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Blue Hawaii

Blue Hawaii is perhaps one of the most well-known films to come out of the tiki craze that swept the nation during the 1950s and 1960s. This musical film set in Hawaii starred rock n’ roll legend Elvis Presley. It was the first of three Elvis movies shot in Hawaii; the others were Girls! Girls! Girls! In 1962, followed by 1965’s Paradise, Hawaiian Style. Blue Hawaii was his most successful film.

The storyline featured Presley as Chadwick Gates, a soldier who has recently returned to Hawaii, where he has been reunited with his girlfriend, his surfboard, and his friends. This scenario mirrors that of countless soldiers who returned from the islands in the aftermath of World War II, bringing the souvenirs of Polynesian culture that would spark the tiki fad. By the time this film was recorded, the tiki craze had affected every facet of American life, even its rock n’ roll.

Much of the film Blue Hawaii was shot on-location, in the Coco Palms Resort of Kauai. Other scenes were shot in a volcanic crater near Waikiki known as Hanauma Bay. Many of the beach shots show Waikiki as it appeared in the early 1960s, further increasing the popularity of this island paradise on the mainland, where the tiki craze had already ignited an interest in all things Hawaii.

The soundtrack to the movie Blue Hawaii, which also carried the title of Blue Hawaii, is also one of the most popular Elvis albums, although some have said that it is inferior to his non-soundtrack albums. Still, the soundtrack spent 79 weeks on the Billboard Pop Albums chart, including an impressive 20 weeks at #1. In all, more than 2 million copies were sold, making it certified triple-platinum and Presley’s top-selling album during his lifetime.

His fourteenth album, Presley’s track listings for Blue Hawaii ranged from a remake of Bing Crosby’s song “Blue Hawaii” to such Hawaiian-influenced tunes as “Rock-A-Hula Baby” and “Ku-u-ipo,” which translates to ‘Hawaiian Sweetheart.’ The touches of Hawaiian music included a traditional song “Aloha ‘Oe” and a Hawaiian Wedding Song from a 1926 operetta. Perhaps interestingly, none of the hits to be included on this 1961 album came out of the tiki craze that had started just a decade before, and which was still in full swing as Blue Hawaii was released. Still, the album did incorporate such Hawaiian sounds at the ukulele, a guitar-like instrument used in Hawaiian popular music for over a century. Today, his album remains very popular for luaus and tiki-influenced parties thanks to its mixture of 1960s rock n’roll and a Hawaiian influenced beat.

Both the movie and the album shone a light on the romantic Hawaiian culture that had inspired the tiki craze. It is known that Elvis Presley was a fan of Hawaiian-style music; remnants of this style can even be seen in several of his post-Blue Hawaii songs. During the 1950s and 1960s, the effects of the tiki craze and Hawaiian music were so profound that its influence even affected the archetypal American sound of Rock and Roll.

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