Arthur Godfrey was a legendary entertainer, aviator, sailor and coastguardsman. At one time he was perhaps the most powerful person in show business and his escapades involving airplanes were legendary. A complex and sometimes controversial man, he was also a highly accomplished uke player as is evidenced by this number recorded in 1966.
Godfrey is sometimes credited with having the baritone uke developed for him. Regardless, the baritone has mixed reactions in the uke community, particularly those who strongly support the smallest uke, the soprano.
ReplyDeleteBut other like the baritone for its longer fretboard and for the lower tone. Kimo Hussey is a great musician who travels around giving workshops and concerts. He prefers the larger ukes, and incidently, really likes my Pono tenor with the Worth Brown low g strings. But his preference is the baritone. Here is a video of him and his 6 string custom baritone (lower two courses doubled, unlike normal 6 string ukes).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHKoOHG-Ngw&feature=related
Ralph