Lena Machado

(1903-1974)

Lena Machado was known as "Hawaii's Songbird". She was a composer, entertainer and an acclaimed singer whose Hawaiian-style soprano-falsetto performances moved her to dominance in the 1930s and 1940s, often referred to as "the Golden Age" of Hawaiian music.

Her remarkable singing style was discovered by a radio broadcaster, who according to the story, heard Lena singing from the top of the mango tree at the Y.W.C.A on Richards Street, and offered her a singing audition. Despite early mic fright, she was an immediate sensation.

Over the next 50 years of her singing career, Lena became one of the best-known personalities in the Hawaiian music world. She was a soloist with the Royal Hawaiian Band for many years, and performed in all the major cities of the United States, Asia and the Pacific. She is much remembered for her singing of "Song of the Islands" and "Aloha 'Oe" at Aloha Tower on Steamer Days.

During WWII, Lena's radio show was beamed around the world to American troops, and she traveled to many military bases to entertain. In addition to recording on several major record labels, Lena was asked to head the Hawaii Pavilion at the San Francisco World's Fair in 1939 and 1940, and was voted the most popular entertainer at the Fair.

Lena's singing trademark, carried on today by many well-known singers of Lena's songs, was a vocal leap done with a break in the voice. Many of her own compositions such as "E Kuu Baby", "Holo Waapa", "Ei Nei," were tailor-made for her unique vocal style which included holding a note until the audience was sure she was out of breath, and then singing the last phrase without breathing.

Characteristic of her aloha spirit, Machado devoted time in her later years to teaching Hawaiian songs and hula. Her legacy is the "Haku Mele Award", a scholarship given to a Kamehameha Schools senior who excels in composition.

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Posted on: Sunday, July 2, 2006

Lena Machado

By Mike Gordon

Advertiser Staff Writer

Advertiser library photo

Only in Hawai'i could a teenage girl sit perched in a mango tree — her arms full of fruit and her voice full of song — and be discovered as a budding singing sensation. But that was where the entertainment world found the "Songbird of Hawai'i," a young Lena Machado, straddling a limb outside her auntie's home on Richards Street.

Machado, a pure Hawaiian, was born in 1903 in Pauoa Valley in Honolulu. She was the daughter of singers, a natural lyrical soprano who never had a voice lesson. "God gave me my voice," she once said.

Discovered in her auntie's tree in 1923 by a Honolulu radio manager, Machado became a star practically overnight. She joined the Royal Hawaiian Band and welcomed tourists on Boat Day with her singing, and bid them farewell with "Aloha 'Oe."

Machado, who performed in nightclubs from Hawai'i to New York, sang before the king and queen of Siam, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Prince of Wales before he became King Edward VIII and, later, Duke of Windsor. She also sang for Bing Crosby and Babe Ruth.

Her beautiful voice earned her the songbird nickname as well as "Hawai'i's Nightingale."

But Machado's professional career ended in 1965 when she and her husband were seriously injured in a car crash on Kaua'i. She lost the use of her left eye, suffered a broken knee and her right hand was mangled.

Machado, who later performed at some private functions, was ill for many years and died in January 1974. She was 70.

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LENA MACHADO HAWAIIAN SONG BIRD

Received two prestigious Na Hoku Hanohano Awards from the Hawaiian Academy of Recording Arts for Anthology of the Year & for Liner Notes of the Year. One of Honolulu Magazine's 50 Greatest Hawaii Albums.In the two centuries since Hawaiians first received contact from the outside world, Hawaii’s music has evolved as a reflection of each new non-Hawaiian musical trend to reach her Shores. At the same time, traditional Hawaiian music has been lovingly passed on from generation to generation, preserving Hawaii’s rich cultural heritage.Early growth of Hawaiian music’s world-wide popularity was built through the dedication of its musicians, singers, and dancers. The recording, radio, movie, television, and visitor industries all embraced the music. Both visitors to Hawaii and her residents alike revered the brightest stars of the Hawaiian entertainment scene.None of those stars has ever shown brighter than that of “Hawaii’s Song Bird”, Lena Machado. Her lyric soprano voice delighted millions of people for almost half a century.

