Post by bluehawaii61 on Feb 1, 2009 14:29:31 GMT -5
Aloha from Hawaii is a music concert that was headlined by Elvis Presley, and broadcast live via satellite around the world on January 14, 1973. It was watched by over one billion viewers worldwide. The concert aired in over 40 countries across Asia and Europe (who received the telecast the next day, also in primetime). Despite the satellite innovation, the United States did not air the concert until April 4, 1973. The show was the most expensive entertainment special at the time, costing $2.5 million.
The event being the first-ever such performance to be broadcast live via satellite, Presley taped a January 12 rehearsal concert as a fail-safe in case anything went wrong with the satellite, during the actual broadcast. For both shows, Presley was dressed in a white "American Eagle" jumpsuit designed by Bill Belew.
Audience tickets for the January 14 concert and its January 12 pre-broadcast rehearsal show carried no price. Each audience member was asked to pay whatever he or she could afford. The performance and concert merchandise sales raised $75,000 for the Kui Lee Cancer Fund in Hawaii. (Kui Lee was a Hawaiian composer who had died of cancer while still in his thirties.)
Presley performed a vast array of old and recent hits like "Steamroller Blues", "See See Rider", "Early Morning Rain", "Burning Love", "Blue Suede Shoes", "A Big Hunk o' Love", "Suspicious Minds", "Can't Help Falling in Love." He showed his vocal range and strength with ballads like the Beatles' "Something", "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", "It's Over", "Welcome to my World", "I'll Remember You" and especially during "What Now My Love". The show is probably most remembered for his performance of the "An American Trilogy". After the concert had finished and the audience had left, Presley recorded five songs on stage to be aired during the American airing of the show.
]The broadcast was directed by Marty Pasetta, who was then in charge of directing the Oscar ceremonies. In top vocal form, Presley was accompanied by:
• James Burton (lead guitar)
• Glen Hardin (piano)
• Ronnie Tutt (drums)
• John Wilkinson (rhythm guitar)
• Jerry Scheff (bass)
• J.D. Sumner & the Stamps Quartet (backup vocals)
• Kathy Westmoreland (backup vocals)
• Charlie Hodge (harmony)
• Sweet Inspirations (backup vocals)
• Joe Guercio & his Orchestra
The event being the first-ever such performance to be broadcast live via satellite, Presley taped a January 12 rehearsal concert as a fail-safe in case anything went wrong with the satellite, during the actual broadcast. For both shows, Presley was dressed in a white "American Eagle" jumpsuit designed by Bill Belew.
Audience tickets for the January 14 concert and its January 12 pre-broadcast rehearsal show carried no price. Each audience member was asked to pay whatever he or she could afford. The performance and concert merchandise sales raised $75,000 for the Kui Lee Cancer Fund in Hawaii. (Kui Lee was a Hawaiian composer who had died of cancer while still in his thirties.)
Presley performed a vast array of old and recent hits like "Steamroller Blues", "See See Rider", "Early Morning Rain", "Burning Love", "Blue Suede Shoes", "A Big Hunk o' Love", "Suspicious Minds", "Can't Help Falling in Love." He showed his vocal range and strength with ballads like the Beatles' "Something", "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", "It's Over", "Welcome to my World", "I'll Remember You" and especially during "What Now My Love". The show is probably most remembered for his performance of the "An American Trilogy". After the concert had finished and the audience had left, Presley recorded five songs on stage to be aired during the American airing of the show.
]The broadcast was directed by Marty Pasetta, who was then in charge of directing the Oscar ceremonies. In top vocal form, Presley was accompanied by:
• James Burton (lead guitar)
• Glen Hardin (piano)
• Ronnie Tutt (drums)
• John Wilkinson (rhythm guitar)
• Jerry Scheff (bass)
• J.D. Sumner & the Stamps Quartet (backup vocals)
• Kathy Westmoreland (backup vocals)
• Charlie Hodge (harmony)
• Sweet Inspirations (backup vocals)
• Joe Guercio & his Orchestra