Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii: Deluxe Edition

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Elly Roberts reviews

Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii: Deluxe Edition
Distributed by
BMG UK & Ireland

    Cover

  • Cert:
  • Cat.no: 82876613079
  • Running time: 242 minutes
  • Year: 1973
  • Pressing: 2004
  • Region(s): 2, PAL
  • Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0
  • Disc Format: 3 * DVD 9
  • Price: £19.99
  • Rating : 6/10
  • Extras:Historical text, running times, unseen photographs and memorabilia.

This may well be a deluxe edition package,but it’s commonly recognised that this concert is far from being an Elvisdeluxe performance.

On 14 January 1973 , Elvis Presley made television history with a livesatellite broadcast to over one billion people.

It was called Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii. By this time he was 38 yearsof age, separated from his wife Priscilla, and well into being ‘Mr. Cabaret.’He was slowly putting on weight. The sparkle had gone from his mischievous eyes,and the spark had gone from his stage presentation.

The setting was perfect – the beautiful island of Hawaii where he wasperforming a benefit concert for a local songwriter who had died from cancer.However, considering he was making broadcasting history at the same time, heseriously failed his global target audience.

This show was poor by any standards. Coincidentally though, it was only theweek before that he’d filed for divorce from Priscilla. His heart and mind wasnever on this event – an ironic tragedy, because this was his biggestinternational moment. Wearing his trademark white flared suit, and enough goldto sink the Titanic; he seemed to be going through the motions.

Things didn’t look good from the start. During the rehearsal concert, he lookedalmost disinterested. He was strangely distant from his audience. Little chat,few introductions. A long thrust in front of the stage – normally reserved forhis stage antics was barely used. It all seems so far removed from parts ofthe wonderful ‘68 Comeback Special. It would later be re-packaged for anAmerican audience on 4 April 1973.

The bulk of disc one gives us the rehearsal show (12 Jan 1973) followed by theentire original satellite broadcast two days later. The set lists for bothshows are similar. He was now moving into big showbiz ballads – My Way andWhat Now My Love. Jived – up old rock’n’rollers – Johnny B.Goode,along with some contemporary soft – rock tunes. An American Trilogy is the onlyshow-stopper. Strip down all the razzamatazz and there’s very little of thelive reputation he’d created – the humour, the sexuality etc.

Interestingly enough, there were no ticket prices for these shows. Eachaudience member was asked to pay whatever they could – and I don’t think theygot value for money – whatever they paid.

Disc 2 begins with bonus material, with several concert inserts which turnedup in the American airing. Elvis and his band went back into the huge emptyarena in the early hours of the morning for the filming, which lasts 27minutes. Then its time for the full American broadcast, lasting for over anhour and fifteen minutes. It flatters to deceive. This obviously includes allthe pre- and post-production takes with all the editing and presentationtechniques of the time.

The overall feeling I have is: that Elvis didn’t enjoy the stop – startmethods of television production, and his own personal problems added to it.The soundtrack album from this show became his last ever US number one in1973. Let’s see if you enjoy it more.

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