Aloha From Hawaii - Soundtrack Album

Soundtrack Album

The album containing the music from the concert was a blockbuster hit, becoming Presley's first chart-topping album in the US since the soundtrack to Roustabout in 1965. The original release of the album, however, did not include the five post-show performances.

Initially released only in quadraphonic sound, the album was the first quadraphonic album to top the Billboard album chart, and remains the biggest-selling release in the format.

Presley was accompanied by:

Vocalists

• J.D. Sumner & the Stamps Quartet (Ed Enoch, Bill Baize, Donnie Sumner, Edward Wideman)
• The Sweet Inspirations (Myrna Smith, Sylvia Shemwell, Estelle Brown)
• Kathy Westmoreland

His TCB Band

• James Burton (lead guitar)
• John Wilkinson (rhythm guitar)
• Ronnie Tutt (drums)
• Jerry Scheff (Fender bass)
• Glen Hardin (piano/keyboards)
• Charlie Hodge (vocals/acoustic guitar)

Joe Guercio Orchestra

• Joe Guercio was Elvis's conductor and musical director and, with a few exceptions, the orchestra consisted of local musicians contracted for this particular engagement. Brass players were Patrick Houston, Thomas Porrello, Gary Grant and Forrest Buchtel (trumpets); Leslie Benedict and William Barton (trombones); Martin Harrell (bass trombone); and David Baptist (French horn). Saxophonists were Gabriel Baltazar, Jr., Robert Winn, Peter Dovidio, Wayne Dunstan and Mary Taylor, with Baltazar and Taylor also playing flute. Violinist Bertine Corimby, who performed with Elvis at the Las Vegas Hilton, headed the 12-piece string section, the rest of whom were musicians from the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra: Dale Bechtel, Marianne Fleece, Louise Solmssen, Arthur Loventhal, Mervin Whitcomb, Heidi McCole and Carol Shive (violins); Betty Deeg and Diana Mallery (violas); and William Konney and Beverly LeBeck (cellos). Rounding out the orchestra were Frank Strazzeri (Hammond organ) and Dean Appleman (percussion?). Houston, Porrello, Harrell and Strazzeri had toured with Elvis in 1972 and were brought to Hawaii for the show, as were Buchtel and Corimby. Harvey Ragsdale was the Hawaiian contractor who hired local musicians for the orchestra.