Lena Kaulumau Waialeale was born in Pauoa, a district of Honolulu, on October 16, 1903. Her parents, Louise Poepoe Waialeale, a Hawaiian musician, and Robert Waialeale, chose to hanai Lena at birth. (Hanai is the Hawaiian custom of giving a child to foster parents who will raise, nourish, and provide an advantageous atmosphere for the child.) Lena’s hanai parents were Dr. Loo Pan, a pharmacist at the Alexander Young Hotel, and Mary Davis Loo Pan, a lei seller at the docks of Honolulu Harbor.Lena was raised in a blending of her hanai parents’ Hawaiian and Chinese cultures. She spoke fluent Hawaiian and Chinese. Their home sat on Frog Lane, at Nuuanu and School Streets, among a row of houses on a narrow unpaved lane, surrounded by taro fields. The young city of Honolulu lay just on the other side of the taro fields, clustered around Honolulu harbor, while lush Nuuanu nestled behind the homes.As a young child, Lena’s first attempt at singing was to imitate the haunting funeral lament chant (mele kenikau), with prolonged phrases chanted in one breath, and embellishments at the end of each phrase. Mary Davis was appalled by the practice, and forbade her young daughter to continue. Later, an adolescent Lena imitated the soaring opera singers she had heard. When Mary Davis again admonished her for singing, Lena found refuge at nearby Waikahalulu Falls on Nuuanu Stream. The sound of the falls would hide her singing practice from her mother. There she could also play her homemade ukulele, made from a roofing shingle and some rubber bands. Lena had several of these contraptions taken away by her mother, but kept building replacements to plunk and sing along with.Lena attended Kauluwela Elementary School, at 468 North School Street. However, her first public appearance was as a Girl Scout, in a program at an old Hawaiian Church in Waialua, on the other side of the island of Oahu. When she was 10 years old, Lena entered an amateur singing contest on the stage of the Palama Theatre at King Street and Desha Lane. Lena sang, “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”, and won. Mary Davis was not amused, and strictly forbid Lena from singing again. For the rest of her youth, Lena would have to be content with the title of “Youngest Let Seller” on Boat Days when the ocean liners would dock at Honolulu Harbor.Hawaii’s first radio station, KGU, operated by the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper, signed on the air on May 11, 1922 from a downtown Honolulu studio. Soon after, Marion A. Mulroney, head of KGU, walked by a large mango tree on the grounds of the Army & Navy YMCA at 250 South Hotel Street. He stopped deed in his tracks when he heard Lena singing, as the Sacred Hearts Convent student happily gathered mangos high up in the tree. He invited the teenager to came to the radio station and sing over the air. She did, and the resulting telephone response landed Lena a professional contract with the radio station. For the rest of her life, Lena would be a Hawaiian entertainer.First billed as the “Hawaiian Nightingale”, because she was discovered singing like a bird in a tree, Laura soon left the island for the first time as a member of the William F. Aldrich Troupe, a mainland-based group of touring Hawaiian musicians. While there, she moved over to the larger Balaban-Katz organization so she could polish her stage skills on the road for an entire year.Upon her return, Lena’s popularity grew through her radio and live performances. In 1923 Lena rode in her first parade as a celebrity in an open car. She was introduced to Luciano K. Machado, a policeman. Luciano was the City and County of Honolulu’s “Most Popular Employee of the Year”. The two fell in love and were married in 1925. Luciano had two daughters from his first marriage, named Catherine and Rose. (Although they would never have any offspring of their own, the couple would eventually hanai half a dozen children, including Piolani Motta.)The increasingly popular Lena Machado debuted as a featured vocalist with the Royal Hawaiian Band, under the direction of Bandmaster Mekia Kealakai in 1925. (She would continue to be featured by the band, when she was in Hawaii for almost 30 years. As the bands vocalist, she greeted hundreds of ships on Boat Day. In addition to Kealakai, Lena also sang for John Amasiu, Charles F. King, Frank I. Vierra, and Domenico Moro.)Lena toured both the Neighbor Islands and the Mainland with her own troupe, consisting of Henry Paul on guitar, Steppy DeRego on guitar, Tommy Castro on acoustic steel guitar, husband Luciano Machado on bass alto guitar, and his brother Dan Machado on ukulele. In addition to singing lead, Lena was most comfortable when she also strummed her ukulele.Since the 1800’s, the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company