Music: Hawaii's Man Of Steel

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This may make Nawahi seem a musical stunt man, but the Yazoo CD reveals him as a gifted instrumentalist having serious fun. He could be the star (on the briskly wailing Ticklin' the Strings, the jaunty May Day Is Lei Day in Hawaii) or the sideman, accompanying New Orleans stride pianist Fats Pichon (Wiggle Yo Toes) and hillbilly Slim Smith (Otto Wood, the Bandit, with Bennie playing mandolin, harmonica and two guitars). He worked in many pop dialects and in dozens of bands--for a while, with the young Roy Rogers--but there was one constant: inventive exhilaration. Even Nawahi's blues numbers are fizzy; they borrow the 12-bar form but don't dwell in the trouble-I've-seen mood.

In 1935 Nawahi's optimism was tested. While driving one night, he suddenly went blind. He never regained his sight. Still, he kept playing in nightclubs and restaurants for 40 more years. And in 1946 he achieved a feat no blind person has ever matched: he swam the 26 miles from Catalina Island to the California coast. For 22 hours Nawahi was led through the turbulent waters by a bell ringing in a small boat ahead of him. As always, music was his guide and inspiration.

If Nawahi has a legacy, it is not the glissandoing guitars that greet tourists on the Big Island and moo in the background of Don Ho oldies. It is three generations of guitar rule breakers and trend shapers in pop, country and rock: Les Paul, Link Wray, Chet Atkins, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck. But Nawahi needn't be seen as a primitive progenitor. His music speaks--sings--to anyone in need of instantly raised spirits. The pill you take to feel peppier is a Bennie.