribution: "This light-hearted ditty exemplifies composer and band-leader Johnny Noble's talent at creating hapa haole tunes tailor-made for tourists' tastes, but palatable for locals as well." Noble published the sheet music under the title "My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua". In "Notes on Hawaiian Music", Noble said, "The first two thousand copies sold locally went like hot cakes—the demand for the song was too great. I ordered another two thousand and they too were sold out within a few weeks." With offers from many mainland music publishers, he awarded publishing rights to San Francisco-based Sherman, Clay & Co. for a $500.00 advance against royalties. Popularity and early recordings Noble sent the sheet music to bandleader Ted Fio Rito at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles where he was regularly playing the Cocoanut Grove radio remote (a nationwide broadcast of live big band ballroom concerts). Fio Rito had been doing radio remotes since 1924 when he was co-leader of a band with Dan Russo (coincidentally, a co-writer of "Back in Hackensack, New Jersey"). Fio Rito liked the song well enough to "push it by playing it on his radio program." Fio Rito recorded "My Little Grass Shack" on December 13, 1933, for Brunswick Records. The big band arrangement featured