had been the world’s largest billiard equipment company. The Muskegon, Michigan company now entered the music business, Brunswick records first appeared in stores in January, 1920. The 10-inch popular records sold for 75 cents. In 1926, Brunswick produced an acoustic phonograph for playing the new electrically recorded 78-rpm records. An office was established in Honolulu at 931 Fort Street and in the spring of 1927, Johnny Noble, Hawaii’s “Jazz King”, was contracted as the talent scout for the visiting label. In November of 1927, a recording machine was installed in a suite at the Alexander Young Hotel, at King and Bishop Streets. Local electronics genius Y.O. Kang was allowed to patent the diaphragm enhancement he created, which fixed a problem encountered by the two remote recording engineers sent from the mainland. Johnny Noble had purchased the Royal Hawaiian Collection of Songs from the Hawaii News Company earlier, so a fine catalog of Hawaiian songs were available. Johnny then recruited some of the brightest young stars in Hawaii’s music scene for the historic Brunswick sessions.Twenty-four year old Lena Machado was one of the very first stars to be recorded on opening day of the project, which eventually produced a collection of 110 sides on 55 discs. She was also contracted to promote the official release of the records with a concert in front of Bergstrom Music Company at 1140 Fort Street, at the corner of Pauahi, in downtown Honolulu. While she performed with Luciano, Dan, Henry, and Rose Machado, a banner overhead read, “Brunswick Honolulu Recorded Hawaiian Records on Sale Now! “. (Selection # 1 of this compilation was recorded in that session.)Her song writing blossomed, and in 1930 she began to copyright her body of work which would continue for most of her life. Her popularity continued to grow with her performances in Honolulu, and her tours of both the Neighbor Islands and the Mainland.While in Los Angeles in 1935, she took the opportunity to record in the Hollywood studios of Freeman Lang, with the musicians she was then performing with at an area club. The group featured Sol Hoopii on electric steel guitar, George Piltz on ukulele, and Harry Baty on guitar. Lena, 32, boldly released these recordings of some of her latest compositions on her very own record label. Her photo is captioned, “Composed and sung by Hawaii’s Song Bird, Aloha Nui, Lena Machado”. ( After being called “Hawaii’s Nightingale”, “The Golden Voice” and “The Thrush of the Territory” Lena was now simply, “Hawaii’s Song Bird”, the nickname she would carry forever more.) (Selections #2 -5 of this compilation were recorded in that session.)Lena was asked to join the Hawaii delegation of musicians at the 1938 grand opening of the “Golden Gate International Exposition” on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. In addition to Lena on lead vocals and ukulele, the group featured Sol K. Bright on steel guitar, Joe Kealoha on guitar, George Mansfield on ukulele, and Billy Nichols on standup bass. After two years of national media exposure on the World’s Fair stage, she returned to Hawaii, only to be summoned back by popular demand to be featured at the gala closing ceremonies in November of 1941.Admiral Wilson of the U. S. Navy then advised Lena that “something was brewing in the Pacific”, and that travel home to Hawaii might soon prove difficult, so she rushed back home. The December 7, 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Navy prompted Lena to begin performing in shows for the many military and defense workers on Oahu and the Neighbor Islands. The GI’s of the 413’s Company D chose her as their favorite singer and pin-up girl, and even paraded in Lena’s honor.In 1945, the Lena Machado radio show debuted on KGU, the station of her first triumph. Entrepreneur and ventriloquist “Howdy” Reynolds, whose most famous dummy, “G-Man Joe”, was a local favorite, sponsored the program through his chicken restaurant on Kalakaua Avenue. Sam Kaeo served as her arranger and steel guitarist, along with Roy AhMook Sang, Lani AhMook Sang, George Pokini, and Sonny Nichols. Whit Waterman was the show’s announcer.From 1948 to 1950, Lena performed at the Club Pago Pago, at 2454 South Beretania Street. Her band included Gabby Pahinui on steel guitar, George Delanux on guitar, and George Pokini on standup bass. The show featured four girls who were excellent hula dancers, and the show was smooth, lively, sparkled with comedy, and all well rehearsed.During this period, she was invited to make two sets of recordings for Columbia Records in Hollywood, California. These were the first recordings she had made sonce Decca Records had paired her with Dick McIntyre and his Harmony Hawaiians in 1940, so she seized tine opportunity