Blue Hawaii Vinyl Out This Week

is that a new photo on the cover?

Its definately a better album cover photo, of Elvis. The original album cover is also represented in the package.

No. That's the back cover.

In that case, I like the back cover more than the original album cover. I always thought that picture on the Blue Hawaii cover was an odd one and considering how good Elvis looked at this point in his life, somehow that original picture didn't capture it. This one is much better.

The original cover speaks volumes to me. Elvis looks pissed he was thrown into this type of movie and singing stuff like this. It is well known he was very upset making GI Blues and singing its songs and that LP contained a lot better music than this one. So he did the 2 drama films and because they didnt make as much as GI , the future course was set in stuff like this. I'd rather have a library of good Elvis films to watch that didnt make a lot of money but hold merit than a bunch of bad soundtracks that almost destroyed him. As for this package, the outside is better than what is within. The most overrated LP in his career.

Man, I love this album. I've owned a copy of it ever since it came out in '61. Still have my original. I own a copy of every album released in Elvis' lifetime and I know I've played this one more than any other. Most overrated album of his career? My vote goes to "Loving You."

Steve i agree, bad movie and even worse soundtrack, the one film that killed his movie career by being so successful. Jerry, are you serious? Party, Got a lot of livin to do and Mean Woman Blues. 3 classic rock n roll songs from one album. Probably under rated in my opinion.

danny/steve - Right you are. Blue Hawaii contained one classic song and we all know what that is. The rest? Elvis in great voice with fluff songs like M Swim, which makes me cringe to this day. A radio station here once spoofed on Elvis by playing that song. Thats how classic it is! The songs in Loving You fit the movie perfectly unlike Blue Hawaii where he broke into song every 10 minutes, riding horses, in jail, etc. Silly. Yes, Loving You contained several Rock classics and a great title tune. Even the B side of Loving You contained the great I Need You So and Have I Told You Lately. Overrrated? Blue Hawaii better? Really now. Jerry, I suppose you think Clambake was better as well?

I didn't like Loving You when my dad bought it back in '57 when I was seven. I didn't care for it when I was 17, 27, or now that I'm past 57. You guys don't care for Blue Hawaii. I don't care for Loving You that's the way the mop flops. BTW: I tried listening to Loving You a couple weeks ago. I still don't like it. Better is a subjective term. So to me, yes, Blue Hawaii is better. And yes, I get more enjoyment from Clambake (album and movie).

SteveV you hit the nail. This is like a good looking women that looks good on the outside but has not much substance. This Lp contained one classic song & one or two others that are decent. The other tracts are just worthless. Unworthy of the King.

Jerry - You are honest in your opinion and I respect that. I too bought the original LP in 1961(and still have it) and being 10 at the time, I enjoyed it. Ive since come to realize what it represented in Elvis' career path and now I resent it. I dont even like listening to the songs anymore. They dont hold up well over time for me. As for Clambake, by the time that came out in 1967, it was actually the first time I thought Elvis sang bad on an album. Beyond the songs being stinkers (which Ive come to expect by then), he sounded bored, uninspired and even out of tune on some songs. It contained one of his bottom 10 songs in Hey Hey Hey and for me the worst title track ever. And the movie was his worst acting job ever. Wooden & stiff as a board (check out his scene with James Gregory to see what I mean), When I watch & listen to Loving You I see a guy full of exuberance & energy with an unending bright future ahead. I see just the opposite with Clambake and it all started with Blue Hawaii. Sorry.

That's okay, Steve. You're entitled to your opinion and I respect that. The opinions I don't respect are those that come from fans who bad mouth people who don't bow down and worship all the sacred Elvis cows, while at same time expressing a fondess for something that the "enlightened" majority feel should be scorned. I don't know if you visit any other Elvis MBs, but a lot of that goes on. If you're going to express a view it better toe the "company" line. Know what I mean? Have a good day.

I feel pretty much the same about Blue Hawaii. In fact it is one of the Elvis movies that I will not even watch when it is on TV (as it was just last week where I live). It is a shame that Wild In The Country or Flaming Star wasn't a huge massive success; it would have led to a very different career for Elvis in the 60s. Or even Kid Galahad. Blue Hawaii and GI Blues seemed to neutralize Elvis and were definitely 2 nails in the coffin that seemed to have been built in part by Col Parker and in part by the US Draft board. Elvis was now "safe". You can project a lot of your own feeling into it, but in the scene where Elvis is singing "Almost Always True" in the car, you can see the misery in his face a few times. In "Fun In Acapulco" there is one second just as he finishes "No Room To Rhumba" where Elvis' face just seems to scream "Oh my God...how did I let it come to this? What am I doing?" The only good thing is, without this symbolic death we could not have had the brilliant resurrection that was the 1968 TV special. One of Elvis' fav books was The Prophet by Gibran. In it it says: "The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain." So I try to look at some of Elvis's really awful work in that light--without the depths, he could not have reached the heights.

As a kid in the 70's it was the movies on Tv that inroduced me to the king so i have a certain affection for them - is Blue Hawaii a classic? yes and no but its great to watch on a summer afternoon ! A very young female work colleague has revealed she's really into musicals from the 40's and 50's probably due to her parents. I'm buying her the Blue Hawaii film and soundtrack to show that Elvis could cut it in that genre too!

Glad to see the original album has been kept on one disc the extras put on another. Nice touch.

Thank God that some intelligent reviewers for this Blue Hawaii exist! You guys are absolutely right! This movie and soundtrack are low points...not high points in Elvis' career.