Playing the ukulele can take you somewhere over the rainbow.
No, we’re serious. There was a huge ukulele hit of the songs “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” mashed up. You may not know this, but if you were hanging out at Piero’s Music, you might get into a conversation on just such a topic. This one is a great story.
Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole was a larger-than-life Hawaiian music star. If you know anything about IZ, you know this is a tongue-in-cheek statement. IZ was not only very popular in his native state, but at his biggest he stood six-foot-two-inches tall and reportedly weighed more than 750 pounds!
What instrument did this big man like to play? The ukulele! Yes, this mountain of a man played a tiny, four-string guitar, much like the one Hawaii’s own Don Ho made famous in the 1960s with “Tiny Bubbles.”
Here’s the story we’ve read and heard about how IZ came to record “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” the same song Judy Garland made famous in The Wizard of Oz. It’s 3 in the morning on a day in 1988 when a friend of IZ calls up a Milan Bertosa, who owned and operated a recording studio in Honolulu. He pleaded with Bertosa to keep the studio because his client had an idea and needed a recording studio.
There are several accounts of this story, and in some IZ may have come into the recording studio after getting very happy at a party or bar, but Bertosa recalls seeing “the largest human being I had seen in my life.” The first problem in managing this gentle 500-pound plus man was finding him a chair to sit on. They eventually found a steel chair, and he parked himself in the recording studio with his ukulele.
What happened then was the start of something magical. Accompanying himself on the ukulele and with an incredibly sweet singing voice, IZ recorded a mashed-up version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” in one take.
The studio owner made a few copies of the recording – one for himself and one for IZ – and filed away the tape. A few years later, Bertosa was working for a Hawaiian record label, and he plays the song for a producer searching for an idea for a compilation album. The producer loves it, contacts IZ and the song begins to get traction.
Unfortunately, given his obesity, IZ would be in and out of the hospital before finally succumbing to health issues in 1997 at the age of 38. He wouldn’t live to see a great triumph for his song: The closing credits for Finding Forrester, a fantastic movie from 2000 (you should check it out), run over IZ’s version of “Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World.”
Piero’s Music has a great starter pack for aspiring ukulele players, plus terrific music instructors to get you on your way playing this magical instrument. You may make some IZ-like magic of your own or just entertain your friends and family at parties and holidays. However you pursue it, we know that playing the ukulele will just make your life better.
Piero’s Music, the little big music store, is located in Bayonne, New Jersey. We’ve been in business since 19xx, and serve new players and experienced musicians alike throughout our local communities of Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, and Staten Island. We also now boast a Reverb store, where you can check out our offerings online and where we can ship guitars, amps, drums or keyboards directly to you. For friendly personal service and excellent teachers, please visit Piero’s Music.