(133) HAWAII and ELVIS

When Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese in a surprise attack on December 7th, 1941, the United States officially declared war on Japan and became part of World War Two. The islands became the 50th state of the United States on August 21st, 1959. Elvis helped publicize the wonder and the beauty of Hawaii as a tropical island paradise with his film "Blue Hawaii."

Elvis begged me to come out to the islands with him and stay while he was making this movie, but my contract with American Music didn't allow me a vacation any time I wanted one and I had to decline.

Friends, despite everything Elvis had achieved and the way he was surrounded by people, he confided in me that he was feeling very lonely at this time. I had seen a new maturity in Elvis when he first returned to the states after his own military service in Germany, and now I saw a seriousness in him too, which was often hidden by the love of life he projected. I knew he had things on his mind. Decisions.

For Elvis, Hawaii was probably the most exotic location he ever worked in or vacationed in. And it was the scene of the one benefit he ever did, once again a Colonel Tom Parker marketing event that emphasized Elvis' own military service and patriotism. After this Parker would never let Elvis do anything for free.

This old ticket is not part of my own Elvis collection, but Christine found it on an auction site several months back and we hope whoever owns it won't mind that we've used it to illustrate this blog.

The "Blue Hawaii" movie soundtrack album was Elvis' most successful chart album to that date. It was on the #1 spot for 20 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Top LP's chart in 1961-1962. So we will be posting a bit more on this film and its importance to Elvis and his career soon!