Unboxing Elvis: The Making Of Blue Hawaii (books + CD) Part 2 (EAPSS03E09)

Elvis Presley "The Making Of Blue Hawaii" Book and CD set by the FTD / Follow That Dream label - Unboxing, Reaction, Review, and Discussion! Part 2 of 2!
After talking about what's missing in the audio (across several videos, lol) Jamie and John finally take a look at the beautiful books, and the hard work by David and Pal! This video was so long, we split it up into two parts!
_________
Join the EAP Society! www.patreon.com/eapsociety
EAP Society Members get:
Extended Episodes (when available)
Ad-free Episodes
Exclusive Episodes
Bonus Content
Exclusive Behind-The-Scenes Looks
And MORE!
_________
THE EAP SOCIETY LIVE WEEKEND EVENT IN IOWA - MORE TO COME!
EAP Society Spring Festival - May of each year - Nevada Iowa (USA)
Help us preserve Elvis history with Leo Days, Steve Kelley, Steve Barile and more!
www.eapsociety.com/springfestival
_________
We have big plans for the EAP Society, and members will be on the ground floor with us as they happen - so become a member today! It helps grow the channel and ensure that Elvis history isn't lost to history, and SO much more:
www.eapsociety...
/ eapsociety
KZbin page:
/ eapsociety
EAP Society Social Media:
Instagram: / eapsociety
Facebook: / eapsociety
Twitter: / theeapsociety
Like, share, comment, and subscribe to never miss a video and help grow the channel and members - and when the EAP Society hits 500, 1000, 1500, and 2000 Patreon members, we'll start doing free giveaways across the channel / our social media - including FTD CD releases, and an authentic Elvis Presley autograph! So if you can join, don't miss out!
(channel and giveaways not endorsed by or sponsored by either said media platforms or EPE and it's parent company).
Original video link:
• Unboxing Elvis: The Ma...

[@thepowerwithinpodcast]

I just ordered the Blue Hawaii sessions box yesterday and sad to hear it is not complete but hopefully it will still be enjoyable and sound great . The packaging looks lovely . I love the FTD sessions series

[@julesthibault4124]

I have this set and love it. There is so much details and great photos. I enjoyed the sessions as well even if some editing was done. I also have the original lei made to promote the album. It's very fragile but still in one pièce.

[@EAPSociety]

Very cool on the original lei! Those are getting harder to come by, so good job on that! And yes, the books in this are absolutely beautiful. 😁

[@DanHanewinkel-hh3vr]

Thanks for showing these beautiful books,i enjoy the movie very much also,but agree with John,i think Girl Happy is Elvis best straight comedy roll and Follow that Dream is Elvis best Comedy mixed with drama movie,but as a fan i find something to enjoyin all Elvis movies .

[@EAPSociety]

You're very welcome, Dan! And same on enjoying all of Elvis's movies - and I can absolutely see that thinking on the others, too!

[@boysiesolem4752]

Wow guys that’s one massive unboxing 🎵 really enjoy your honest takes during the show. Cheers from Houston ✌️💯

[@EAPSociety]

Hi, Boysie! It sure is! And thank you - we'll always give our honest thoughts on these, good and bad! :)

[@NickyMetropolis1313]

Blue Hawaii brings back so many memories I used to rent that VHS from the library all the time. I'm curious to think about which Elvis movie names actually fit him. Chadwick wasn't one of them lol

[@EAPSociety]

Hi, Nicky! Thanks for sharing that - I remember looking at Elvis VHS rentals at the movie store, too; looking at the tapes with just an absolute sense of wonder. Good times!

[@woodycat7385]

Wow, it's such a mess with all the editing, definitely there needs to be a sweep and firing in the audio department. I keep hoping. Elvis deserves the best. His legacy needs to be protected and made available in all for his fans. Thanks for the breakdown on this beautiful set.

