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Elvis in Hawaii
Hopkins, Jerry. Elvis in Hawai`i. Bess Press (3565 Harding Ave., Honolulu, HI 96816), 2002. vii, 88p. ISBN 1-57306-142-5, $19.95. Illus (b&w and color). Index.
Elvis in Hawai`i is Jerry Hopkins’ colorful scrapbook-like chronicle of Elvis Presley’s twenty year relationship with Hawai`i. Many color and black & white photographs, as well as images of telegrams, movie posters, newspaper clippings, and other memorabilia relating to the King’s trips to Paradise supplement the lively and informative text.
The book aims to show the reader that Elvis had a special connection to the islands that began with very his first trip and continued until the end of his life. Jerry Hopkins, a former Hawai`i resident, has penned two bestselling biographies of Elvis Presley, Elvis: A Biography (1972) and Elvis: The Final Years (1980). Hopkins was already familiar with Elvis’ love for the islands when he began this work. This time, however, he dug deeper into archival materials and sought out new information and new informants in addition to re-interviewing people he spoke with for his previous Elvis biographies. In addition to his books on Elvis, Hopkins has achieved some renown as a biographer of popular music artists, as an editor of Rolling Stone, and as a writer of several food-related titles.
Hopkins does an excellent job of weaving the primary and secondary source material he’s unearthed into an engaging narrative of the – dare I say it - symbiotic history of Elvis in Hawai`i. Using broad strokes and detailed views, the author succeeds in giving the reader the big picture as well as some choice vignettes.
A case in point is the picture Hopkins paints for us of Hawai`i and of Elvis on his first visit to Hawai`i in 1957. Some concert promoters at the time thought that shows in the islands were financially risky for mainland acts. Not so in the case of Elvis. In 1956, Elvis had received 21,000 Christmas cards from Hawaii – an astounding number given that the total population was about 600,000. When he arrived at Aloha Pier in Honolulu on the passenger ship Matsonia, security was greater than it had been for President Truman’s arrival a few years earlier. The concerts were indeed hugely successful. Not surprisingly, the screaming fans at Honolulu Stadium made it nearly impossible to actually hear Elvis or his band. One of the gems that Hopkins includes is a newspaper ad for the concert showing reserved ticket prices of $2.50 and $3.50 each, and unreserved tickets at $1.50 each – including tax. Elvis and his entourage stayed on the top floor of the Hawaiian Village Hotel (which later became Hilton Hawaiian Village). At fourteen floors, it was the tallest building in Waikiki at the time.
Elvis would go on to perform five more concerts in Hawai`i. Hopkins describes two of those events (from conception and planning through performance and effect), explaining their significance to Elvis and to Hawai`i. They were both benefit concerts. The first, in 1961, raised money for – and, perhaps more significantly, national consciousness of - the organization committed to constructing the USS Arizona Memorial. The second, in 1973, was a global event of sorts, pioneering the use of satellites to broadcast a live concert around the world. The proceeds from that event went to a cancer research fund established in the memory of Kui Lee, a much-loved local singer-songwriter (Elvis had recorded some of his songs). According to Hopkins and his sources, these two charitable endeavors forever endeared Elvis to the people of Hawai`i.
No book about Elvis’ connection to Hawai`i would be complete without an exploration of the three “beach movies” he made here: Blue Hawaii (1961), Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962), and Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966). Hopkins tracks down an amazing number of movie stills, on-set pictures, and movie posters (even one from Mexico – Chicas, Chicas, y mas Chicas!). More importantly, though, he informs readers about how these films worked as publicity pieces for the islands, contributing to Hawai`i’s burgeoning tourism industry by exposing the world to the beauty of the state.
Elvis in Hawai`i is an entertaining look at the aloha that existed between Elvis and the people of his “second home.” Hopkins understands both Hawaiian culture and Elvis’ oeuvre well enough to make clear that the “Hawaiian”-themed films and songs fall pretty far from the mark. But that does not seem to have diminished the special connection between the singer and the islands he loved.
