Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, Oct 7, 2018.

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  1. Madlove

    Madlove Hare Hunter Field

    Location:
    Upstate NY
    Never saw these before. Any info? Looks like Hawaii 61?
     
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  2. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I try and keep the photos in sync with the album timeline, and to the best of my knowledge these are at his hotel in Hawaii in 61, yes
     
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  3. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    How about some perspective from someone who grew up in the Islands although still a kid in the early 60s? I cannot emphasize enough how big a deal this was to Hawaii and how much local cred Elvis garnered here from that point to this very day. To be sure, we had some pop culture exposure before this in movies, TV and music. In fact, Sweet Leilani, for better or worse, was an Oscar winning song. But when Blue Hawai'i was released, we were flush with the excitement of statehood (1959) and the national attention this brought to the Islands was just icing on an already delicious cake. The movie itself played for months in theaters to packed houses and was brought back several times over the next few years. I must have seen it in a theater at least seven or eight times and of course, the songs were in constant rotation. Blue Hawai'i, the song, is still a regular part of nearly every Hawaiian show and the Japanese, in particular, seem to adore it. I don't revere every tune and yes, some are downright embarrassing but the good ones are....well, about as good as it gets with his soundtrack songs. I'll skip over the obvious favorites and point out Ku'uipo, Almost Always and Moonlight Swim as cuts I still enjoy to this day. A side note - the Coco Palms on Kaua'i where the wedding was filmed was destroyed by Hurricane Iniki in the early 90s and remains so due to a variety of circumstances
     
  4. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Perspective is a beautiful thing, and your input is greatly appreciated. I for one knew none of that.
    Cheers
     
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  5. Madlove

    Madlove Hare Hunter Field

    Location:
    Upstate NY
    Thank you for the post. Did you or anyone you knew go to the Elvis show at the Honolulu Stadium in 1957 or the Bloch Arena in 1961?
     
  6. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    Nope. Not that I'm aware. Off topic, the closest I ever got to a movie connection is my older brother as a surfing extra in Ride The Wild Surf. My earliest concert memory is a Battle of the Bands style extravaganza that featured among others, The Beach Boys and April & Nino of all people. At least, that's what I remember.
     
  7. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Aloha Oe
    Written By :
    Queen Lydia Lili'uokalani, arranged and adapted by Elvis Presley

    Recorded :

    Radio Recorders, Hollywood, March 21-23, 1961 : March 21, 1961. splice take 7 and 5

    "Aloha ʻOe" (Farewell to Thee) is Liliʻuokalani's most famous song and a common cultural symbol for Hawaii.

    The story of the origin of the song has several variations.[1] They all have in common that the song was inspired by a notable farewell embrace given by Colonel James Harbottle Boyd during a horseback trip taken by Princess Liliʻuokalani in 1877 or 1878 to the Boyd ranch in Maunawili on the windward side of Oʻahu, and that the members of the party hummed the tune on the way back to Honolulu. Different versions tell of alternate recipients of the embrace — either Liliʻuokalani's sister Princess Likelike Cleghorn or a young lady at the ranch.[2] According to the most familiar version of the story:

    This tender farewell set Liliʻuokalani to thinking, and she began humming to herself on the homeward trip. Overhearing, Charles Wilson observed, "That sounds like The Lone Rock by the Sea," a comment with which Liliʻuokalani is said to have agreed. When the party paused to rest in an orange grove on the Honolulu side of the Pali, the others joined in the hummings, and the song was completed later at Washington Place.[3]

    The Hawaiʻi State Archives preserves a hand-written manuscript by Liliʻuokalani, dated 1878, with the score of the song, the lyrics, Liliʻuokalani's English translation, and her note evidently added later: "Composed at Maunawili 1878. Played by the Royal Hawaiian Band in San Francisco August 1883 and became very popular."

