Larry Rivera, Kauai’s living treasure of music, is synonymous with Coco Palms Resort.
Rivera’s one dream is to witness the renovation of the 16.4-acre property that was once one of the most popular Pacific destinations. This includes the lounge he used to sing in for half a century, and continues to visit daily.
“I hope to live long enough to see this place in full swing and then I will just walk away and wave to it and be very happy,” Rivera said, touring the familiar grounds last week. “After fighting for 21 years, we finally got the OK and in three more years you can come back and hopefully I will be there on stage.”
Soon after starting work at Coco Palms on Sept. 14, 1951, Rivera was called to serve in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was stationed at Schofield Barracks on Oahu, and found his true calling after placing first in a talent show.
“It was a blessing because they held the first all-Army talent contest and 35 installations in Hawaii competed,” Rivera said. “I had two boys with me and we called ourselves ‘The Beach Boys.’”
But Rivera’s musical liftoff happened on Kauai. He said Charlie Fern was the first to play his recordings on KTOH Radio.
His trademark song, “Where Is My Love,” was written while he was an employee of Coco Palms. He was down with the flu and said the hotel manager Grace Guslander called and told him, “don’t stay home with the flu, write a song about a frog,” he recalled. “I said yes,” Rivera added. “If she tells you to do something, you better do it.”
Grace managed the hotel until 1986 and resided in a nearby Wailua apartment until she died in 2000. She had taken over from her husband Lyle “Gus” Guslander, who died in 1984.
Starting in 1953, Gus expanded a 24-room Coco Palms Lodge into nearly 400 rooms and cottages by the late 1970s. Grace was a manager and the two married.
The hotel became part of the Hawaii tourism company AMFAC with Gus as vice president into the early 1980s. It was purchased by Wailua Associates in 1985 and fell into disrepair after Grace retired, with Hurricane Iniki the final knockout blow in 1992.
After several failed attempts at redeveloping the property, Coco Palms Ventures moved ahead with plans that ended with the economic downturn in 2008. Coco Palms Hui LLC took the lead in 2013 with investors ready to move forward.
“Coco Palms is not about me, it is about love and aloha and the jobs that people can get here,” Rivera said. “This is the heart of Kauai, and what a gift Coco Palms would be once again if it were brought to life.”
The only time that Rivera became upset during the tour was when pointing out the Native Hawaiian burial site where copper thieves stole a plaque that covered reinterred remains that were discovered during construction.
Rivera and his wife Gloria meet on Oahu while he was in the Army The were married in 1954.
“I am still on my honeymoon,” Rivera said.
Bing Crosby once picnicked with Rivera’s wife and children. Rivera recalled that Crosby wanted the musician to teach him his song, “Love And Aloha,” after hearing it in the show.
Rivera doesn’t recall getting too close to Frank Sinatra. He didn’t make an impression and had bodyguards walking with him so the crowds didn’t chase after him, he said.
But Rivera recalled the day when Sinatra nearly drowned at Wailua Beach. The uber-famous singer survived and the close call prompted Sinatra to donate funds for some mobile thing to help rescue people, but Rivera said he is not sure what it was or what came of it.
“He learned a lesson out there in the ocean,” Rivera said. “He was already blue and almost died, if it wasn’t for the boys with the surf boards.”
Patti Page, Don Ho, and Elvis Presley all came to watch Rivera’s show when they stayed at Coco Palms. They became his friends and sang with him on stage.
“They all came to my shows and Elvis and Patti Page sang background vocals for me right there in the cocktail lounge,” Rivera said. “He (Elvis) was a very wonderful man and very soft spoken. He was very humorous and extremely polite.”
Pictures of Mr. Coco Palms
Videos of Mr. Coco Palms
My Good Friend Charlie
