Customer Reviews

Viva Las Vegas [Soundtrack]

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For the first time ever, rock n' roll aficionados are treated to Elvis's best 1960's soundtrack in stunning sound quality.

While most of his soundtrack material is ably covered on Elvis At The Movies, there are certain soundtrack albums by the King that need further exploration. Of his 1960's fare, Viva Las Vegas is undoubtedly the strongest offering and needs to be heard completely, as it offers some real rocking gems that often get overlooked in the Presley catalogue. This cd starts off with the Iconic title track, "Viva Las Vegas" and quickly moves into possibly the best-ever cover of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say", rather than simply attempting a straight copy of Charles down and dirty hipster-jive as so many other artists have done, Elvis creates quite a different atmosphere than the Charles original. He speeds it up to a rollicking (but oh-so dancable) pace, and adds a polish that makes the song self-consciously hip in a very different way from the Charles standard.

Following "What'd I Say" is the Red West-penned "If You Think I Don't Need You", a nice rock ditty that finishes a blistering three song set before settling into the cool and lonely evening sounds of "I Need Somebody To Lean On", a jazzy vocal ballad reminiscent of Sinatra's Capitol period. Other album highlights are "C'mon Everybody" and "Night Life", two catchy mid-60's rockers that need alot more rotation than they get, and two duets with Ann Margaret, a very steamy version of Lieber and Stoller's "You're The Boss" and the infectious back and forth of "The Lady Loves Me".

The only real throwaway on the CD in the pointless "Do The Vega". Even "The Eyes Of Texas" has a certain charm that justifies it's inclusion. I do however wish that the producers had included "The Climb", a rare Presley-produced R&B number by the Forte Four that makes one wish that he had taken a Sam Cooke-esque turn in the producer's chair.

All in all though it's a great release, in stunning sound- mastered by the ever-amazing Vic Anesini, and is available at a great price. Truly a must-have.

To my ears, this does not touch the FTD deluxe issue for sound quality-that is still the standard. However, this is the first "regular" release of this soundtrack on it's own, and it is great for the price. These masters seem to be the ones used for the first vinyl issue of this soundtrack back in the 80s. It sounds fine-until you compare it to the FTD-which sounds like it was recorded this morning. Also-the artwork suffers from a bad transfer-could they not get access to the same elements used for the FTD release? It looks pale and blurry, and the back contains no additional art, unlike the other budget-priced soundtrack releases from Jan '10. The hardcore Elvis collector cannot do without the FTD deluxe version of this soundtrack-the casual fan will be happy with this.

This is a reissue of Elvis' classic 1964 movie single Viva Las Vegas / What'd I Say. What'd I Say was actually the bigger hit in the US reaching 21 on the singles chart while Viva Las Vegas only managed to climb to 29. It did a little better in the UK reaching the top 20. Still Viva Las Vegas has aged better than many of his movie songs and is probably better appreciated and known today than it was when it was released. It has gained a sort of cult status. Again this is a nice collector's item for avid Elvis collectors.

There are a number of commonly held misconceptions about Elvis Presley's film career: Elvis couldn't act, his movies were all throwaways, and the soundtracks were populated entirely with substandard material. But key films in the King's catalog show that he could indeed act, if called upon, there are several high-quality dramatic and musical films in Elvis' oeuvre, alongside many good lightweight romantic musical comedies, and his soundtracks are laced with hits and terrific albums sides. To measure the highpoints of Elvis' soundtrack catalog by virtue of the low points (of which there are admittedly many) is to miss out on a valuable dimension of Presley's musical career.

1964's Viva Las Vegas was Elvis' fifteenth film, and remains a favorite among fans for the electricity generated between Elvis and co-star Ann-Margret. For once Elvis was matched by an actress who could sing and dance with the same heat he brought to the screen, and the film featured some of the best songs that had been written or corralled for an Elvis film vehicle. With all that going for it, it's anyone's guess why RCA so completely fumbled the soundtrack's release. At the time of the film's debut the title track was issued as a single, backed with Elvis' smoking cover of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say," and a four-song EP whose cover is reproduced for this CD. The rest of the soundtrack's songs were scattered among numerous Elvis albums over subsequent months and years, with several (including two duets with Ann-Margret) held in the vaults until after Elvis' death. Ann-Margret's two solo numbers finally turned up on a Bear Family box set of her recordings.

