ELVIS BMG CD REVIEWS

As part of the 20th anniversary celebration RCA re-released 5 Elvis soundtracks. This is one of them that was released. This release actually came in 2 diffrent types of release. The first one had the original artwork plus 8 bonus songs and a Blue picture disc. The other version came in a book type of release. It contained a 26 page booklet & a color picture disc. The sound was upgraded and sounds wonderful. As most Elvis fans know this is probably one of Elvis’ most famous movies. Unfortunatly this would be the first of the Presley formula movies. I will be reviewing the 1997 version of this CD.

The cd starts out with the title track of the movie, Blue Hawaii. I personally didn’t care for this version of Blue Hawaii, but that may be, because of the fact that the first version I heard of this song was the 1973 version.

Almost Always true is next with an uptempo beat, howver this is clearly a soundtrack song. In the spot where Joan Blackman sings is paused. But it’s nice to think of Elvis ridding along in the car tapping his fingers to the music. Aloha Oe is kind of a strange song, but at the same time is kind of pretty. The bells in this song are nice and clear sounding.

No More seems more of an Italian song to me than a Hawaiian song. I first heard this song on a cassette version of Elvis Sings Burning Love and Hits From His Movies, Volume2. I find it a catchy song to listen too.

This is the first time that an Elvis record had a single included. Can’t Help Falling in Love was a huge hit. It went to number 1 on the charts. Elvis did a wonderful job on this recording, no wonder it became his signature song, he sounds so sincere on the song. The flip side of the single follows. Rock-A-Hula Baby is a great hawaiian rocker and I can still picture Angela Landsbury saying “what was that ?” as Elvis left the house when he was done with the song.

Moonlight Swim is one of my favorites from this Album. You may notice that there is a lot of hiss on this song. From some research I did the best explantion I could find is that this happened during the overdubbing of the female vocals, they may have recorded at another studio, or used a diffrent tape or even recorded it too low. Fortunatly the tape hiss isn’t too bad. But it is noticeable.

Ku-U-I-Po is a very good ballad, it’s place in the movie, showing the Hawaiian scenery was a great idea (I also liked what they did with the version in the Aloha special). The next song however is strictly soundtrack material. Ito Eats is far from being a number one hit, I never cared for it in the movie either but it only last 1minute and 22 seconds.

I liked the song Slicin’ Sand when I first got the CD and I still do, I think it is in the same vein as Rock-A-Hula Baby. It’s very uptempo and the only complaint on this song is the fact that it’s just over a minute.

Hawaiian Sunset is a nice ballad. It actually tells a story. I liked the way it is performed. We go from a pretty ballad to a bluesy Beach Boy Blues. Elvis is in a jail singing this song. That is what the reference to “I’m a kissin’ Cousin’ to a ripe pineapple, I’m in the can.” is for. This is not the version that was used in the movie however.

The end of the original soundtrack comes with two ballads. Island of Love and Hawaiian Wedding song. Some people thought at one time this was a Hawaiian Song, in fact is a movie song, which had been performed by Bing Crosby years before. Elvis would later refer to it as the most requested song from the film.

Now we come to the bonus tracks. The first bonus track was first released on the pot luck lp as a bonus track. Even on the sleeve of the Pot Luck Lp (and CD) the song is labled as “from the movie Blue Hawaii”. However the song never actually appeared in the film. It was cut at the last moment. The only conclusion I can come up with was that the covers were printed in advance. Steppin’ out of line was recorded at the Blue Hawaii sessions and if watch, right after Elvis sings Island of Love you can see where the song would had fit in the film. It’s a great uptempo number.

The rest of the bonus tracks had never been officially released. Can’t Help Falling in Love the movie version could be heard in stereo for the first time. This is the “music box” version of the song. The outtakes of Slicin’ Sand (take 4), starts out with Elvis singing “did ever stand on a cold dark night”, then they go right into the song, it’s a bit more uptempo than the original version. It’s a little rough but it’s still a good version.

“I carried away and forgot to the look at the lyrics” starts out take 7 of No More. It’s slower than the original, but for someone who didn’t look at the lyrics, it’s nicely done. Then comes the song “no one knows it yet”, Rock-A-Hula Baby, take 1. They manage to get through it at lightening speed after all the banter at the beginning with everyone saying that they didn’t know it. I’m glad that they slowed it down. 

I like the movie version of Beach Boy Blues, It starts out a little softer and slower than the record version. You can notice the diffrence when compairing them. Stepping out of Line, the movie version, starts out the same as the master but ends diffrently with Elvis simply saying, “you’re stepping out of line”.

The CD ends with the same song it started with, Blue Hawaii, with this being take 3. This version is slower than the master take and done very well considering it’s an early take of the song. One thing that I enjoyed about this CD is the fact that the songs were mixed, it wasn’t all slow or just fast, they mixed so it was fast, slow, fast, slow, blues , it was a nice mix and the hand full of alternate takes just add to the enjoyment. For the collector they should have inclueded alternate takes on all the upgrade albums, fortunatly they did on the soundtracks. 

2002/11/24 George Nelson / Ep.Gold.Com.