Somewhere Over The Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

This entry is a bit long winded but stay with it, i'll get there in the end.

This entry is for my dad to pass onto Audrey who has been visiting them this past month from the good ol' USA (near Seattle, i believe)

George the music man sings a beautiful version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow/Wonderful World, and he heard it from this guy Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

Audrey came over to stay with my parents in Devon for a little holiday, and i met up with them all today in London where we all had a lovely time visiting Buckingham Palace and going on a boat trip down the Thames.
My mum and dad (Nana and Grandad by-the-sea) went to visit Audrey & Roy (her late husband) a couple of years ago, and they had a lovely time out there.
Audrey told me today that they played Israel's version of this song at his funeral but neither her nor me could remember his name off the top of our heads so i thought he deserved an entry onto the blog.

This guy Israel Kamakawiwo'ole has/d the most amazing voice, i'm not sure if he was the first to put these two songs together, or if this is just his version of it, but either way it's lovely.
Daisy and Iris now sing this version of the song rather than Judy Garland's.
Israel died aged 38 in 1997 of weight-related respiratory illness, he left a wife and daughter, in this video below you can see his friends and family scattering his ashes into the bay where he grew up in Kaimuki, Hawaii.



Israel on Wikipedia
George the music man