    A catalogue issued by Columbia Records in 1901 mentioned two wax cylinders labeled "Vocal Solos in Hawaiian", containing the earlier recordings of "Aloha ʻOe" and "Kuʻu Pua I Paoakalani". However, it is uncertain if this was recorded in Hawaii or if the performer was Hawaiian and the cylinders are now lost.[4] Columbia Records later recorded a duet of the song by Nani Alapai and Henry N. Clark in 1911.[5] A 1913 score can be seen at the Levy Sheet Music Collection.[6]
    Haʻaheo e ka ua i nā pali Proudly swept the rain by the cliffs
    Ke nihi aʻela i ka nahele As it glided through the trees
    E hahai (uhai) ana paha i ka liko Still following ever the bud
    Pua ʻāhihi lehua o uka The ʻāhihi lehua[7] of the vale
    Hui: Chorus:
    Aloha ʻoe, aloha ʻoe Farewell to thee, farewell to thee
    E ke onaona noho i ka lipo The charming one who dwells in the shaded bowers
    One fond embrace, One fond embrace,
    A hoʻi aʻe au Ere I depart
    Until we meet again Until we meet again
    ʻO ka haliʻa aloha i hiki mai Sweet memories come back to me
    Ke hone aʻe nei i Bringing fresh remembrances
    Kuʻu manawa Of the past
    ʻO ʻoe nō kuʻu ipo aloha Dearest one, yes, you are mine own
    A loko e hana nei From you, true love shall never depart
    Tomago: Refrain:
    Maopopo kuʻu ʻike i ka nani I have seen and watched your loveliness
    Nā pua rose o Maunawili The sweet rose of Maunawili
    I laila hiaʻia nā manu And 'tis there the birds of love dwell
    Mikiʻala i ka nani o ka liko And sip the honey from your lips
    Hui Chorus

    Parts of "Aloha 'Oe" resemble the song "The Lone Rock by the Sea" and the chorus of George Frederick Root's 1854 song "There's Music in the Air".[8] "The Lone Rock by the Sea" mentioned by Charles Wilson, was "The Rock Beside the Sea" published by Charles Crozat Converse in 1857,[9] and itself derives from a Croatian folk song, "Sidi Mara Na Kamen Studencu" (Girl On The Rock).[10][11]

    Notable recordings
    Film appearances
    ---------------------------------------
    I am guessing the start of this song is traditional, and and we have a saxophone that has a slightly obnoxious honk, until I realised that it is probably supposed to be a ships horn sounding that they are leaving dock.
    This isn't a very long song. But the arrangement is beautiful and of course Elvis does a really sweet rendition of an essentially sad song.
     
  8. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    No More
    Written By :
    Don Robertson & Hal Blair

    Recorded :

    Radio Recorders, Hollywood, March 21-23, 1961 : March 21, 1961. splice take 13 and end 16

    The track history of this confuses me somewhat . We have a credit to Robertson and Blair, but the history says this is an old Spanish song La Paloma La Paloma - Wikipedia ... Here is the link for those interested .... anyhow

    This is a great song. Sure it's another ballad but I guess I am so taken by the way he does these ballads that it kind of becomes irrelevant that this is rock and rolls leading light ... and merely shows of a versatility most singers of this caliber don't have.
    This is a beautiful arrangement and of course is sung sensationally. I actually didn't listen to the Blue Hawaii soundtrack before starting this section of the thread, because I am quite used to it. Where-as, as explained at the start of the thread, most of his actual albums I had never listened to before, even where I knew all the songs. So these songs so far, sound and feel even better than my memory had suggested.
    This track has a nice bouncy feel to it and yet is very endearing in its beckoning message of love.

     
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  9. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
    No More was also recorded after the Aloha show but never used in the U.S. broadcast.

