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Book Review – Elvis in Hawai'i By:
Randolph Giudice Jerry
Hopkins’ book, Elvis in Hawai’i, may answer the question,
“What do you get for the star who has everything?” For Elvis Presley,
who was a regular visitor in Hawaii for almost twenty years, it may have
been as simple as an undisturbed walk along a sandy shore. A cultural
fixture in Hawaii to this day, Elvis staged two of the most important
concerts of his career in Hawaii and shot three signature films around
idyllic island locations. Like
Chad Gates, the frustrated ex-GI he portrayed in the movie Blue
Hawaii, who wished for “no red carpet, where everyone knows who I
am”, Elvis longed for a place where he could escape the burdens of
celebrity. And the islands of Hawaii, with their open vistas and golden
sunshine offered a paradise far removed from the protected opulence of his
Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. Of course, even thousands of
miles away, Elvis couldn’t have hoped for anonymity. Although Hawaii
wouldn’t officially become America’s 50th state until 1959, the King
of Rock and Roll had been an welcome import long before he ever ventured
onshore. When Elvis and the Memphis Mafia stepped off the cruise ship
Matsonia on November 9, 1957, a twenty-year love affair began, shared by
both Elvis and his fans. “Elvis
loved Hawaii,” says Joe Esposito, Elvis’s longtime steward, “The
weather was fabulous, and the people treated him with respect. Unlike
Mainland fans, who hounded him wherever he went, the Hawaiians left Elvis
alone.” The islands clearly acted as a tonic on Presley. In the
seventies, when Elvis’s health became a going concern, the islands often
restored his spirit. In return, Elvis always gave his best to the loyal
fans in Hawaii. It was for his hallmark Aloha From Hawaii concert in 1973
that Elvis pulled out all the stops, including the jewel encrusted cape
which has since become a legend. All
of Elvis’s three films shot in Hawaii – Blue
Hawaii, Girls Girls Girls, and
Paradise, Hawaiian Style – were on-screen vacations, light on plot,
easy on the eyes, and when they eventually arrived at their destination
– a marriage two times out of three – they showcased a charismatic
Elvis who was both malihini and kamaaina. Like
the elusive Elvis impersonator who tricked thousands of fans at Honolulu
Stadium, the ghost of the King is conjured from lively anecdotes,
sightings, and collector’s memorabilia. Speculation about the darker
influences in Presley’s life, although present for continuity, do not
take the front seat in this charming history. Rather, Hopkins takes an
intimate look at Elvis’s relationship with Hawaii, from the King’s
timely benefit concert to rescue the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, to the
hapa-haole songs he made popular in the sixties. Through colorful pictures
– some previously unseen – and vintage illustrations, Hopkins
elegantly captures two decades of Elvis mania, never more distinctive than
on the islands which became his second home. For
Elvis’s fans, many can’t look upon the rolling surf at Waikiki Beach
or the peaceful calm of Hanauma Bay without hearing Presley’s voice
celebrating the spirit of this island paradise. For Elvis, Hawaii clearly
offered a brief respite from darker days. Until the time of his death in
1977, Elvis might have agreed with his bright-eyed protagonist from his
first and most successful Hawaiian film, when he sang, “Dreams do come
true in Blue Hawaii.” Elvis
in Hawai’i,
by Jerry Hopkins |