[@EAPSociety]

Yeah, it really is a sad mess. And it's also needless; editing the dialogue is just an utter waste of everyone's time. But you're very welcome - the books are truly beautiful, with great information on the sessions!

[@maggieshome]

Very interesting, you make me laugh thank you

[@EAPSociety]

You're welcome, Maggie! Glad you liked it!

[@musicfan5740]

My 2 cents. I recently got the Making of Jailhouse Rock, the Making of Blue Hawaii, the Elvis is Back complete sessions, and the Viva Las Vegas sessions. I agree all dialogue should be left in. I have a totally different issue, though. I want, on the movie sessions, also the actual full movie versions with overdubs. I like that Viva Las Vegas has the Ann Margaret "Ha, Ha, Ha" on C'mon Everybody, and includes non Elvis songs, like The Climb and Ann's two solo songs. For Blue Hawaii, I want the Joan Blackman overdubs in the shorter version of Almost Always, and the slap happy/ shave and a hair cut the guys did. For Jailhouse Rock, I really want Mickey's "One More Day" and the movie version of Jailhouse Rock, with the vocal overdubs of "Lay it on me, daddy-o" from Essential Elvis Vol. 1. For me, I would even be willing to leave out some snippets of talk between takes, if we got ALL songs including with overdubs on the movie sessions (if the edits had to be made for space, only). Anyone else want ALL songs and ALL versions with overdubs on the movie sessions sets? What do you guys think, Jamie and John?

[@EAPSociety]

Now there's an idea I can 100000% get behind!! I completely agree; there's probably only about 20 of us, but I'd love to get the overdub sessions, the sessions for the score, and even the ADR (dialogue replacement) sessions - especially those, since I'm sure Elvis had a laugh replacing his own dialogue! (this is Jamie, btw; John would probably go for at least some of this, but not the sessions for the score - we've talked about it, interestingly enough!)

[@MotherOf-Ferrets]

Whelp fellas you did the impossible. I never thought to hear about spanking fetishism in an Elvis content video, but y'all managed to do it 😂 I was cracking up! It was so nice to wake up and see a notification that this video was up. Keep up the great work spreading the amazing world of Elvis. You brought up the death of Jenny Maxwell. It was quite tragic, and there is a book about it called Murder of an Elvis Girl Solving the Jenny Maxwell Case by Buddy Moorehouse. Thanks for all that you do!!! ⚡️TCB⚡️

[@EAPSociety]

LOL! Yeah, I can't say I had that one on my bingo card when we filmed this, either! And thank you so much! On Jenny, I just looked it up and wow, that's so sad.. I'll have to check that book out!

[@subrosablues]

I can see from a certain segment of the collector base a desire that the FTD session product would supplant all previous product, including bootlegs. I don't think that's a reasonable expectation of FTD though. They have never (as far as I can remember) had a mission statement that they would supplant all previously illegally released material; in certain cases that was never going to happen anyway (see things like The Prisoner's Song, and "Dear Georgie...") What I think IS reasonable is that the FTD session product supplants all previously OFFICIALLY released audio, that would be more likely and a bar to hold the label to. So, all previous retail boxsets, Essential Elvis, early FTD session compilations, classic albums, that stuff all becomes redundant (save for unique mixes people want to hold on to). I think the specific issue with the Blue Hawaii Sessions is that the audio has begun life as part of this book project, it hasn't been mastered by the usual guy(s) (quicker?/easier?/cheaper?), and instead of having Sebastian do a proper version for the CD only release, it's been ported over from the book, warts and all. I don't think a Sebastian version would necessarily be completely unedited though, but it'd sound better (IMO).

[@woodycat7385]

Agreeing with you on this policy of releases for FTD. Shame the 4 cds in the sessions box set are the same ones. I still enjoy this set a lot. And play it often. Love all the sessions that are available, incl. On the bootlegs.