     
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  10. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Robertson says he and Blair wrote English lyrics for the public-domain Spanish song, inspired by the success of similar projects ("It's Now or Never" and "Surrender"):

    "In January of 1961 I had received a letter from Freddy Bienstock at Elvis Presley Music in New York regarding material for Elvis to perform in one of the scenes in the movie, BLUE HAWAII. Because of the great success of IT’S NOW OR NEVER (adapted from O SOLO MIO), he said they would like to have another adaptation of an old Italian or French (Public Domain) folk song with new English lyrics for Elvis to record. I remembered one of my childhood favorites, LA PALOMA. I enlisted Hal Blair’s aid and we began work on it. I didn’t have a copy of the music, so I worked it out from memory. This was probably a blessing in disguise, because it took on a unique quality, different from the song I had learned as a child. Hal and I spent most of a day in my office in Hollywood. I sat at the piano and he pulled up a chair next to me and we followed our usual procedure, both of us coming up with lyric phrases and trying them out as I worked on the arrangement and sang in Elvis’s style. The lyric and the arrangement gradually evolved until we had a song we thought would fit Elvis and that we felt he might like. I set up a demo session at RCA on Sunset Blvd, just down the street from my office. I’ve forgotten who the engineer was, most likely either Al Schmidt (later on a Grammy winner) or Jim Malloy. I liked working with either of them. Both top of the line, plus the positive and encouraging attitudes so essential to counteracting the insecurity I invariably felt when presenting a new piece of work. I had recently helped my friend and colleague Bonnie Guitar with one of her projects so I asked her to play some guitar rhythm for me (besides her exceptional vocal artistry, Bonnie plays great rhythm guitar). I showed her what I had in mind for the guitar rhythm while I played the B3 organ).Then I overdubbed the vocal and, despite the small orchestra, we came out with what seemed to be a pretty effective expression of the song. I made a lead sheet and sent it, along with the demo, to Freddy.quotes The fact that the arrangement on Elvis’s recording follows my demo almost note for note — including my vocal phrasing — was a rewarding validation of the effectiveness of the demo as well as telling Hal and me that we hit the bull’s eye with the song."

    edit: scooped by Revelator...
     
  11. Revelator

    Revelator Disputatious cartoon animal.

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Ha! I went ahead and deleted my post to avoid duplication (I'm happy to defer to a senior member whose posts I esteem). Looks like we're both familiar with Don Robertson's website.
     
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  12. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Thanks, that's awesome.
     
  13. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    And thank you too.
    I appreciate the input and replies. Especially with stuff like this
     
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  14. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Can't Help Falling In Love
    Written By :
    Music by Giovanni Martini, Lyrics by George Weiss, Hugo Peretti & Luigi Creatore

    Recorded :

    Radio Recorders, Hollywood, March 21-23, 1961: March 23, 1961. take 29


    "Can't Help Falling in Love"

    [​IMG]
    Single by Elvis Presley
    from the album Blue Hawaii
    B-side
    "Rock-A-Hula Baby"[1]
    Released October 1, 1961
    Format 7"
    Recorded March 23, 1961, Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California
    Genre Pop
    Length 2:59
    Label RCA Victor
    Songwriter(s)
    Producer(s) Elvis Presley (Joseph Lilley for Paramount Pictures)[3]

    Music video
    "Can't Help Falling in Love" (audio) on YouTube
    "Can't Help Falling in Love" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley for the album Blue Hawaii (1961). It was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss.[2] (The melody is based on "Plaisir d'amour",[4] a popular French love song composed in 1784 by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini). "Can't Help Falling in Love" was featured in Presley's 1961 film, Blue Hawaii. During the following four decades, it has been covered by numerous other artists, including Tom Smothers, Swedish pop group A-Teens, and the British reggae group UB40, whose 1993 version topped the U.S. and UK charts.

