Smiley Whitley’s Hawaiian Honeymoon

[Mark Farrell]

Greetings. Just revisiting an old topic from
2001. The question raised was who wrote the song, “Hawaiian Honeymoon” which was recorded by Cecil Campbell, Hank Penny, Shot Jackson/Buddy Emmons and Gary Carpenter. The song was actually written by steel guitarist Olan “Smiley” Whitley (1911-1992) born in Karnes City, TX and who recorded it in 1938 with the Tune Wranglers for Bluebird (no composer on the 78). Though Jackson on his Starday LP with Emmons took credit, as well as did Eddie Duncan on Hank Penny’s 1940 recording, it was definitely Whitley as he was listed in Library of Congress 1946 Catalog Of Copyright Entries. Also, Oahu Publishing produced sheet music indicating he wrote the words and music. Whitley also had his own band, Smiley Whitley and his Texans. For their record “West Wind”:

https://youtu.be/GUwBh-VZsFk?si=Bun43YzALhMnuik3

For those who haven’t heard the Bluebird 78, I strongly urge you to give it a listen as it is truly one of the greatest steel performances on record and it always gives me the chills:

https://youtu.be/-6V4iUPQKdI?si=IEMJLycntBWd8mjB