[@EAPSociety]

With all due respect, I think that's backwards. If this was a Classic Album FTD release, I'd understand that thinking. But they stated outright that this was the *complete* session, and it isn't. That's false advertising at best. If they're going to even *do* a sessions release, editing is just dumb. None of these session releases should have any edits at all. Editing is a waste of their time (it's not like the tape is edited, generally), and frankly, it's disrespectful to the section of the fanbase that these are marketed to. Fans should expect and demand better. The only reason we get these in order is because of the backlash after the "Viva Las Vegas" sessions; so those of us who buy sessions should continue to push for the label to do better - and (this isn't directed at you, I promise) making excuses for the label (which we've all done in the past at various times, which is why I say this isn't at you) just lets them continue to not care what fans want. If they're going to have every take of the songs on a release, then editing dialogue for literally no good reason at all is just letting session tape rot. It's entirely reasonable to expect the dialogue to be complete.

[@subrosablues]

@@EAPSociety the promotional blurb for The Making of Blue Hawaii doesn’t appear to have used the word COMPLETE; it said “Featuring the Elvis Presley soundtrack recording sessions, which include 50 unreleased takes. The audio has been newly mixed from the original 3-track tapes to stereo and sequenced in recording order for the first time.” However, the back of the book used the word COMPLETE. Interesting. I’d suggest there’s differing definitions around what a “complete session” is, for me, it’s all the music takes, not necessarily every piece of dialog that happened to get captured between all the stop starts. Don’t read what I’m not saying though, I enjoy a lot of the dialog and interplay that’s captured, mostly, but the tiny snippets of pieces here and there don’t bother me that much, certainly in the case of Going Home on the new FTD, I’d have welcomed more! Ouch! But I’m that fan that prefers spinning the 70s Masters edit of Stranger In My Own Home Town. “Literally no good reason at all”… I’d suggest that’s a subjective thing. Who gets final call on what “good reason” is? I’d suggest from their perspective FTD would say they have “good reason at all” for editing some dialog on releases. Some may not agree with it, clearly, but I doubt their reasons are simply to thumb one at the completist portion of the collector base. Not everyone in the collector fan base holds such a strong view on that. Not that you’re wrong to hold it either.

[@EAPSociety]

@subrosablues See, here's the thing: the standalone release of "The Blue Hawaii Sessions" also listed it as complete in the advertising. And I'm sorry, but any fan that doesn't want fully complete sessions has full access to the Classic Albums and can enjoy those. They've already been catered to, and that's fine. Serious session collectors have waited decades for the label to finally do sessions, and even now, their compulsion is to edit. And I have mono transfers of the nearly-complete Blue Hawaii tapes - so I can tell you specifically, there's no "good reason" for the edits they did on that set. Absolutely none. "Goin Home" is a bit of an outlier, but even then, I'd argue that it's history, and this is a collector label. I'd like that to mean more than just a new box with a few extra minutes and some pretty pictures on it. The problem with editing is that we miss potential context: if they'd thought Elvis singing "e-o" when the engineer announces "EO take 1"/etc wasn't important and cut that, we'd never have known how long Elvis was contemplating the song that would become "Ask Me." And the way the edits are arbitrary (and it's easy to tell, they are absolutely arbitrary), there's more fans miss. There's a greater context here that's lost: the only way to know the full context and a proper assessment of what's happening is to have these unedited. It can be difficult for fans who don't look at these things closely to understand, and some don't wish to dive that far in - and I get that, I don't expect all fans to do that - but the more you look at these things closely, the more important the pieces become to the whole picture. It's nearly impossible to know what's going to be an important piece that answers a question to something seemingly unrelated that we've wondered for years. If I hadn't seen it happen several times over, I wouldn't believe it, either. Edits alter the picture of the session in ways that are hard to fathom unless you're really looking. For that reason, I'm a firm believer that sessions and live shows - particularly ones released on a small collector label - shouldn't be edited. Because after these come out, the probability of the full sessions being released - unless we get in to do it ourselves - drops to nearly 0. And most fans who don't mind edits (at least for 99% of releases - this latest likely being the sole exception) they'd buy it and enjoy it just the same without the edits, too. That's another reason why editing is pointless. In fact, there are examples where an FTD has more edits than versions that came out later as a public release on Sony Legacy (1974 Memphis live concert being just one example) The reason I'm not my usual "hey it's all good for different folks" here is that it's literally leaving pieces of Elvis history and keeping it from fans. This might be one of the few instances where I'm 100% clear and on one side alone: there's only one right answer to preserving history.

