There was more to Don Ho than "Tiny Bubbles" and "Pearly Shells."

Ho's musical style symbolized the laid-back attitude of Hawai'i to millions of people the world over — the first person on everyone's list of entertainers to come to hear when traveling to the Islands.

His music wasn't traditional Hawaiian. To critics, it was deemed kitsch. Yet Ho's longtime friend Jimmy Borges said Ho was the person millions called to mind when they thought of music in Hawai'i. To them, his songs represented that romantic, breezy, easy-going sound of the Islands immediately after statehood.

"He was the most important entertainer who ever came from Hawai'i," said Borges, who described Ho and his music as "the embodiment of the concept of aloha."

"There are musical icons, then there is Don Ho," said Ken Makuakane, producer, composer and singer. "His voice made the world smile."

"Don brought Hawai'i to the world," added entertainer and Ho pal Danny Kaleikini. Wherever he has gone in the world, Kaleikini said the moment people learn he's from Hawai'i they ask, "Do you know 'Tiny Bubbles?' "

"Don didn't get credit for how much he knew about music," said comedian Andy Bumatai. "He knew music."

But Bumatai said Ho was more than music. He was a consummate showman — "He was the best ringleader. His talent was knowing how to take a room full of circus acts and turn it into a show."

Bumatai, Kaleikini and Borges all spoke of Ho's legendary propensity for showing patience and respect to the fans who showed up in droves for his shows. They spoke of the unusual bond Ho formed with his audiences. That, more than anything else, they say, was the thing that made Ho special.

"It's not just the music, it's not just one song after another — it's the communication," Ho once told Honolulu disc jockey Ron Jacobs. "They (the fans) didn't like me only because of the music."

It was like magic, said songwriter Larry Henley, a frequent Hawai'i visitor who likened Ho's chemistry with an audience to "magic."

Ho often made members of the audience part of the show. Henley recalled Ho inviting him up to the stage to sing Henley's smash, "Wind Beneath My Wings." Then the two had spontaneous fun vocalizing "(I Like) Bread And Butter," a falsetto hit Henley made famous as lead singer of The New Beats in the '60s.

"He was just really nice to me," Henley recalled yesterday from his home in Nashville. "I wish I'd have had a chance to get to know him better."

Bumatai, who performed in Ho's final show Thursday, said the entertainer's musical legacy includes giving Hawaiian entertainers a voice.

"He was the first one to explain to the audience what Hawaiian songs were about," Bumatai said. "He started that. He was the one that made it OK for Hawaiian entertainers to speak and talk and tell you what was going on.

"I'm happy that I was there on his last show. Because that's where he lived his life."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.