Today’s song stands apart from other Palauan love songs in that the singer addresses their lover directly by name: Aggie Chiang, although the name of the woman involves some misdirection. Halley wrote this song in 1983 when he was playing at a bar in Saipan called the “House of Chiang,” owned by Chiang Alfonso, the brother of Kebekol Alfonso, and a songwriter in his own right. Halley wrote the song about one of his cousins and that cousin’s wife (whose last name was not Chiang).
Halley Eriich recorded “Aggie Chiang” on his 1984 “Karmaliang” tape. The tape was produced by Rudimch Titiml’s brand-new Belau Music Co. (referred to at that point as BEP: Belau Entertainment Promotion Company), and released in late October, 1984.
Aggie Chiang, Halley Eriich, 1984
While he wrote this song in Saipan while working there, Halley came back to Palau in 1983 to sing at Rudimch Titiml’s new bar, the Nanyo Ocean. Halley was still singing at the Nanyo Ocean in early October, 1984, when he went off-island to the Philippines to record his tape Karmaliang. At that point he had been performing professionally for twelve years in Palau, Guam and Saipan. Halley recalled that he was really nervous the first time he went into the studio. He told me last summer that while he was comfortable singing in front of large crowds, “when I went into the studio, it was all closed up. Only me there [in the little room] listening to the music” and it made him nervous. Over the years, Halley got quite comfortable in the studio, recording at least 27 albums over his career.
Halley probably got the melody for Aggie Chiang from Hank William’s country song “A Cold, Cold Heart” from 1951.
Hank Williams, in turn, derived the melody from a 1945 song by T. Texas Tyler called “You’ll Still Be In My Heart.”
Dinah Washington covered “Cold, Cold Heart” in a phenomenal performance, also from 1951.
And then, Tony Bennett, again from 1951.
Back to Aggie Chiang: Here’s an undated version I have by Lisa Sandei and Luis Kaluu. They sing the lyrics slightly out of order from Halley’s original. Lisa’s voice is perfect for this song and she really didn’t need the vocal effects used to harmonize her voice (although they are kind of cool).
Aggie Chiang, Lisa Sandei, Undated
Soul Johannes recorded this on his 2005 CD “Okemii Hilton.” Soul did this recording with Nelson Ngirarois, who was the arranger and played guitar and keyboards (along with Soul).
Aggie Chiang, Soul Johannes, Undated
It is the end of an era. With the passing this week of Albino Aichi, we have lost the last of Aichi Ngirchokebai’s sons who provided backup to the better-known singers during the electric-band phase of Palauan music history. Albino, the youngest, was born in 1960 into a very musical family, and by the late 1960s, when he was just in third grade, you could find him sitting behind the drum set at the Blue Lagoon bar, setting the beat for his brother Dennis, sister Julie, Ngiraklang, Sydney (bass), Johnny B, Singeru Sugiyama or Halley Eriich, depending on the band configuration.
Julie Tatengelel Aichi is known for singing several classic songs including today’s song, Bechesiil a Telbiled. This song was likely composed by Dudiu Tutii, as it carries several of his calling cards, including using the initials of the subjects of the song in the lyric. Of course, we don’t know who JLA and JFR were and Dudiu sometimes played tricks with rearranging the initials of the song subjects, just to keep their identity hidden. Yoichi K. Rengiil remembers hearing Julie sing this song when she, Aichi Ngirchokebai, Hidebo Sugiyama and Yoichi were performing in Ngeremlengui in the mid-1960s.
I’ve been getting ready for another trip to Palau with my friend, Tony Phillips, where we will be performing as Ngirchoureng. We are hoping to focus our musical energies on the week of March 9 through the 13th, which we are quite presumptuously labeling as the “Palauan String Band Music Festival.” We hope to be having musical activities all week focused on Palauan music played on acoustic instruments (mandolin and guitar) and songs composed between 1915 and the 60s. One of the activities we are planning is that Jim will lead a daily song discussion — from noon to 1 pm, so bring a bento — where we will examine the song lyrics and discuss the thoughts expressed in them and their relevance to today, from a group of 3 to 4 songs that share something in common.
Ouchacha 