In 2009 Follow That Dream Records released a collector's edition of "Blue Hawaii". The set offered two compact discs and a booklet, housed in a 7" digipak. The mastering was done by Sebastian Jeansson, Vic Anesini was in charge of mixing the tracks. Because FTD sticks to physical formats, they refuse to distribute their products through the streaming platforms.

In this review I only deal with the material, that is not included on the original album. For a review of the RCA release, just tap HERE.

The movie version is performed slower than the one on the album "Pot Luck With Elvis". Instead of a saxophone solo the movie version features a guitar solo and the finale differs, too. The drums are substituted by soft guitar sounds. The king doesn't try to sound like a rock'n'roll singer, he presents the song much softer with a slight touch of blues.

The music doesn't differ to the record version, but Elvis sounds more tame.

During the first verse Elvis is accompanied by a music box, on the second verse the band and the choir join in.

Here we get the master take, as it was originally recorded. This means, that the harmony vocals are missing.

This is the recording we know from the album "Pot Luck With Elvis".

Elvis says "Gimme that thing" and the intro starts. But he just sings "night and you and blue" before he stops, because the steel guitar player missed his cue. On the second take the line "the night is heavenly" doesn't work well. Finally the group manages to deliver a complete performance of "Blue Hawaii". Compared to the master Elvis sings lower and also has some trouble with the timing.

The funny up-tempo tune is less complex than "Blue Hawaii" and doesn't challenge anyone. At the end Elvis has to refrain from laughing.

The king and the choir sing the chorus.

In contrast to the released version this one does without the steel guitar, which makes the whole thing sound somewhat sparse. There are little insecurities here and there, but in general everything works well.

After the group had taped the record version, they continued with the variation for the movie. Joseph Lilley simply continued to count the takes, in fact this is the first take of the movie version. Elvis fools around with the line "wise men say", then the official walkthrough is started. Because they had just taped 12 takes of the record version, "Can't Help Falling In Love" wasn't a challenge for anyone.

We hear studio talk, Elvis jokingly asks "What are we doing?" and intones Patti Page's hit "I Went To Your Wedding". Take 1 is just a false start, the king doesn't even get to sing. The second attempt is canceled by Elvis after a few lines. Because everyone keeps on performing, he says "Wow...hold it". The third take is a complete performance. It's not as smooth as the final product, but Elvis and his band are running at full speed and almost sound boisterous.

The second take doesn't differ all that much from the master-take.

The ballad is played slower than the master-take and therefore sounds a bit sluggish. Elvis also has problems with the timing, but it's a good performance, considering, that this is the first walkthrough.

Take one is canceled after 40 seconds, because Elvis has a frog in his throat and also has problems with the calypso rhythm of the song. The second attempt is a decent one, unfortunately FTD prematurely fades it out.

The producer announces "EO - Take 1". Elvis repeates his joke from the "G.I. Blues" sessions and intones the song "IO". Three years later he would record an English version called "Ask Me". The first two attempts are nothing but false starts. First he misses a break, then he gets lost in the lyrics. Take 3 is a complete performance, but at the end the harmony singers make a mistake and the king comments "Boys, you forgot your part".

Of course Elvis hasn't found his interpretation yet, but for a first walkthrough the performance works very well. Compared to the master, the king sings in a lower key.

By take number 8 everyone has figured out, what to do. There are just a few minor differences to the master.

To make it easier for the Hawaiian choir, the pianist plays the accordant key. Once again the group delivers a worthwhile performance, considering that this is their first try.

The second attempt works just as well as the first one.

As usual, FTD wants to present a false start followed by a complete performance. So they had to switch the order of the takes. The 6th attempt is just the word "hawaiian", because Elvis has to clear his throat. Take number 3 is a complete performance. Now the key has been changed, so the walkthrough sounds closer to the master.

Elvis and the harmony singers record a complete version of the chorus. Afterwards the producer wants him to join in on the line "until we meet again".

This is a splice of the takes number 7 and 5. As requested Elvis now also sings "until we meet again".

Take number two is canceled after a minute. When the steel guitar starts to play during the word "Ku-U-I-Po" Elvis remarks "I wasn't expecting that". The 4th attempt just lasts a few seconds, because the ukulele player makes a mistake. Finally take 5 is a complete version, which already sounds quite close to the master.

Because the bass player misses his cue, the 6th take has to be canceled. The next try sounds perfect and could easily have been released.

The first walkthrough sounds different to the master, especially the drums. After 30 seconds or so the take is canceled. The next attempt fails on the line "come to me, let's be sweethearts again", because Elvis doesn't know, how to emphasize the words. On the 4th take the group experiments a bit, during the line "darling, I love you so" we hear an ukulele and a xylophone instead of a steel guitar. The take is canceled after a mistake of the bass player, but earlier on Elvis already had tripped noticably over the timing. By take number 8 the crew had returned to the previous arrangement and delivers a complete performance.

