A Short Biopic Of The Hawaiian Concert On
March 25th 1961 - At Bloch Arena - Honolulu -
In Hawaii -
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The excitement began with an afternoon press conference and award ceremony, followed by the show that evening.
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Opening Acts
Phil Ingall Orchestra
Sterling Mossman (local comedian)
Floyd Cramer
Boots Randolph
The Jordanaires
Minnie Pearl
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Set List
Introduction by Rear Admiral Robert L. Campbell (14th Naval District commander)
Heartbreak Hotel
All Shook Up
A Fool Such As I
I Got A Woman
Love Me
Introduction of musicians, singers
Such A Night
Reconsider Baby
I Need Your Love Tonight
That's All Right
Don't Be Cruel
One Night
Are You Lonesome To-night?
It's Now Or Never
Swing Down Sweet Chariot
Hound Dog
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Musicians (AKA "The Unwashables")
Elvis Presley - vocals, guitar
Scotty Moore - guitar
Hank Garland - guitar
Bob Moore - stand-up bass
D. J. Fontana - drums
Floyd Cramer - piano
Boots Randolph - saxophone
Jordanaires - backing vocals
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Elvis wore his gold lame jacket (for the last time) and dark blue dress pants.
His fifteen-song set was an exquisite overview of his seven-year career to date, including his first single for Sun ("That's All Right"), his first single for RCA ("Heartbreak Hotel"), two back-to-back tracks from Elvis Is Back! ("Such A Night," "Reconsider Baby"), a song from His Hand In Mine, his superb gospel album released just a few months earlier ("Swing Down Sweet Chariot") and a bunch of chart-topping singles.
Every performance is filled with joy, humour and energy, and the band plays with great skill throughout.
Elvis would never again present such a vital, commercially-successful show, or confront a crowd as wild as any from the 1950s.
The show raised nearly $65,000 for the USS Arizona Memorial building fund, one of the biggest single private donations to the cause.
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For those who couldn't be there, the first chance to hear this landmark event came 17 years later, around Christmas time 1978:
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Elvis' 1961 Hawaii Benefit Concert
was made avaialble to collectors on a collectable LP Record on Vinyl of this event .
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The collectors album was a deluxe affair, with fold-out cover, 16 page booklet, custom labels and inner sleeve.
It was an amazing package, then and now.
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RCA released a slightly longer, but less ornate, official version of the recording in 1980, as part of a massive box set:Elvis Aron Presley (RCA, 1980)
Aka- Silver Box Set - Comprising Of 8 LPS .
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In 2011, both LP and CD versions are long out of print and are highly collectable -
I Own both versions on Lps and Cd In my collection
- Happy Hunting -
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