This song was written by R. Alex Anderson, who died in 1995 at age 101. He was born and raised in Hawaii, although he went to college at Cornell. In fact, his first song, “Alohaland” was written at Cornell when he was homesick. He was a fighter pilot in World War II, surviving the harrowing experience of being shot down and, with a couple of companions, managing to escape enemy territory. The movie The Dawn Patrol is about his wartime experiences.

Song writing for R. Alex was an avocation. He actually made his living as a successful businessman. But it’s said that he was most happy when writing one of the over 100 songs he wrote about his beloved islands.

Asleep at the Wheel played it for us while performing at The 40th Kent State Folk Festival in 2006. Elizabeth McQueen stepped up to sing lead. Ray Benson plays guitar and offered his thoughts in the “intro.” The rhythm section was David Sanger on drums and David Miller on bass. John Michael Whitby played piano and Eddie Rivers played that signature peddle steel.