Where Was FourWallsdo?: Indiana March

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Sure, there are obvious songs for the state of Indiana, but who ever said I did the obvious thing? As we wind down the month and the musical look back at my vacation here’s another song pin in the map. And, much to Jim’s dismay, another instrumental! Indiana March - Country All-Stars By the time I get done explaining this one you’ll have no idea where you are! (That’s how I travel: I have no idea of where I’m going…so why shouldn’t a countdown reflect that? ) The main names in the Country All-Stars were Chet Atkins, Homer and Jethro, and Jerry Byrd. That sounds like this should be cawntree. Then you listen to it and you think it sounds like Hawaiian lap steel music. Huh?? With Indiana in the title??? This song originated with two Hawaiian guitarists, Pale (in Hawaii, that’s pronounced PAY-lee) Lua and David Kaili (Ka-EE-lee…if that tour of duty in Hawaii taught me anything, it’s how to pronounce Hawaiian words! )…in 1914. So, needless to say, this wasn’t exactly a million-seller in the 1910s. Jerry Byrd was a well-known country music steel guitar player, but he also did lots of “Hawaiian steel” on the side. He’s probably the one who introduced this song to the rest of the All-Stars…not that Chet Atkins and his brother-in-law (Jethro Burns) and Jethro’s sidekick were dummies about music. I’ve often said that the greatest joke Homer and Jethro every told was a 40-year-long one where they — two jazz musicians — convinced everyone they were country singers! In the early 1950s Homer and Jethro’s comedy wasn’t doing all that well, so they faced a possibility of (gasp) having to do serious stuff. They did four sides under the pseudonym “Jack Turner and His Granger County Gang” (including a pre-Elvis rendition of “Hound Dog” more faithful to Big Mama Thornton’s rendition), and they teamed up with Chet (who, at the time, was the least-known part of the bill!) to make some recordings that blended jazz-styled instrumentals (like “Stompin’ At the Savoy” and “Sweet Georgia Brown”) and vocals cuts (such as “My Little Girl,” which also dates to the mid-1910s). Fortunately, around this time they also recorded “How Much Is That Hound Dog in the Window,” and the rest is history. As for why a couple of Hawaiian guitarists named a song after Indiana, I guess we’ll never know. But this is a great tune. Indiana March Written by Pale K. Lua and David Kaili Recorded by the Country All-Stars From String Dustin’, 1953 Aloha!