[@subrosablues]

@@EAPSocietyI don’t begrudge you feeling that way, I understand that perspective. I don’t think we’re entitled to official vault copies of every inch of session tape reel though. And I don’t think FTD has ever had a mandate to release it all. I have bought most of the session sets, the only one I feel shortchanged on is American Sound 69 as it doesn’t even include everything from previous FTDs, and no liner notes to speak of. And even though I like the Classic Albums better for enjoyment, I’m still a satisfied customer for these session sets overall. Blue Hawaii pisses me off because of the mastering above any other issues.

[@G.M.1944]

Did FTD offer any explanation for the editing out of audio on this release and their other FTD releases ?

[@EAPSociety]

Sadly, nothing besides a few comments when asked about the missing parts being "unimportant" - but if fans can change this mindset in the label, it wouldn't be the first one they've had an effect on.

[@11041962]

The first 12 takes or so of "Can´t Help Falling In Love" are not taken from the original tapes IMO. The sound is worse that the remaining of the takes of this song😭. I´d say the first 12 takes are taken from the MRS cd: Blue Hawaii-The Expanded Alternate Album released in 2012....

[@EAPSociety]

Yeah, the first 12 sound like an acetate source, but I doubt it's MRS; that acetate transfer has been around for quite a long time (I have a raw copy of it, even) so they most likely went from that. Most likely, something happened to that tape, and I'd love to know the story there, even if it has a (likely) painful ending!

[@11041962]

@@EAPSociety Thank you!.

[@EAPSociety]

You're very welcome - happy to help! 😁

[@PaulAndrew-fp2qg]

You can see a lot of love went into the making of the book. I don't agree with having to pay big money to get it. The book should be for all fans not just a few collectors the film the book is more of a companion to the movie than an cd set. Blue Hawaii was a landmark in Elvis career just as much as Aloha was. Critics can argue about the direction after but if he had continued to make films like Wild In The Country he would have had a successful film career post Army. Also he would have had less success in album sales. Elvis is Back might be a great album but it didn't do big business like GI Blues and Blue Hawaii. I do reverse What Ifs to most fans what if this hadnt been a massive hit? I prefer Girl Happy to Blue Hawaii because it's more of a comedy the production values aren't as good Blue Hawaii is a better quality film. IMO

[@EAPSociety]

Absolutely, Paul! It really is great - and I do understand the price tag, just due to the build quality of the books. But I'd love to see paperback editions that more fans could afford - they'd be great, and an instant purchase for me. And I agree on playing "devil's advocate" on the popular "what if" theories, too; it's healthy to look at these things from all sides. 😁

[@brianwhitney9181]

We have the choice not to open our wallets,

[@EAPSociety]

Exactly, Brian - that's why John and I didn't buy this one.

[@brianwhitney9181]

@@EAPSociety Then you probably already know that MRS is releasing an Elvis Christmas Album today. The cover is cool but the price maybe to hot.

[@EAPSociety]

Yep, we did see that! Looks interesting! I don't hold MRS to quite the same bar, just because they don't have access to the original tapes.

[@brianwhitney9181]

@@EAPSociety True, but fans have a habit of I have to have it. FTD if they were to re-release the original gatefold Christmas album you can bet fans will jump and dam the price.

[@EAPSociety]

@brianwhitney9181 That's true, too - and I have no real problem with re-releases, really - they make older product available for folks who missed it before. It's mainly the editing and the mistakes that fans shouldn't tolerate from the label.