"They set up with instruments that were kind of beat up. They were teenagers and Israel showed up with his older brother Skippy at a graduation party. But it's that that makes him special, because his mana always came out."Ä«eazley remembers the first time he heard Israel sing. And when we open our mouth to speak, to sing or to play, that's what we let out. We believe we get ours from the elements first, the Earth, your sky, your ocean, your God, and all that is inside of us. "In Hawaii, we talk about this thing we call mana," says musician Del Beazley, who grew up with Israel and wrote two of his songs. That's quite remarkable for a rendition with one voice, accompanied only by ukulele.
It's become so popular, it is now the most requested version of the song by far, according to music publishing house EMI. His version of "Over the Rainbow" has the poignancy of Judy Garland's and the shimmering vulnerability, but these days it's heard so often on TV and in the movies, a younger generation may only know Israel's version.