to record several of her newer compositions. Her daring arrangements were influenced by the variety of musical influences she had first encountered at the San Francisco World’s Fair.Lena was the featured entertainer at the Niumalu Hotel, at 2005 Kalia Road, during 1950 and 1951. The rest of the group consisted of Billy Hew Len on steel guitar, Prince Aila on standup bass, Kalakaua Aylett on guitar, and Little Joe Kekauoha on ukulele. All four contributed background vocals to Lena’s riveting solos, while Little Joe added some comedy hula.Lena then took off to the Mainland for a massive tour, which included performances in Chicago, New York, Atlantic City, Miami, and Hollywood. She became one of the earliest Hawaiian television stars, making appearances on Charles F. King’s TV show in NewYork, and Harry Owens’ TV show in Hollywood. However, a tragic fall in 1952 left her with a permanent limp, and required extensive rehabilitation at home in Hawaii.On June 18, 1957, Luciano K. Machado, Lena’s husband of thirty years, died at their home in Waimanalo, Oahu. He was 58 years old. His daughter, Catherine, 39, passed on just two months later. Lena was devastated.Lena’s friends arranged to bring her and a widower, Samuel Kaiwi, together. The friendship eventually resulted in marriage, and a renewed Lena began planning her final recording project. She, assembled some of her most revered compositions, and overhauled all of the arrangements. Finally, in early 1962, she was ready.Accompanied by Billy Hew Len on steel guitar, Cy Ludington on guitar, and Benny Saks (Sakamaki) on piano, vibes, and additional arrangements, Lena made her first stereo recording. Engineer/Owner Herb Ono ran the 2 channel Ampex tape machine at his Sounds of Hawaii studio, at 1084 Young Street. Lena Machado, 59, copyrighted her album on her own “Song Bird Records” on December 7, 1962, and she acquired the first agent of her career Accadia Music Co. of Beverly Hills, California. (Selections #6 - 17 of this compilation were recorded at that session.)The album became an instant classic, and Lena’s performances continued, highlighted by a Television/Stage appearance in Tokyo, Japan.But tragedy again struck in October, 1964, while driving to their new home near Koloa, Kauai, Lena was seriously injured in an auto accident. She was blinded in her left eye, and suffered paralysis of her left hand. Extensive chest and facial injuries required complex reconstructive surgery.Five years later, in October, 1969, Lena Machado, “Hawaii’s Songbird”, and John Kameaaloha Almeida, “The Dean of Hawaiian Music”, were honored as two of Hawaii’s living legends. They were applauded by their fans as they rode together as Grand Marshall’s of the 1969 Aloha Week Floral Parade.Lena returned to performing in 1970 at the Ilikai Hotel, joining Pauline Kekahuna and her Hauoli Girls, with Pauline on guitar, Pua Rogers on bass, and Lena Motto on ukulele. In 1971, she moved to Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, and began to perform at the King Kamehameha Hotel.However, a heart attack weakened her, and forced her to return to Honolulu. After a stay at Queen’s Hospital, Lena attempted to recuperate her health once more. But in late 1973, she entered Hale Nail Rehabilitation and Nursing Center at 1677 Pensacola Street. On January 22, 1974, at 2:15 AM, Lena Machado, Hawaii’s Song Bird, passed away at age 70. She was buried a few steps away from Hale Nani, among the graves of her family, at Makiki Cemetery.“Hawaii’s Song Bird” was gone, but not forgotten. She had never taken a singing lesson in her life, but Prince and Princess Kuhio, Princess Kawananakoa, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Madame Galli-Curci, Bing Crosby, Gene Autry, and Babe Ruth were all among her fans. Her more then 60 compositions, innovative arrangements, and incomparable vocals remain as treasures for succeeding generations. Her voice embodied the spell of the islands. Hana Ola Records now shares with you an overview of Lena Machado’s lifetime achievements, including, but not limited to, her very first, and very last recordings. This seventeen selection historical anthology accurately portrays the life of a true “Hawaiian Legend”, Lena Machado.

Tracklist

1. Na Lei O Hawaii (3:41)

2. Kamalani O Keaukaha (3:29)

3. Ho'onanea (1935) (3:16)

4. Mai Lohilohi Mai Oe (1935) (3:19)

5. Kauoha Mai - Keyhole Hula (1935) (2:30)

6. E Ku'u Baby Hot Cha Cha (2:00)

7. Holo Wa'a Pa (2:30)

8. Ei Nei (2:22)

9. Holau (2:59)

10. Ku'u Wa Li'i Li'i - My Childhood Days (2:28)

11. Ho'onanea (1962) (3:52)

12. Mai Lohilohi Mai Oe (3:04)

13. Moani Ke Ala Ona Pua Makahikina (2:52)

14. Kauoha Mai - Keyhole Hula (1962) (2:54)

15. U'ilani - Heavenly Beauty (2:38)

16. Kaulana O Hilo Hanakahi (2:16)

17. Mom (2:53)