History:
The year of 1961 saw rock in a dormant phase, at least creatively. But Elvis, country boy and ex-truck driver that he was, was hard at work -- recording, making movies, even sneaking in a benefit concert here and there for lucky fans. And in between, he and his newly-dubbed Memphis Mafia partied hard, indulging the King's passion for freewheeling Las Vegas and preparing the transformation of Graceland from a family stronghold into a young playboy's royal court. A change was taking place in Elvis, however, both personally and in his public persona; and while it was a very subtle one, the implications were staggering for his career and his well-being. Like so many other icons, the events of Presley's fundamentally mundane yet spiritually vacant "middle period" would have a profound effect on how he behaved once he got his groove back.The chief culprit in this transformation was a movie called Blue Hawaii, released near the end of '61 (no doubt to drive home the fantasy of King Elvis ruling over a magical warm land during those desolate winter months). Far from his worst movie, it nonetheless establishes the pattern of the dozen-and-a-half or so movies that came afterwards, truly horrible vehicles most of them. In Elvis' early film days, he was groomed as a star, in the same way Marilyn Monroe was -- a trainable talent whose magnificent charisma could translate, with some coaching in the basics, to a real acting career. Now that idea was gone, and in its place a travelogue, Elvis as a dress-up doll who could be cut from his pattern page and inserted into any scenario.
One look at the songs Elvis had started to sing told the whole story. Blue Hawaii did feature a sure-fire hit, a song that not coincidentally happened to rank with his finest pre-Army work: the ballad "Can't Help Falling In Love." But even that achievement was a rewrite of a French standard. The rest of the soundtrack album is filled with bad travelogues and worse jokes, novelty songs, most of them: "Ito Eats," "Slicin' Sand," "Ku-U-I-Po." The closest any of this gets to rock is the dismal "Rock-A-Hula-Baby." 1961 did see some singles (recorded in Nashville AND Hollywood, disproving the myth that Elvis needed to stay close to home) that could stand up next to his earlier work, songs like "Surrender," "I Feel So Bad," "Little Sister," and "(Marie's the Name Of) His Latest Flame." But only "Sister" could be said to have been a real rock number. Elvis Presley was heading into irrelevance, and as the world began to groove to soul, Motown, and the Beatles, the web of comfort he allowed to be spun around him would nearly choke off his muse.
Recording:
March 12: "I'm Coming Home," "Gently," "In Your Arms," "Give Me The Right," "I Feel So Bad," "It's A Sin," "I Want You With Me," "There's Always Me" (RCA Studio B, Nashville, TN)March 13: "Starting Today," "Sentimental Me," "Judy," "Put The Blame On Me" (RCA Studio B, Nashville, TN)
March 21: "Hawaiian Sunset," "Ku-u-i-po," "No More," "Slicin' Sand" (Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA)
March 22: "Blue Hawaii," "Ito Eats," "Hawaiian Wedding Song," "Island Of Love," "Steppin' Out Of Line," "Almost Always True" (Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA)
March 23: "Aloha-Oe," "Can't Help Falling In Love," "Beach Boy Blues," "Rock-A-Hula Baby," (Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA)
March 28: "Moonlight Swim" (Paramount Scoring Stage, Hollywood, CA)
June 25: "Kiss Me Quick," "That's Someone You Never Forget" (RCA Studio B, Nashville, TN)
June 26: "I'm Yours," "(Marie's The Name Of) His Latest Flame," "Little Sister" (RCA Studio B, Nashville, TN)
July 2: "Angel," "Follow That Dream," "What A Wonderful Life," "I'm Not The Marrying Kind," "Sound Advice" (RCA Studio B, Nashville, TN)
October 15: "For the Millionth And The Last Time," "Good Luck Charm," "Anything That's Part Of You" (RCA Studio B, Nashville, TN)
October 16: ""I Met Her Today," "Night Rider" (RCA Studio B, Nashville, TN)
October 26: "A Whistling Tune," "Home Is Where The Heart Is," "Riding The Rainbow" (Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA)
October 27: "I Got Lucky," "This Is Living," "King Of The Whole Wide World" (Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA)
Singles:
February 13: "Surrender" b/w "Lonely Man" (RCA Victor 47-7850)May 8: "I Feel So Bad" b/w "Wild In The Country" (RCA Victor 47-7880)
August 14: "Little Sister" b/w "(Marie's The Name Of) His Latest Flame" (RCA Victor 47-7908)
November 20: "Can't Help Falling In Love" b/w "Rock-A-Hula Baby" (RCA Victor 47-7968)
EPs:
April:
Elvis By Request: Flaming Star (RCA LPC-128):
Side 1:
"Flaming Star"
"Summer Kisses, Winter Tears"
Side 2:
"Are You Lonesome To-night?"
"It's Now Or Never"
Albums:
June:
Something For Everybody (RCA LPM 2370):
Side 1:
"There's Always Me"
"Give Me The Right"
"It's A Sin"
"Sentimental Me"
"Starting Today"
"Gently"
Side 2:
"I'm Comin' Home"
"In Your Arms"
"Put The Blame On Me"
"Judy"
"I Want You With Me"
"I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell"
October:
Blue Hawaii (RCA LPM 2426):
Side 1:
"Blue Hawaii"
"Almost Always True"
"Aloha-Oe"
"No More"
"Can't Help Falling In Love"
"Rock-A-Hula Baby"
"Moonlight Swim"
Side 2:
"Ku-u-i-po"
"Ito Eats"
"Slicin' Sand"
"Hawaiian Sunset"
"Beach Boy Blues"
"Island Of Love"
"Hawaiian Wedding Song"
Movies:
June 15: Wild In The CountryAlso starring: Hope Lange, Tuesday Weld, Millie Perkins, Rafer Johnson, John Ireland, Gary Lockwood, William Mims, Raymond Greenleaf, Christina Crawford, Robin Raymond, Pat Buttram, Ruby Goodwin, Alan Napier, Red West
Directed by: Phillip Dunne
Screenwriters: Clifford Odets (based on the novel by J.R. Salamanca)
Produced by: Jerry Wald
November 22: Blue Hawaii
Also starring: Joan Blackman, Angela Lansbury, Nancy Walters, Roland Winters, John Archer, Howard McNear, Steve Brodie, Iris Adrian, Jenny Maxwell, Pamela Austin, Darlene Tompkins, Christian Kay, Lani Kai, Jose De Vega
Directed by: Norman Taurog
Screenwriters: Alan Weiss, Hal Kanter
Produced by: Hal Wallis
