Kaua‘i musician and bandleader, Charlie Kaneyama

Kekaha, Kaua‘i-born musician and bandleader Charlie Kaneyama (1907-2007) is perhaps best-known for his 17-piece orchestra, Charlie Kaneyama and his Merrie Melodiers, which dominated the music polls on Kaua‘i and O‘ahu during the 1940s big band era.

As a child, Kaneyama was overwhelmed by the sounds of the harmonica. When his father finally bought him one — his first musical instrument — for 25 cents in Honolulu when he was 7, he was so overwhelmed that he ran joyfully down the street with it. To his surprise, he found himself playing “Thus Pounds The Poi.”

When Kaneyama was 18, he landed his first job as a musician, playing the banjo with Ernest Silva’s “Makaweli Orchestra” on Kaua‘i. In time, he would also master the clarinet, saxophone, guitar and ‘ukulele.

Formed by Kaneyama in 1941, Charlie Kaneyama and his Merrie Melodiers, with their theme song “Jungle Drums,” were Kaua‘i’s best known professional musicians during the big band era, featuring such vocalists as Francisco Ledesma Jr., Joe Waiwaiole, Annie Holt, Yoshie Masumoto and Louis Jacinto Jr.  

In 1949, Kaneyama and his Merrie Melodiers traveled to Honolulu 55 times to play with the best dance bands in the territory in the Battle of the Bands. Two of the big-name Honolulu bands at that time were Ray Tanaka’s Esquires and the Torchers. The Merrie Melodiers topped them all.

“For what I am today, I owe to music,” Kaneyama once said. “To me, it has been a wonderful means of communication and when I make people happy, I am also happy.”

Charlie Kaneyama was also an accomplished magician and photographer and over many years taught at least 1,000 children to play the ‘ukulele.

A 50-year employee of Kekaha Sugar Co., he retired as the company’s safety director.

He and his wife, Hiroko, had three sons and two daughters.