    Elvis Presley's version of the song topped the British charts in 1962. The single is certified Platinum by the RIAA, for US sales in excess of one million copies. In the United States, the song peaked at No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 behind Joey Dee and the Starliters' "Peppermint Twist"[5] and went to No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for six weeks.[6][7]

    During Presley's late 1960s and 1970s live performances, the song was performed as the show's finale. Most notably, it was also sung in the live segment of his 1968 NBC television special, and as the closer for his 1973 Global telecast, Aloha from Hawaii. A version with a faster arrangement was the closing number in Presley's final TV special, Elvis in Concert. "Can't Help Falling in Love" was also the last song he performed live, at his concert in Indianapolis at Market Square Arena on 26 June 1977.[8]

    In 2015, the song was included on the If I Can Dream album, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Presley's birth. The version uses archival voice recordings of Presley and his singers, backed by new orchestral arrangements performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

    Personnel
    Track listings
    7" single
    1. "Can't Help Falling in Love"
    2. "Rock-A-Hula Baby"
    ------------------------------------------
    The first interesting thing I notice about this track is take 29. For the longest time we have had single digit takes on the songs from the sixties. It seems they either had a lot of different arrangements of this song they were trying out, or there was some little thing that Elvis was trying to get just right.
    What can I really say about this song? It is probably close to Elvis' most well known song from the sixties era. It has all the qualities one would expect from a big Elvis ballad, but more-so I suspect that its simple and timeless phrasing of a natural human emotion lead itself into the hearts of people in love everywhere. I also guess that it would be very high on the statistic charts of people's wedding songs.
    It is a great ballad and of course Elvis does a wonderful job of singing it. A lot of modern singers could learn a lot from Elvis' delivery here, there is no big "wow I'm a great singer" moment here, there is just a solid, honest, melodically correct delivery of a song.


     
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  15. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Rock-a-hula Baby
    Written By :
    Ben Weisman, Dolores Fuller & Fred Wise

    Recorded :

    Radio Recorders, Hollywood, March 21-23, 1961 : March 23, 1961. take 5

    "Rock-A-Hula Baby"
    [​IMG]
    Single by Elvis Presley
    from the album Blue Hawaii
    A-side
    "Can't Help Falling in Love"
    Released October 1, 1961
    Recorded March 23, 1961, Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California
    Genre
    Songwriter(s)
    Producer(s) Steve Sholes[1]
    Elvis Presley singles chronology
    "Can't Help Falling in Love"
    (1961) "Rock-A-Hula Baby"
    (1961) "Good Luck Charm"
    (1961)
    "Rock-A-Hula Baby ("Twist" Special)" is a song performed by Elvis Presley for the 1961 movie Blue Hawaii. Written by Ben Weisman, Fred Wise, and Dolores Fuller,[1] it is a genre mix of Hawaiian folk and rock and roll. It was the first song published by Fuller, who would eventually co-write a dozen songs for Presley.

    A double A-sided release with "Can't Help Falling in Love", it peaked at No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1962, and spent four weeks at the chart summit.[2] The song has appeared on several compilation albums due to its chart success.

    The title song of the 1992 movie Rock-a-Doodle parodied "Rock-A-Hula Baby"
    -------------------------------------------
    Starting with a little drum roll phrase and the vocals coming in with the backing vocalists singing the chorus, and song slide guitar mimicking a Hawaiian styling. This is actually a good song. There are several modulations, and the core of the song really sounds like a back to roots fifties song. It could easily be a Bill Haley rewrite. We even get a nice Scotty style lead break on the guitar. A good fun rock track, that perhaps folks can say the lyrics aren't the best, but they are correct for the movie and the need here. To ma another great song.



     
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  16. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    There were a lot of false starts and incomplete takes. Looking at Keith Flynn's site, Elvis actually only recorded eight complete takes of the song... and that includes the masters of both the film arrangement and the album arrangement.

    A great, great song and performance. Certainly among his 20 best recordings of the 60s.
     
  17. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Despite being a Hollywood session, Hank Garland plays on this track too, and it seems more likely it's him on lead than Scotty.

