{"id":41849,"date":"2010-01-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/blue-hawaii\/"},"modified":"2010-01-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-01-16T00:00:00","slug":"blue-hawaii","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/blue-hawaii\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Hawaii"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here I am visiting my family on the West Coast. I am watching the surf pound against the rocks, it\u2019s raining, and the temperature is close to freezing. Now what album should I review?<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Blue Hawaii<\/i> is probably the movie most associated with Elvis Presley. It was also his most popular and endearing. Its accompanying soundtrack sold millions of copies and spent an astounding twenty weeks atop the American music charts. This was good news and bad news for Elvis\u2019 career, however. The good news was the money and continued popularity. The bad news was that because of this success, the future emphasis of his career would be focused upon making movies quickly and releasing accompanying soundtracks. Studio albums would be few and far between, and live concert performances ceased until the end of the decade. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The film Blue Hawaii <\/i>had a lot going for it. Elvis looked good and his voice was in fine shape. He appeared relaxed and interested and gives a fine acting performance. Also, it was 1961, and Hawaii at that point was considered a far-off, exotic location that most people would never visit. This was a winning combination for Elvis fans and for the movie-going public at large.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

While the soundtrack to Blue Hawaii <\/i>is a long way from Elvis\u2019 classic rock \u2018n\u2019 roll albums, it is still a fairly strong release and remains a pleasurable listening experience decades later.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The soundtrack contains one of the great Elvis Presley ballads, \u201cCan\u2019t Help Falling In Love,\u201d which is still instantly recognizable over 45 years later. This song, featuring sensitive vocals and romantic lyrics, has been played at who knows how many weddings and proms. It was released as a single and reached number two on the national charts. It was one of his first singles to be pulled off a Presley album. Elvis\u2019 singles and albums were always kept separate so as not to interfere with each other commercially. \u201cCan\u2019t Help Falling In Love\u201d would begin to change that philosophy. The song also made a huge impact on the easy listening charts, remaining in the number one position for six weeks, and continued to move Elvis away from his rock roots.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The title song, \u201cBlue Hawaii,\u201d had actually been around for awhile, having been recorded by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. Today, though, the song belongs to Elvis. \u201cRock-A-Hula-Baby\u201d would be released as the B-side of \u201cCan\u2019t Help Falling In Love\u201d and became a hit in its own right, reaching number 23 on the charts. This up-tempo song, which is a cross between rock and pop, is given a joyful performance by Elvis. You really need to watch the movie to fully appreciate this song, though. \u201cHawaiian Wedding Song\u201d is another strong ballad by Elvis and also works well within the context of the film. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

There is a feel of Hawaii in the music. Songs such as \u201cMoonlight Swim,\u201d \u201cHawaiian Sunset,\u201d \u201cIsland Of Love,\u201d and \u201cAloha Oe\u201d make you almost smell the ocean and feel the tropical breezes. On the other hand, songs such as \u201cIto Eats,\u201d \u201cSlicin\u2019 Sand,\u201d and \u201cBeach Boy Blues\u201d merely serve to fill out the film and album. Songs of this nature and quality would appear all too often in future Elvis movies.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Blue Hawaii <\/i>is rightfully placed at the top of the Elvis Presley movie pantheon. Both the soundtrack and film are truly essential Elvis. They represent the man whom we would like to remember. So grab a beverage, put your feet up, close your eyes and smell the salt water as you travel to Blue Hawaii.<\/o:p><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":30203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6914],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-41849","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-elvis-presley","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41849"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41849"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}