Suspicious
Minds
No
More (Recorded After The Aloha)
In my opinion, this is Elvis' most
famous live concert. Elvis, looking great, was in top shape. For several months
before the concert, Elvis had begun an intense fitness program in order to trim
down for the show. After seeing Elvis's transformation, Sonny West
commented that Elvis was "Thin as a rake and handsomer than ten movie
star". The Colonel’s inspiration for the
project had come from hearing president Richard Nixon speak via satellite from
the great wall of China. Neither Elvis nor the Colonel knew exactly how they
would pull it off, but they wanted to do a worldwide Elvis concert television
special. Tom sarnoff, vice president of ABC, in association with the Colonel,
started lining up countries all over the globe.
Colonel recalls that everyone from executive producer Marty Passetta on
down did an excellent job, and Elvis delivered one of the most outstanding
performances of his career. It took place at the Honolulu International Center
Arena on January 14, 1973. The show was broadcast live at 12:30 AM Hawaiian
time, beamed via Globecam Satellite to Australia, South
* September 5, 1972 a press conference was held at the Las Vegas Hilton for announcing the "Aloha From Hawaii Special." Below you can read a part of Elvis' words.
"Thank you sir, thank you. I'd just like to say before anything else that it's a great privilege to do this satellite program, and I'm going to do my best. And all the people who work with me to do a good show which is pure entertainment, no messages and no this and that..just try to make people happy for that one hour that it comes accross. If we do that, then I think I've done a job."
“Right
after New Year’s we were sitting in the den when the Colonel called,”
remembered Elvis’ aide, Marty Lacker. “Elvis took the call in private. When
he came back in, he had this big smile on his face. He said, “The Colonel’s
made the final arrangements for the satellite TV special in Hawaii.” An
Hawaiian benefit concert had been planned several months earlier. On November
20, 1972, Elvis had given a press conference at the Hilton Hawaiian Village
Hotel after three shows at the Honolulu International Center Arena. He said he
wanted to do a benefit for one of Hawaii’s
best known songwriters, Kuiokalaani Lee.
Earlier, the Colonel had received a letter from Honolulu Advertiser
columnist Eddie Sherman soliciting support for Lee’s
cancer fund, and Elvis, who had been featuring Lee’s hit “I’ll
Remember You” in his shows, readily agreed to a benefit concert. It soon
become clear that this was to be no ordinary benefit, though.
“When
Elvis did the Aloha From Hawaii show he was more nervous than we had seen…really
getting up for the occasion”- Glen D.Hardin, Pianist
The
show came at a turning point in Elvis’ life. He and priscilla had already
separated and the divorce was pending. Health problems dogged him, and the
intial excitement of being back before live audiences was starting to wane. In a
surprisingly short time, though, Elvis managed to whip himself back into shape.
He arrived in Honolulu on January 9, and he began rehearsals the next day. RCA
had already made plans to fly tapes to all the major markets and to release the
album almost immediately. Jackets were pre-printed (to which stickers with the
song titles would later be added). The set would be released as a stereo
compatible Quadraphonic double LP
