- Owens, Harry arrived in Honolulu May, 1934 to
lead the orchestra at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. A
prolific song writer, his compositions number more than
300. He collaborated with Vincent Rose on "Linger
Awhile", his first hit song, but he is best remembered
for his Hawaiian music. His first Hapa-Haole song was
"Hawaiian Paradise" composed September, 1934. As the
leader of the Royal Hawaiians, he played only the music
of Hawaii until his retirement, 20 years later. He toured
the mainland promoting Hawaii and was instrumental in
launching the career of Clara Haili Inter, better known
as Hilo Hattie.
- BORN: O'Neill, Holt County, Nebraska - April 18, 1902
- PARENTS: Jesse Vineyard Owens & Marie Louise
Burkhard
- EDUCATION: St. Ignatius High School, San Francisco,
CA; Loyola University, Los Angeles, CA
- MARRIED: Bess Reagan, Helene Gabeler Cleveland
- CHILDREN: Leilani, Harry "Butch" Jr., Timmy Tyler,
Melinda
- PUBLISHER: Royal Music Publishers, PO Box 5454,
Eugene, OR. 97405, Ph. (503) 686 9429
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