The man who popularized The Beatles in Savai’i, Samoa
The couple were from some far flung part of England that none of us knew about. They had saved for many years to do a three month travel around the world, and found themselves now in the Safua Hotel, a family run establishment on the island of Savai’i, the largest island in the Samoan group of islands.
It was 8.15 in the evening, they had spent the day at the Taga blowholes and survived a potholed ridden ride for two hours to get back to the Safua. They were tired, and had just ordered a Vailima to share, and now seated on the wooden recliners that were more relaxing than they sound.
As they took a second sip of their beer, a brown man of medium build, dressed only in a lavalava (sarong) from the waist down, appeared from behind them, shook their hands and picked up a guitar that somehow appeared out of nowhere.
He had an afro, akin to the likes of The Commodores in their younger days. As the couple smiled politely, the man sat across from them and positioned the guitar for a song.
“So, you are from England?” he asked in a thick Samoan accent, with a wry smile.
“Yes, we certainly are, very far from home,” said the man as they smiled in amusement.
Having spent the better part of the previous three months in remote villages across the Pacific, the couple were surprised that he recognized their accent and spoke good English.
“I think you might recognize this song then,” the man said as he started strumming. By the second note, both the man and woman, were transfixed, not only did they recognize the song, it felt like they were transported home momentarily as the familiar sound of ‘Let it be’, by The Beatles, was expertly played and sung by the man who surprised them.
His name was Loli Malu Satu’u Tiatia, and he is credited with popularizing The Beatles and The Animals music in Savai’i up to this day. His love for the British Invasion greats was so infectious that many young Savai’ian musicians learnt how to sing the likes of ‘Hey Jude,’ ‘Don’t let me down’ and ‘House of the Rising Sun’, before they could even speak English. Tourists who visited Safua would be amused at the fact that the young guitarists and singers would not communicate with them in English, but performed flawless Beatles numbers like native English Speakers.
Many of these same tourists would question how, in an island so far removed from Liverpool and the freezing Bristish Isles would young musicians be so well versed in the rhythms of the British Invasion.
But the journey of The Beatles to Savai’i was not deliberate, but rather a welcome accident of coincidences.
Satu’u was awarded a scholarship to study agricultural engineering in the Netherlands in the 1960s. While there he played a bit of rugby on the side, developed a liking for bell bottom jeans, grew his afro to match the times and found a love for The Beatles. He knew all of their music and attached great value in ensuring the accuracy of the notes when playing it on the guitar.
When he returned to Samoa, he moved to help his sister in establishing the Safua Hotel, the first hotel on the island of Savai’i. The hotel provided Satu’u with the perfect avenue to play The Beatles at any given chance. When young people showed interest in music, Satu’u would force them to sit down and learn one of The Beatles songs first before any other tune was learned. When special guests arrived, including Prince Andrew during his visit to Savai’i, he ensured that The Beatles was played in the lobby as he entered. When his family held funerals, weddings or any gathering, Satu’u found a way to play a Beatles song.
The same young musicians he taught to play and to sing The Beatles, are now spread across Savai’i, now lead singers in their own hotel bands, continue to play The Beatles, and continue to play it in the purity taught to them by Satu’u.
A year ago today, Satu’u passed away.
But every time you hear The Beatles played in Savai’i, you know, that even in his absence, his love for The Beatles will continue to echo through the lava fields of Saleaula, the caves of Paia, and in the mist of the Taga blowholes, where his guitar used to strum and the sound of ‘Let it be’ continues to be heard.
