The British Steelies Society

Facebook · by **Basil Henriques** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 3:45 pm

http://www.framus-vintage.de/modules/in ... 5180&cl=EN

And it begs the question who the heck is/was MHG ?
and how did this guitar end up in Watford ?

Facebook · by **Basil Henriques** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:28 pm

Designed by Frank Baum...

Click to play the Londonderry Aire

Frank Baum comes from Germany. He was born on March 29, 1936 and is living in Kümmersbruck. He was still a young guy when he was touched by Hawaiian music. He founded his first Hawaiianband, "the Mauna Loa Hawaiians" in 1954 on the age of 18 years. This band still exist althought there were some changings in the personal from the band. Frank's second name is Palani and is given to him by his Hawaiian friends from and in Hawaii where he each year is staying for a long time.

He has also a Countryband and is doing Western Swing, moderm Country and Country Rock. He is also a often asked musician for studio recordings. He also had a band and did a lot of performances on T V. He is a professional and is living from his music.

He is using sometimes a pedal but for Hawaiianmusic mostly his lapsteel guitars. The name for his other band are fore instance `The Kuale Hawaiians and "The Kelemania Hawaiians`` and for as far as I know does it means `German in Hawaiian`. He is also known under the name Frank Apua.
In the meantime he made four Hawaiian CD´s, two with a Hawaiian title A Sunday in Laie, Gestern und Heute, Live at the Halekulani and Song of the Islands. There are some cassette tapes and I know some Hawaiian albums and he did atleast three or four albums with Country. Than he is the Pedal or steelguitarplayer on a great bunch of records as a gustplayer or studiomusician.

You can find him on all Hawaiian events in Germany, where I have met him several times. I visited him and his wife Ruth at home and have noticed his Hawaiian way of living and playing. John Marsden wrote about him in the BMG, Hawaiian Guitar News from Januari 1969 page 135.
Gerrit Venema

Frank Baum – this name is synonymous with European pedal steel for many decades now. The successful musician and pedal steel master is also very popular in Hawaii and was a star guest during the Aloha Week in Honolulu. And the multiple winner of the German Country Oscar delighted the audience even with his interpretation of Hawaiian music. In Hawaii his stage name is Palani.
Germany’s first pedal steel musician was born in Nuremberg in 1936. “From 1953 on I played many different lap steel guitars. Later I was in awe with a Four-Neck Fender® String Master and since 1965 with a pedal steel guitar and with those began my musical endeavor” says Frank Baum on his website.
Inspired by the radio show of the AFN he forms the Mauna Los Hawaiians in 1954 and tours the clubs of the American military bases in Europe.
He forms the Kalua Hawaiians with Willy Ullrich in the early sixties, a studio band that lasted till 1995 and released many LPs and CDs. He has been very successful with his band Country Green since the beginning of the eighties and won many awards. Country Green was the house band of the TV series “Kilometer 330” with Jonny Hill.
Frank „Palani“ Baum was inducted in 1995 into the Country Music Hall of Fame by the GACMF and voted Country Musician of the Year in 1992 and 1995.
“I have been working now over 35 years as a studio musician with pedal steel, lap steel, dobro and ukelele instruments” says Baum. “And I can look back and be proud of my involvement in more than 500 LP and CD recordings.” Frank Baum was also accompanying and studio musician for Jonny Hill, Gunter Gabriel, Freddy Quinn, Dave Dudley, Peter Maffay, Paola, Mary Roos, Rattlesnake Anny, Rosanne Cash, the Bellamy Brothers, The Spotnicks, Michael Holm, Boxcar Willie, Joe Sun and many more.
The pedal steel virtuoso wrote the instructional book in the late sixties for the new Framus professional steel guitars FS 1000 und FS 2000, which he also played and promoted. “This modern method will allow any seriously interested player to easily learn this versatile instrument” read Frank Baum’s introduction. Frank Baum is currently active on stage and in the studio.

Click to play House of the Rising Sun

Facebook · by **Basil Henriques** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 1:49 am

Frank's version of The Londonderry Aire (Danny Boy) isn't too bad, take a listen.
Click to play the Londonderry Aire
Or the other file I listed Click to play House of the Rising Sun