Gabby Pahinui - Later Career

Later Career

The Hawaiian Renaissance of the '70s launched a cultural reawakening of all things Hawaiian. Gabby played a very important part in the rise of this Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance. First there were the albums recorded through the 1960s with the enormously popular and influential Sons of Hawaii, which he started with `ukulele virtuoso Eddie Kamae: their self-titled debut album (Hula HS 503, 1961); Music of Old Hawai`i (Hula HS 506, 1964); and Folk Music of Hawai`i (Panini 1001, 1971).

Then, starting in 1972, he made four albums with what came to be called the "Gabby Band." The first album featured Gabby backed by four of his sons plus old friends Leland "Atta" Isaacs and bassist Manuel "Joe Gang" Kupahu, but the group eventually expanded to include Sonny Chillingworth, younger-generation players Peter Moon and Randy Lorenzo, and mainland admirer Ry Cooder. The albums are:

• Gabby (1972; often called "Brown Gabby" or "The Brown Album" because of its sepia cover photo)
• Rabbit Island Music Festival (1973)
• Gabby Pahinui Hawaiian Band, Vol 1 (1975)
• Gabby Pahinui Hawaiian Band, Vol 2 (1976)

As he enjoyed his new success in the '70s, his lifelong drinking, smoking, and a bad road crew accident left his health failing. He retired from road work but took up teaching in the City and County's cultural programs. He died in 1980 at the age of 59.

The Honolulu Star Bulletin Newspaper stated about Pahinui "The thing about Gabby Pahinui," says DeSoto Brown, a Hawaiian cultural-history expert whose brother worked with Pahinui, "was not only that he was an outstanding musician and entertainer, and a central figure -- maybe THE central figure -- of the Hawaiian Renaissance in the '70s, but that he was an inspiration to others. Thousands of Hawaiian kids learned that they were worthy as a people because of Gabby's example."

Gabby was memorialized in Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's famous performance of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" on his 1993 Facing Future album. In the opening moments of the song, Israel can be heard saying, "'Kay, dis one's fo' Gabby."

Pahinui was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame in 2002.

Gabby's children are active in the Hawaiian music scene, notably Cyril Pahinui, James "Bla" Pahinui and Martin Pahinui, all of whom played on the Gabby Band recordings and have since become professional musicians. (Philip, who played on the first two "Gabby Band" albums, chose not to pursue music professionally.)