Recommended for purchase by public, academic, and high school libraries with popular Hawaiiana collections, large popular music or film collections, or large popular culture collections.
Elvis in Hawai`i is Jerry Hopkins’ colorful scrapbook-like chronicle of Elvis Presley’s twenty year relationship with Hawai`i. Many color and black & white photographs, as well as images of telegrams, movie posters, newspaper clippings, and other memorabilia relating to the King’s trips to Paradise supplement the lively and informative text.
The book aims to show the reader that Elvis had a special connection to the islands that began with very his first trip and continued until the end of his life. Jerry Hopkins, a former Hawai`i resident, has penned two bestselling biographies of Elvis Presley, Elvis: A Biography (1972) and Elvis: The Final Years (1980). Hopkins was already familiar with Elvis’ love for the islands when he began this work. This time, however, he dug deeper into archival materials and sought out new information and new informants in addition to re-interviewing people he spoke with for his previous Elvis biographies. In addition to his books on Elvis, Hopkins has achieved some renown as a biographer of popular music artists, as an editor of Rolling Stone, and as a writer of several food-related titles.
Hopkins does an excellent job of weaving the primary and secondary source material he’s unearthed into an engaging narrative of the – dare I say it - symbiotic history of Elvis in Hawai`i. Using broad strokes and detailed views, the author succeeds in giving the reader the big picture as well as some choice vignettes.
A case in point is the picture Hopkins paints for us of Hawai`i and of Elvis on his first visit to Hawai`i in 1957. Some concert promoters at the time thought that shows in the islands were financially risky for mainland acts. Not so in the case of Elvis. In 1956, Elvis had received 21,000 Christmas cards from Hawaii – an astounding number given that the total population was about 600,000. When he arrived at Aloha Pier in Honolulu on the passenger ship Matsonia, security was greater than it had been for President Truman’s arrival a few years earlier. The concerts were indeed hugely successful. Not surprisingly, the screaming fans at Honolulu Stadium made it nearly impossible to actually hear Elvis or his band. One of the gems that Hopkins includes is a newspaper ad for the concert showing reserved ticket prices of $2.50 and $3.50 each, and unreserved tickets at $1.50 each – including tax. Elvis and his entourage stayed on the top floor of the Hawaiian Village Hotel (which later became Hilton Hawaiian Village). At fourteen floors, it was the tallest building in Waikiki at the time.
Elvis would go on to perform five more concerts in Hawai`i. Hopkins describes two of those events (from conception and planning through performance and effect), explaining their significance to Elvis and to Hawai`i. They were both benefit concerts. The first, in 1961, raised money for – and, perhaps more significantly, national consciousness of - the organization committed to constructing the USS Arizona Memorial. The second, in 1973, was a global event of sorts, pioneering the use of satellites to broadcast a live concert around the world. The proceeds from that event went to a cancer research fund established in the memory of Kui Lee, a much-loved local singer-songwriter (Elvis had recorded some of his songs). According to Hopkins and his sources, these two charitable endeavors forever endeared Elvis to the people of Hawai`i.
No book about Elvis’ connection to Hawai`i would be complete without an exploration of the three “beach movies” he made here: Blue Hawaii (1961), Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962), and Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966). Hopkins tracks down an amazing number of movie stills, on-set pictures, and movie posters (even one from Mexico – Chicas, Chicas, y mas Chicas!). More importantly, though, he informs readers about how these films worked as publicity pieces for the islands, contributing to Hawai`i’s burgeoning tourism industry by exposing the world to the beauty of the state.
Elvis in Hawai`i is an entertaining look at the aloha that existed between Elvis and the people of his “second home.” Hopkins understands both Hawaiian culture and Elvis’ oeuvre well enough to make clear that the “Hawaiian”-themed films and songs fall pretty far from the mark. But that does not seem to have diminished the special connection between the singer and the islands he loved.
Recommended for purchase by public, academic, and high school libraries with popular Hawaiiana collections, large popular music or film collections, or large popular culture collections.
Submitted in April 2006 by Anonymous, LIS Student, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
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