[3] Gabby Pahinui was born with the name Charles Kapono Kahahawai Jr. in Lahaina, Maui, Territory of Hawaii, into a struggling family that sold leis.

[3] He was later hānaied (informally adopted) with his brother and one of his sisters to Emily and Philip Pahinui, and they were raised in the impoverished district of Kaka'ako in Honolulu in the 1920s ("all tin roofs and kinda falling apart").

During this period he made two other influential sides for Bell, the vocal "Wai O Ke Aniani" and the instrumental "Key Koalu" (a misspelling of "Kī Hō'alu"), plus another version of "Hi'ilawe" for Aloha Records.

Eventually, Pahinui moved his wife Emily and their children to Waimānalo, Oahu, which had become a popular second home location for many musicians.

Examples of his session work from the late 1950s through the 1960s can be found on the two volumes of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar (Waikiki Records 319 and 320) and two more LPs titled Kani Ka Pila!

These are combo recordings (steel guitar, slack key guitar, uke, bass, vocals, sometimes percussion) made with bandmates such as Atta, Barney, and Norman Isaacs, Charles Kaipo Miller, and a young Peter Moon, and they reflect the style of nightclub music popular around Waikīkī at the time.

A 1961 solo recording session was organized by Hawaii-raised Dave Guard of The Kingston Trio, who was a great admirer of Pahiuni's music.

The final package was Pure Gabby (Hula 567), a two-record set, one LP consisting of the music and the second of an interview conducted by Guard.

The first album featured Gabby backed by four of his sons plus old friends Leland "Atta" Isaacs and bassist Manuel "Joe Gang" Kupahu, but the group eventually expanded to include Sonny Chillingworth, younger-generation players Peter Moon and Randy Lorenzo, and mainland admirer Ry Cooder.

He received a second Hawai'i Academy of Recording Arts Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009 for his work as a member of the Sons of Hawaii.

[15] Pahinui is buried at Hawaiian Memorial Park Cemetery in Kaneohe, Hawaii in the Lakeside Garden musician area (lot 8, section B, site 4).