Frank Ferera

Frank Ferera (June 12, 1885 – June 26, 1951) was a Hawaii musician who recorded successfully between 1915 and 1930. He was the first star of Hawaiian music and influenced many later artists.

Biography Frank Ferera was born in Honolulu, Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in 1885 of Portuguese ancestry. Ferera first visited mainland United States as part of the Keoki E Awai troupe, which had been booked to entertain at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The band's performance was witnessed by Thomas Edison, who issued two solo songs by Ferera on his record label.

He married Helen Louise Greenus, daughter of Seattle businessman Albert E. Greenus,

In 1924, Ferera played guitar accompaniment to Vernon Dalhart's ballad "Wreck of the Old 97" (Victor Record No. 19427), sometimes cited as the first million-selling country music release in the American record industry.

In the late 1920s, during a wave of Hawaiian music popularity, Frank Ferera's Hawaiian Trio recorded a number of songs with jazz singer Annette Hanshaw, including: "Was It A Dream?", "For Old Time's Sake", "Get Out and Get Under the Moon", "I Love A Ukulele", "Lonely Nights In Hawaii", "Chiquita", "Maui Girl", "Sonny Boy", "Sweet Lei Lehua", "Carolina Moon", "Maui Chimes", "Pagan Love Song", "Singing in the Rain", "Ua No a Like - Sweet Constancy", and "Forget Me Not", "Lazy Louisiana Moon", and "Pale Blue Waters".

While Ferera was the first commercially successful Hawaiian recording artist in the teens, by the late 1920s, a new wave of steel guitarists, including Sol Hoʻopiʻi, were upstaging him. Ferera is estimated to have played guitar on more than 2,000 discs.

Ferera married three times. He died on June 26, 1951, due to complications following a stroke. He was survived by his third wife, Ruth, son Frank Ferreira III and daughter Mary Ferreira.

Singles

"My Old Kentucky Home" "Kilima Waltz" "Along The Way To Waikiki" "Maui Chime" "Southern Blues" "Dreamin'"