During take number 11 the group tries to involve the xylophone a bit more. Afterwards we hear an insert-take of the ending.

"Here we go, fellas! Here we go!" says the king. The "guitar duel" between Scotty Moore and Hank Garland even evokes some genue rock'n'roll feeling.

Because of the take-announcement Elvis once more intones "IO". After a few seconds into "Slicin' Sand" he messes up the timing, which burries the take. The king repeates his joke and makes another timing mistake. This time the performance is continued, at least, until the lead vocalist gets lost in the lyrics. Take number 7 is a complete performance.

To present the false starts first, FTD has switched the order of the takes again. Number 8 is terminated after the guitarist missed his cue. Elvis jokingly intoes "I Had A Dream". The next walkthrough fails right at the intro. The king has to laugh and starts to sing "There's Always Me", a song ,he would record for his next studio album. Someone says "sound of the union", referencing to the fact, that these guys and girls were watching all the recording sessions closely. The takes number 15 and 16 are short false starts, because the choir doesn't get the intro right. The previously taped 14th attempt is a complete performance.

The song is taken at a slower pace, the recording is stopped after Elvis messed up the timing at the part with the shuffle rhythm ("come with me, while the moon is on the see..."). Now the tempo is adjusted, but the king fails on the same line. On the 6th attempt he finally makes it, but unfortunately just once.

After half a minute Elvis sings out of tune and has to harrumph. During the 6th take the king stumbles upon the first line ("Ito eats like theeth are out of style") and has to laugh. Because FTD wants to close the track with a complete performance, we now hear take number 5.

Elvis misses the first note and apologizes by saying "I had a frog and a tadpole". The second try doesn't get much further, because the king's chair squeaked. Before he starts the 4th take, Elvis rehearses some parts of the ballad. However, after a while he cancels the performance due to several mistakes on his part. Take number 6 is ended by the producer, because the triangle was too loud. Jokingly someone claims "I was just gonna say, we could put something around it", to which Elvis replies "You could - a fire".

The producer stops take 7, because Elvis sang "Hawaii" instead of "Kauai". He tells the king, that the island is pronounced "cow-aii", to which Elvis replies "Fine, cow are you?". The 9th attempt is not just complete, but also very good.

Take 4 is canceled after a few seconds, because the intro is regarded to be too long. Elvis and his producer decide to repeat the melody twice instead of four times. Take number 5 suffers from a major timing mistake by the king. It's finally stopped after the drummer missed a break. The track ends with a complete performance, which is a splice of the takes 7 and 8. I don't know why FTD tampers with the recordings instead of presenting them the way they are.

Someone in the control booth uses a thunderer whistle, maybe that's why Elvis stops the intro with an annoyed sounding "Hold it". Take number 11 is rather chaotic. The guitar player misses a break and the saxophone player sounds somewhat insecure, too. Finally the recording attempt is canceled. During the 16th take the guitarist misses the break again, whereupon the king ends the walkthrough. The track ends with the complete take number 15. Again FTD has changed the order to close with a complete performance.

The movie version included a tag, which was taped separately. The master is a splice of take 8 and tag-take 19.

The second take doesn't get old, because Elvis messes up the timing on the line "Met a pretty mademoiselle, her papa owned a small hotel". Take number 4 is also stopped due to timing issues. Finally the 5th attempt works well, the king stays a bit behind the rhythm, sings laid back.

FTD changed the sequence of the takes, you know the game. After a minute or so the take is canceled by the producer, whereupon Elvis askes "What happened?". He is told, that he had mixed up the words "almost" and "always". Even though he doesn't want to admit his mistake, it's obvious that he had messed it up. The previous take is a complete performance.

On the first take Elvis misses the bridge ("though the air is cold..."), because there was an instrumental part, to which the harmony singers were supposed to be added later. During walkthrough number 4 he gets everything right, but at the end he fools around and sings in a disguised/funny voice.

Take number 14 is canceled, because Elvis produces some funny noises. The next attempt fails, because the king still has to laugh about his joke. The ukulele players jokingly play a fanfare. With the 16th take we hear a complete and serious performance.

The harmony singers rehearse their part and are silenced by an annoyed hiss from Elvis. But then he's the one to mess it up, because he has a frog in his throat. Take number 19 doesn't get any further, because the king has to laugh. The next attempt is played too slow, so Elvis changes the line "I can't help falling in love" to "I don't believe we are in tempo". Take 21 is also too slow, the king wants to speed it up a bit. Nevertheless the following attempt suffers from the same problem and is also canceled. The 24th try works well and is a complete performance.

Elvis sings "Wise men say" and stops the recording by saying "shit". This causes some laughter, because now the line is "wise men say shit". The compilation ends with the complete, 26th take of "Can't Help Falling In Love".