The Extraordinary Kui Lee is Hawaiian singer-songwriter Kui Lee's debut album. Lee recorded the album while enjoying popularity on his home state. Under treatment for cancer, Lee recorded the tracks during separate sessions.
A single to promote the album was released in May 1966, while the album was released on December 2, 1966, the previous day to Lee's death. The album opened to favorable reviews.
Recording
Lee started to work on the record while visiting mainland United States in March 1965, following a club performance in San Francisco. Upon his arrival in New York City, he cut his first tracks with Columbia Records. At the time, Lee was under treatment for lymph gland cancer.[1] Due to the progression of the disease, the record was cut throughout different sessions,[2] as Lee returned to the city while under treatment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in July.[1] It was produced by Mike Berniker and the arrangements for the tracks were provided by Stuart Scharf and Bernie Krause.[3]
Release and reception
The single of the album "Ain't No Big Thing", paired with "All I Want To Do" had been released in May.[4] The record was released on December 2, 1966, the day before Lee's death. Lee did not hear the finished record.[2]
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin's review defined Lee's a "sincere delivery".[5]The Honolulu Advertiser favored Lee, and called the album an "anthology of Kui, the entertainer.[2]The Boston Globe felt that at the time of his death, Lee's career started to expand to the mainland and determined that the release "constitutes his legacy".[6]El Paso Times delivered a positive review, and called it "a different, interesting and enjoyable recording."[7]Billboard called it a "delightful package".[8]
In 1997, the album was reissued on compact disc. In its new review, The Honolulu Star-Bulletin pointed Lee as "a composer-performer who envisioned modern Hawaiian music fueled by the energy and cosmopolitan outlook of the first years of statehood".[9]Allmusic praised Lee and declared that he "modernized" the music of Hawaii, as it deemed him a song-writer "graced with great emotion and sensitivity".[10]
Billboard staff (1966). "Album Reviews". Billboard. Vol. 78, no. 53. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. ISSN0006-2510. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
Billboard staff 2 (1966). "Pop Spotlights". Billboard. Vol. 78, no. 21. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. ISSN0006-2510. Retrieved August 27, 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Columbia Records staff (1966). The Extraordinary Kui Lee (LP). CS 9403, CL 2603 (mono). Columbia Records.
Donelly, Dave (December 14, 1966). "The Teen Beat". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Vol. 55, no. 348. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
Funkhauser, Barbara (January 15, 1967). "Records". El Paso Times. Vol. 87, no. 15. Retrieved September 25, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
Harada, Wayne (December 5, 1966). "Kui Lee's Dream Came True Friday". Honolulu Advertiser. Vol. 111, no. 55, 317. Advertier Publishing, Co. Retrieved September 25, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
Honolulu Advertiser staff (December 4, 1966). "They'll Bury Kui Lee in the Sea He Loved". Honolulu Advertiser. Vol. 111, no. 55, 316. Oahu publications, Inc. Retrieved August 27, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
Santosuosso, Ernie (February 19, 1967). "Illyia Makes Music, A Career Cut Short". Boston Globe. Vol. 191, no. 50. Retrieved September 25, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
