Saturday, June 23, 2007

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - Somewhere Over The Rainbow - Twango

The story behind this one take song is wonderful. It seems Israel Kamakawiwo'ole couldn't sleep one night and called his producer to get into the studio. His behemouth 700 pounds stood next to his producers 150 when they arrived. He sat in a chair with the Uke leaned forward and said "This one's for Gabby"...and began the song. He blows a line which no one notices, adds an unexpected chord change and seemlessly moves from Over the Rainbow to What a Wonderful World and back again. When he finished his session he left and never sang the song again. IZ died a little while after working on the first of his albums which carried this title.

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