When Mr. Denny played Vik's in 1958, the hipsters knew they were witnessing genius. The Denny combo transported the listener to other lands, other worlds. Vik and his patrons know this combo would be destined for exotic greatness.
Now, thanks to the efforts of Scamp Records, 12 seminal recordings by Mr. Denny will be available on crystal clear compact disc re=issues. Starting this important series will be the release of a two-fer "Exotica" and "Exotica II". Scamp has chosen the original mono version of "Exotica"
which features the original line up of Denny, Augie Colon, Arthur Lyman, and John Kramer. Each re-issue will include extensive liner notes with never before seen photos from Mr. Denny's archives and stories from the man himself. Each booklet will attempt to capture what was happening up to the time the albums were released. Get the entire series and get a wonderful overview of the career of Martin Denny.
The Martin Denny Group (left to right)
Frank Kim, Harvey Ragsdale, Augie Colon, Julius Wechter, Martin Denny
The Priests and The Gongs
There's a story behind nearly every one of the odd-looking instruments that fill a Martin Denny stage. One of the most unusual stories is the one Martin tells about his collection of Burmese gongs, the finest outside of Burma.
"When movie director John Sturges was making None But The Brave with Frank Sinatra in Burma, he visited an old temple on a hill where he saw these gongs and immediately decided I had to hae them.
"The priests didn't want to sell the gongs but Sturges finally talked them into it. Then came the problem of getting the instruments, over 150 of them, down a hill. The priests solved it by each taking a gong and carrying it. Can you picture 150 priests walking down that hill with these gongs in their arms? One of them weighs 73 pounds!"
Bird calls
Although Denny takes no credit for being the first to put bird calls to music (Beethoven was doing it long before Martin was born), Denny believes he is the first to use vocal, rather than mechanical, bird sounds in music.
Since then, Denny's bird calls have been used to indoctrinate U.S. Marines in jungle training, in aquacades and ballet schools and by hypnotists to help bring out the repressions of their patients.
Under the Sea
The nuclear submarines Alexander Hamilton, Sea Dragon, and Nautilus all have full sets of Martin Denny tapes in their record libraries. When the Nautilus made martime history by sailing under the North Pole, the sounds of Martin Denny kept the crew relaxed. Other ships have taken Denny's music into the Antarctic.
Crickets in the Band
One of Denny's musical experiments that didn't work was a hilarious attempt to add crickets to the band. Intrigued by the fact that the ancient Chinese had kept crickets in cages as pets, Denny bought a couple of crickets in Seattle shortly before one of his regular trips to Hawaii.
At the airport in Honolulu, the agriculture inspectors refused to let Denny's crickets enter the state. Crickets eat sugar cane, the principal crop of the Islands, the inspectors explained, and therefore are not welcome in Hawaii.
Denny protested that he already had written an arrangement around his crickets and that they were a part of his group. The inspectors answered firmly that if Denny wanted to rehearse with the crickets he would have to do it at the agricultural station where Denny's crickets were kept under heavy guard.
In desperation, Denny advertised for Hawaiian crickets. After a lot of hopping around, Island cricket chasers produced several grasshoppers, numerous unidentified bugs and one cricket that absolutely refused to chirp.
"I still have the arrangement but we've never played it," Denny admits.
Martin and Marlin
The first time Martin Denny tried deep sea fishing he landed a 187 pound marlin that won him first prize for medium tackle in the 1962 International Billfish Tournament at Kona, Hawaii.
Third Floor (Mauna Lani, Hawaii 1983-85 2 years solo)
Raffles (Westin Wailea 1978-82)
Blue Dolphin (Honolulu1976 10 months)
Canlis (Honolulu 1975 1 year)
Duke Kahanamoku's (International Market Place 1961-64)
Shell Bar (Hawaiian Village 1956 1 year)
Don The Beachcombers (Waikiki 1955, 1957-60)
Kuilima (Del Webb's 10 weeks opening)
Interlude Club (Hollywood)
Crescendo Club (Hollywood)
Lattitude '20 (Torrence, 5 appearances)
Basin Street West (San Francisco)
Seven Seas (Hollywood)
Fack's Club (San Francisco)
Safari Club (San Jose)
The Roundtable (New York City)
The Riot Room (Miami)
Colony Club (Seattle)
The Penthouse (Seattle)
The Cave (Vancouver, B.C.)
Issy's (Vancouver, B.C.)
The London House (Chicago)
Baker's Keyboard Lounge (Detroit)
Casino Royale (Washington, D.C.)
Henry Grady's (Atlanta)
Freddie's Club (Minneapolis)
The Embers (Indianapolis)
Fireside Inn (Spokane)
Hotel Appearances
Royal Hawaiian (Honolulu, Surf Room and Monarch Room)
Kahala Hilton (Honolulu, opened Hala Terrance)
Mauna Kea (Hawaii)
Mauna Lani (Hawaii, grand opening)
Westin Wailea (Maui, grand opening)
Westin Maui (Maui, grand opening)
Tapa Towers (Honolulu, grand opening)
Marriot (Maui)
Kona Hilton (Kona)
Harvey's (Lake Tahoe)
Chase (St. Louis)
Edgewater Beach (Chicago)
Sacramento Inn (Sacramento)
Kuilima Resorts (Kuilima)
Sands (Las Vegas)
Flaming (Las Vegas)
Grand Hotel (Anaheim, CA)
Sahara Tahoe (Lake Tahoe)
Harrah's (Reno and Lake Tahoe)
College and University Appearances
Purdue University (Lafayette, Indiana)
Arizona State (Flagstaff, Arizona)
Denver College (Denver, Colorado)
New Mexico University (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
University of Idaho (Moscow, Idaho)
Kansas University (Lawrence, Kansas)
Idaho State (Caldwell, Idaho)
Wyoming University (Laramie, Wyoming)
Texas Western (El Paso, Texas)
Manmouth College (Manmouth, Illinois)
Tacoma Lutheran College (Tacoma, Washington)
Southern Oregon College (Ashland, Oregon)
Oklahoma University (Norman, Oklahoma)
Military Appearances
Fort Lawton (Seattle)
Elmendorf Air Base (Anchorage, Alaska)
Maelstrom Air Base (Great Falls, Montana)
McCord Air Base (Washington)
The Martin Denny Group and The Kingston Trio
during an in-store promotion in Chicago, 1959.
(from a 1988 press release)
Denny decided to retire in 1985. After three years of relaxing in Hawaii, he decided it was time to reactivate them combo. He was fortunate enough to get hold of some the original members.
Arthur Lyman who originally had played in Denny's group had been successful with his own group for many years. His recordings and personal appearances throughout the United States and Japan are as well known as Denny's. His "Yellow Bird" album was a million seller and is still one of the standard hits. Arthur is active in golf as well as competing in canoe races. He is active in the local Elks Club and performs and plays golf at the Waialae Country Club.
Augie Colon lives in Molokai. He is available when Martin needs him. He is active in the community with his wife Phyliss. They have five children.
Harold Chang has performed with both Denny and Lyman since 1957. He performed in the first recording of "Exotica". He is in charge of the drum department at Harry's Music Store and is in great demand as a teacher as well as performer.
Archie Grant has also performed with both Denny and Lyman. Besides being an excellent bassist, he plays jazz piano. He performs at a popular restaurant named John Domini's. He is an excellent golfer as well and plays to a low handicap.
Since reviving the group, Denny has been besieged with engagements for convention parties as well as fundraisers.