    This song comes across as lightweight and (as I said earlier) feels like a parody of rock 'n' roll rather than the real thing. Elvis clearly isn't taking it seriously. A song like this would be okay if there was some real rock 'n' roll somewhere on the album, but there isn't. This was the kind of thing that unfortunately strengthened the misperception that Elvis had lost his edge and couldn't rock anymore.
     
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  18. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    Re: Can't Help Falling In Love. I worked in F&B for over 40 years and in all that time and the hundreds if not thousands of weddings I witnessed, I don't believe I ever heard this tune used as a wedding song. Surprising considering how popular it was/is here. As for Rock-A-Hula Baby, it comes off as a signpost to Elvis' Vegas era and is another tune from the movie that is still performed by many local bands. I guess for the kitsch factor. And I really hate the fact that UB40 bested his version on the charts.
     
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  19. S. P. Honeybunch

    S. P. Honeybunch Presidente de Kokomo, Endless Mikelovemoney

    I have a pretty good Junior Brown cover of "Rock a Hula" on his Long Walk Back album.
     
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  20. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Moonlight Swim
    Written By :
    Ben Weisman & Sylvia Dee

    Recorded :

    Radio Recorders, Hollywood, March 21-23, 1961 : March 22, 1961. take 3

    Ben Weisman
    (November 16, 1921 – May 20, 2007) was an American composer significant for having written more songs recorded by Elvis Presley (fifty seven) than any other songwriter in history. The Mad Professor as Weisman was nicknamed by Elvis, worked with the King from 1956 ("First in Line") to 1971 ("Change of Habit"). Their early association (1957–62) produced many of the most powerful rockers and poignant ballads in Presley's repertoire, including "Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do", "Follow That Dream", "Rock-A-Hula Baby", "Crawfish", "As Long as I Have You", "Pocketful of Rainbows" and "Fame and Fortune".
    ---------------------------------------
    Ok, so this track may not be a contender for Elvis Greatest Hits. but I have always really liked it. I find this track really smooth and pleasant, I enjoy it and it never fails to relax and make me feel good. So I guess there's some thing good about that. I guess it has a sweetness and innocence that is sweet and refreshing, to me at least.
     
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  21. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Ku'uipo
    Written By :
    George Weiss, Hugo Peretti & Luigi Creatore

    Recorded :

    Radio Recorders, Hollywood, March 21-23, 1961 : March 21, 1961. take 9

    This track gives the same feeling as the previous track. There is a sweetness a certain naivete that just gives it something. Anyhow, as I have said, I am a fan of this album, and this, and these songs is part of the reason. Just something that nobody else in the field that I walk was offering up, and for some reason Elvis could do these songs amongst his other songs and they give me that nice warm, everything's cool feeling.
     
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  22. Neil Anderson

    Neil Anderson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    This was a minor hit in the late '50's for Anthony Perkins, of all people. He actually had a pretty good voice. I've got the 45 in my collection, and enjoy playing it for people and asking them to guess the singer.
     
  23. clhboa

    clhboa Forum Resident

    About 10 years ago I rediscovered this album. I bought it as a kid and found it a little too mellow at the time. Only "Judy" and "I Slipped...." really stuck with me. (And this was a time when I would play my Elvis records over and over and over). Now I think it's a really great album! That whole early 60's period had a lot of first rate stuff in it.
     
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  24. clhboa

    clhboa Forum Resident

    Judy Tyler is a really underrated Elvis movie "Babe"!
     
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  25. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Ito Eats
    Written By :
    Roy C. Bennett & Sid Tepper

    Recorded :

    Radio Recorders, Hollywood, March 21-23, 1961 : March 22, 1961. Take 9

    So this song is not the best song that Elvis recorded. I have never seen the movie but assumed this is an incidental song that really is more part of the movie than the album. To be honest a closer listen to this song makes me think that this was based around Harry Belefonte's Day-o ... and I guess the only reason one of those irritating law suits never came up was that this song would hardly be considered a money making classic, and it is essentially a throw away novelty song .... Actually it's the first time I even noticed what the first line of the song is lol

     
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