RCA and Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, had initially planned a schedule of one soundtrack and one popular music release per year for Presley, in addition to the requisite four singles. To coincide with the location of the film, touches of Hawaiian music were included, from instrumentation to the traditional song "Aloha 'Oe". The title song was taken from the 1937 Bing Crosby film Waikiki Wedding, and "Hawaiian Wedding Song" dates from a 1926 operetta. Recording sessions took place at Radio Recorders in Hollywood on March 21, 22, and 23, 1961. The songs "Can't Help Falling in Love" and "Rock-A-Hula Baby" were pulled off the album for two sides of a single released on November 21, 1961. The A-side "Can't Help Falling in Love," which would become the standard closer for an Elvis Presley concert in the 1970s, went to number two on the BillboardHot 100, while the b-side charted independently at number 23. The success of this soundtrack and its predecessor G. I. Blues, both of which sold in much greater quantity than Presley's two regular releases of the time, Elvis Is Back! and Something for Everybody set the pace for the rest of the decade. Parker and Presley would focus on Elvis' film career, non-soundtrack albums taking a back seat with only six during the 1960s against sixteen full-length soundtrack albums among 27 movies and the comeback special. This formula would prove disastrous for Presley's career. Popular music was on the threshold of complete renewal and change and Presley would become 'lost in Hallywood'.
Critical reception
The Blue Hawaii soundtrack was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1961 in the category of Best Sound Track Album or Recording of Original Cast from a Motion Picture or Television.
Reissues
Blue Hawaii was reissued on compact disc in 1997 and again in 2008. The latter edition was a deluxe 2-disc release on the Follow That Dream label that featured numerous alternate takes. It also corrected the error with the 1997 issue that incorrectly reversed the stereo channels. Five songs from this album appear on the 1995 compendium soundtrack box set : "Can't Help Falling in Love", "Rock-a-Hula Baby", "Blue Hawaii," "Hawaiian Wedding Song," and "Beach Boy Blues."
Track listing
Original release
1997 Reissue
On April 29, 1997, RCA released a remastered and expanded version for compact disc. Tracks 1-7 were the seven songs from side one of the original LP and tracks 8-14 were from side two. Tracks 15-22 are bonus tracks, all of which had been recorded during the original album sessions and were previously unreleased except for "Steppin' Out of Line" which had originally appeared on the LP Pot Luck with Elvis.
