HILO — Elson “Bobo” Kanaina Brown, the last member of the legendary band Hilo Hawaiians and son of founder William “Bunny” Brown, died July 22 surrounded by family at his Hilo home after a yearlong battle with cancer. He was 77.
The entertainment career of the Hilo-born Brown, who retired from his day job as a lineman and foreman for Hawaii Electric Light Co., spanned decades through several musical iterations of the Brown family — some with his father, who died in 2009, some with older brother, Bill, who died in 2000, and almost all with younger brother, Boyson, who died in 2013.
But it was the Hilo Hawaiians that would cement the Browns’ musical legacy.
The band, which had a national recording contract with Decca, was one of several prominent musical acts to emerge from the Haili Congregational Church Choir. The Hilo Hawaiians had a long-running engagement at the Naniloa Hotel and also played at venues including Hilo’s Orchid Isle Hotel, which burned down in 1986, and Kona’s King Kamehameha Hotel.
“They were the epitome of Hawaiian music back in the day,” KAPA-FM personality Jacqueline Leilani “Skylark” Rossetti said Tuesday. “They had the melodies, they had the harmonies, they had the tightness. If you landed in Hilo in the ’60s, where they were was the place to be. They were synonymous with Hilo.”
Pepe Romero, a Hilo audio engineer who in 1991 recorded Boyson and Bobo’s still available “Live at Fiasco’s” album, which also features keyboardist Danelle Avelino, said Boyson Brown was the frontman, but Bobo Brown was the leader.
“Even though Boyson was the one with the golden voice, it was Bobo who held it all together. He’d set up where they were going and what songs they were doing, and he was the spokesman for the group,” Romero said. “To me, he was like a surrogate uncle. We were that close.”
No one seems to remember where the nickname Bobo came from, but as the moniker implies, he could be kolohe, especially on stage.
“Practical jokes ran with both him and Boyson. They loved it,” Romero said. “They could make fun of themselves, which was really good, especially Bobo. He never took himself too serious. He always remained humble.”
Kim Morante, Brown’s middle daughter, described her father as “very loving” and “an unselfish man who always thought of everyone else before himself.”
“He always said to our family ‘aloha kekahi i kekahi,’ which means to ‘love one another,’” Morante said. “Every generation, there’s one person who is the glue for the family. That was my grandpa, Bunny, and when my grandpa passed, it was my dad.”
Rossetti said the Browns played music that “catered to everyone.”
“They realized that Hawaiian music is the soundtrack of our islands. If a couple was older, they’d play them a hapa-haole song and win their hearts. If they saw more local people in the crowd, they’d play a Hawaiian classic,” she said.
“It’s the end of an era. They were classic. They always looked good. And they knew how to represent Hawaiian music properly in front of people.”
Visitation is 9-11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 3, at Dodo Mortuary Chapel. A celebration of Brown’s life will begin at 11 a.m. Casual attire is requested.
Brown is survived by his wife, Lynette Brown of Hilo; daughters, Lisa Ann (Gilbert) Barretto of Kapaa, Kauai, Kimberly (Manny) Morante of Hilo and Glynis Rose (Legin) Moreno of Hilo; sister, Haunani (Stanley) Yorong of Hilo; sister-in-law, Kalei Brown of Hilo; 14 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandson; nieces, nephews and cousins.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
