Viva Las Vegas [Alt Takes 1 & 2] - Elvis Presley, Pomus
On September 18th, ABC aired one of the most successful Elvis documentaries ever produced. "ELVIS VIVA LAS VEGAS" is the chronicle of Elvis' life during the Vegas years with the focus on his music, his ground-breaking sty... more »le and his legacy. As Elvis paved the way for today's performers in Las Vegas the documentary also featured stellar performances by some of today's biggest stars doing their unique interpretations of the Elvis' songs that had the most influence on them.
This CD is the official soundtrack and features these great performances as well as the original masters by the King of Rock 'n Roll.« less
On September 18th, ABC aired one of the most successful Elvis documentaries ever produced. "ELVIS VIVA LAS VEGAS" is the chronicle of Elvis' life during the Vegas years with the focus on his music, his ground-breaking style and his legacy. As Elvis paved the way for today's performers in Las Vegas the documentary also featured stellar performances by some of today's biggest stars doing their unique interpretations of the Elvis' songs that had the most influence on them.
This CD is the official soundtrack and features these great performances as well as the original masters by the King of Rock 'n Roll.
CD Reviews
The New Viva Las Vegas Remaster is a dream come true!!!!
kingofthejungle | Memphis, TN | 02/13/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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."
Great...for the price.....
M. Reid | Massachusetts | 03/13/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"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."
Another classic reissue
A Fan | VA | 11/28/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"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."
For Vic Anesini, who did the excellent remastering on Elvis'
Michael Slater | Massapequa Park, NY United States | 03/20/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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!"
Track Listings (3) - Disc #1