Sold Date: March 16, 2016
Start Date: February 22, 2016
Final Price: $18.00 (USD)
Seller Feedback: 545
Buyer Feedback: 22

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You are bidding on Helen Louise & Frank Ferera Hawaiian guitar recordings of "Lelia" 78 RPM Columbia Records (A2311). Recorded on June 6, 1917, it is backed with "Hawaiian Dreams" recorded during the same session. The disk is in excellent condition.

This is Hawaiian guitar playing that is authentic, phenomenal, clean, and straight-forward. This husband and wife team Frank Ferera (June 12, 1885 - June 26, 1951) was a Hawaiian musician who recorded successfully between 1915 and 1930. He was the first star of Hawaiian music and influenced many later artists. Frank Ferera was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1885 of Portuguese ancestry. Ferera first visited the mainland United States as part of the Keoki E Awai troupe, which had been booked to entertain at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. He married Helen Louise Greenus, daughter of Seattle businessman Albert E. Greenus, and toured with her through the USA, appearing in vaudeville. In 1915, they signed a contract with Columbia Records and recorded prolifically.

On December 12, 1919, Frank and Helen were on board the steamship SS President, from Los Angeles back to their home in Seattle. Frank reported that Helen had gone on deck for a walk at 4 a.m. and never returned. After a search failed to turn up the missing Mrs. Ferera, she was presumed lost at sea.