Thoughts about the magnificent Rick Cunha

July 17, 1944 – September 30, 2023

Rick’s grandfather, Sonny Cunha, was a pioneer of Hawaiian music. He was the first songwriter to mix Hawaiian melodies with English lyrics and popularize songs like “Hula Blues” and “On the Beach At Waikiki,” bringing Hawaiian music to the world.

Rick wore this musical inheritance comfortably and continued introducing Hawaiian sounds to new generations. He infused the folk music of his era with the gentle, loping Island warmth he absorbed from his grandfather. Master of all the stringed instruments gaining popularity in the 60s and 70′ s folk revival, Rick’s presence both on the bandstand and in person brought cohesiveness to both concerts and informal jams.

His apartment on Glencoe Way in Hollywood Heights was the meeting place for most of the folk music musicians who came to town to play the Troubadour, where Rick was the MC for the Monday night hoots.

It was in this apartment that many genres of music were exuberantly cross-pollinating in the wee hours of the morning, staying awake with black coffee and laughter. This wasn’t the Laurel Canyon scene that so many have romanticized over the years, now more famous for its celebrity and scene-making. No, these were the working folk musicians, sharing their songs, licks, and traditions: Any given night visiting musicians would sing and play with Rick and his guests, and I can’t possibly remember all the names, but some are The Irish Rovers, Mason Williams, Jackson Browne, Doug Haywood, John Hartford, Arnie Moore, Naomi Judd, Bob Gibson, Jo El Sonnier, Mary McCaslin, Glen D Hardin, Larry Murray, David Dawson, Penny Nichols, Dave Stone, David Lindley, Chris Darrow, Eddie Zip, Richard Thompson, David Mansfield, Putter Smith, James Cruce, Doug Kershaw, Doug Dillard, Greg Leisz, David P. Jackson, Bill Cunningham, Pete Wasner, Suzie Katayama, Van Dyke Parks, Martin Cooper, Waylon Jennings, Doug Livingston, and whoever else would be coming through town.

At the same time, Rick was carving out his own career. With Dave Dawson and Larry Murray, he formed the influential folk rock group Hearts and Flowers, signed to Capitol Records in 1967. He joined me for my first two albums, easily sitting in with the top studio pros sometimes referred to as The Wrecking Crew. And when he toured the nation’s colleges on endless trips with Mason Willams, John Hartford and John Stewart, Rick was solid as a rock on stage and on the bus. He was the guy who told me in Hartford 1971, that Leonard Cohen was down in the hotel lobby, and I should rush down and meet him.

Rick tasted solo fame, with his 70’s album Cunha Sings and singles Jesse James (Is An Outlaw, Honey) and (I’m A) YoYo Man, which Tom and Dick Smothers immortalized. But he was far more driven by his craft and his many collaborations. He can be found on recordings by EmmyLou Harris, Judy Henske, Delbert McClinton, Matthew Sweet, Buck Owens, Dolly Parton, and many more. He produced or engineered recordings from Mason Williams, Lyle Ritz, and lots of his beloved Hawaiian, ukulele, and steel guitar music. His Rainbow Garage studio was responsible for recordings by fiddle great Byron Berline, country legend Rose Maddox, and no end of up-and-coming folk and roots music artists who got their first taste of recording under Rick’s comforting care.

As for me, we always laughed about our first meeting, at the Troubadour of course, when he enticed me back to his apartment with some freshly baked bread and an invitation into the secret society of after-hours folk music. That led to a lifetime of collaboration, recording, touring and me taking his song “When The Feeling Comes Around” onto radio and the Top 100 Billboard Chart. But much more importantly, we became family. Holiday meals and much happiness became our other language, just as precious as his legacy. It was my great good fortune to have a lifelong friend who was loving, rich and deep. His music never fails to warm my heart. You can hear Rick’s essence in his transparent voice and watery guitars, on the many recordings he left behind, a huge body of work. To me, Rick is all that is right and true in the music world. I’ve heard a rumor that his grandson Nico is the new engineer at the Rainbow Garage. It gives me great joy to think that this kind of spirit will go on and on and on. That’s what Rick intended all along. To continue, just like the rocking of the ocean, like the rolling of the sea.

Jennifer Warnes
October 9, 2023