It wasn't until 1993 that a soundtrack album appeared as part of a two-fer pairing Viva Las Vegas with Roustabout. An even more complete version was released in 2003 by the collector's imprint Follow That Dream. Sony's new budget-priced reissue includes the same twelve titles as the two-fer, but still omits Ann-Margret's solo tracks ("Appreciation" and "My Rival") and the Forte' Four's "The Climb." Those omissions aside, what's here is top-notch, from Pomus and Shuman's terrific title song through the sassy closing duet "The Lady Loves Me." In between are many highlights featuring brassy blues, tender ballads and fiery vocal performances. Elvis sounds like he was having a lot of fun singing these tunes, and the dance dynamic between he and Ann-Margret begat great foot-stompers like "C'mon Everybody" (unfortunately missing the half-tempo coda from the film).

A medley of "The Yellow Rose of Texas" and "The Eyes of Texas" show Elvis could add a spark to standards, and two tunes that didn't make the final film, the guitar rocker "Night Life" and the late-night Ann-Margret duet "You're the Boss," make good additions to the official soundtrack. A third non-film tune, the Latin dance tune "Do the Vega," is more of a throwaway. The audio is reproduced in super-wide stereo with Elvis' vocals sharp and clear at center stage. Sony's reissue features a four-panel booklet and no liner notes discussing the music or its making. The 31-minute running time suggests that the earlier import two-fer or Follow That Dream's collector's edition might be more compelling to Elvis diehards. Still, the budget price and remastered sound make this reissue attractive. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]

Mr. Anesini, I would like to thank you for doing such a great job in the re-mastering of the 8 new Elvis Sony Special Products Soundtrack releases! They couldn't sound better! These soundtracks were previously released on CD in the "Double Features" series in the early '90's and the mixing and sound quality did not sound very good in most cases, and the stereo separation was poor as well. These new CD's sound crystal clear, and the mix on all of them sound just like they did on the original LP's, which is the way they SHOULD sound! The stereo separation sounds brilliant as well! I would just like to point out one thing: On the "Fun In Acapulco" CD, the song "El Toro" has a slight break (or distortion) in the opening intro. I was wondering if this might be due to some kind of fault in the mastering process. I was a little dissapointed, because the rest of the CD sounds absolutely perfect, except for this. This isn't what you would call a major defect, but still, it is a bit annoying to hear it this way. Is this a problem that could be corrected in future pressings? I doubt that this could be a defect in the original master tape. If you listen to the song on the "Double Features" series, it sounds fine. I'm hoping that somehow you will see this message and have this problem corrected, if at all possible. Anyway, thanks again for doing such a great job mastering these CD's and for making them sound so good! I'm hoping to see the rest of Elvis' soundtracks released on CD in the near future, and I hope you will be doing the re-mastering on them as well!

My Mom saw the music video of Faith HIll singing "There'll Be Peace in the Valley" on her favorite CMT station, and I looked for months in stores trying to locate it. Came to Amazon.com, and located it on this CD, since it was not sold on Faith's albums or as a single. Seems like a lot to pay for one song, but my Mom was SO thrilled, I'd buy it a million times over.

I'm not a huge fan of the Elvis soundtracks but I will say that I may have wore out this CD from playing it soo much. "Viva Las Vegas," "What'd I Say," "Nightlife," "If You Don't Think I Need You," and "'C'mon Everybody" are reason enough to buy this album. This album has more rock influenced songs, and less showtune-sounding material. How 'Nightlife" never made it to a Greatest Hits compiliation I'm not sure, because its one of Elvis' hardest rock songs. The only tracks I could do without are the duet songs he does w/ Ann Margaret "You're The Boss" and "The Lady Loves Me," and I'm also not a fan for the Spanish track "Santa Lucia." Those three tracks are probably the only low points on the album. Then you have the filler tacks like "Yellow Rose Of Texas/The Eyes Of Texas" and "Do The Vega" which aren't bad. Other than that it's a pretty solid album. If you are an Elvis fan do yourself a favor and pick this album up. Plus you can't beat it for the price.

I have always liked Viva Las Vegas, in part for its nostalgic scenes from a city that is constantly reinventing itself. The plot is good and there are some great co-stars (Ann-Margret, Cesare Danova). The music is a lot of fun which is why I bought this sound track. The only disappointment is it does not include "The Climb" by the Jubilee Four (from the night club scene where Elvis first dances with Ann-Margret). The song is available from iTunes, a version called The Climb (Master) from the album The Coasters: Alternate Takes (Vol. 2). Other than that the sound track is a nice collection of pretty good songs from one of Elvis's most entertaining movies.

This is a great DVD for all Elvis Fans. I remember when I saw him in concert and this brings it all back to me. A must have for all Elvis Lovers like myself.

This cd is excellent but DAUGHTRY covering SUSPICIOUS MINDS is EXCEPTIONAL!!!! The other tracks are good BUT this one STANDS OUT!!! THANK GOD FOR DAUGHTRY!!!