Rock-A-Hula Baby

"Rock-A-Hula Baby ("Twist" Special)" is a 1961 song recorded by Elvis Presley and performed in the 1961 film Blue Hawaii. The song was also released as a single.

"Rock-A-Hula Baby"
Original US picture sleeve
Single by Elvis Presley
from the album Blue Hawaii
A-side	"Can't Help Falling in Love"
Released	November 21, 1961
Recorded	March 23, 1961, Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California
Genre	Pop, rock and roll
Length	1:58
Label	RCA Victor
Songwriter(s)	Ben Weisman Fred Wise Dolores Fuller[1]
Producer(s)	Steve Sholes[1]
Elvis Presley singles chronology
"Little Sister" (1961) "Rock-A-Hula Baby" / "Can't Help Falling in Love" (1961) "Good Luck Charm" / "Anything That's Part of You" (1962)

Background

The song was recorded on March 23, 1961 at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California. The RCA Victor 45 single was released on November 21, 1961, with Can't Help Falling in Love as the A-side.^[2] Steve Sholes produced the studio recording session. The Jordanaires provided the backing vocals. The song was published by Gladys Music, Inc., Elvis Presley's publishing company and was written by Ben Weisman, Fred Wise, and Dolores Fuller,^[1] it is a genre mix of Hawaiian folk and rock and roll. It was the first song published by Fuller, who would eventually co-write a dozen songs for Presley. The title song of the 1991 film Rock-a-Doodle, which featured Elvis Presley's original backing vocal group The Jordanaires, parodied "Rock-a-Hula Baby".

Charts

"Rock-A-Hula Baby" peaked at No. 23 in the U.S. on the Billboard pop singles chart, No. 1 in Australia, No. 4 in Canada, and No. 1 in the Philippines.^[3] In the United Kingdom (UK), where it was a double A-sided release with "Can't Help Falling in Love", it peaked at No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1962, and spent four weeks at the chart summit.^[4] When re-released in March 2005, it reached No. 3 in the UK in a four-week chart run.^[5]

Other recordings

Paul Rich, Werner Müller and The London Festival Orchestra & Chorus, Tulsa McLean, Pop Will Eat Itself, Martin Fontaine, Stephen Collins, Terry Buchwald, and Steven Pitman have also recorded the song.^[6]

References

1. Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 64. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
2. "Can't Help Falling in Love". Elvis The Music. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
3. "Hits of the World". Billboard Music Week. Billboard. January 20, 1962. p. 14. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
4. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 134. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
5. Song artist 2 - Elvis Presley.tsort.
6. Rock-A-Hula Baby. Second Hand Songs.