“Viva Las Vegas” (1963) was the highest grossing musical of Elvis’s silver screen career. Unfortunately, in a peek of total artistic mismanagement and despite the quality and success of the film, it was decided at the time to release four of the movie’s tracks on an extended play record (EP) and use the rest as fillers on future budget albums. More than 30 years later this CD rectifies this situation and includes all the recordings made for “Viva Las Vegas” on the one release. In addition, the original soundtrack album “Roustabout” (US:1964#1) is also thrown in for good measure.

There are 23 tracks on the CD, all are in stereo and have been digitally re-mastered. Unlike some other CD’s in BMG’s Elvis Double Features Series, this collection does not include any previously unreleased material.

Extensive liner notes complement the collection and include detailed information about the movies, the soundtracks and a bit of trivia. I have the UK version of this CD. The disadvantage of this is that the liner notes fold out into one big poster that is not only a pain to read but also requires origami skills to get it back together. I would strongly recommend interested buyers to get the US version as it is in booklet form.

Viva Las Vegas Tracks

Duets with Ann-Margaret

Elvis and his “Viva Las Vegas” co-star, Ann-Margaret, were reportedly having a relationship at the time of making the film. One of the benefits of this is that their off-screen passion spills into (and certainly heats up) their two duet numbers, “You’re the Boss” and “The Lady Loves me” (particularly the former).

In the amorous yet bluesy “You’re the Boss” the lyrics are especially risqué. The performance is laced with sexual tension and the vocalizing by both artists is amazing. Ann-Margaret’s purring of “when it comes to twisting Daddy I’ve got to keep insisting you’re the king” is nothing short of brilliant. This recording was not released for some twenty years nor did it appear in the film. I suspect that it was considered way “too hot” for the times.

In contrast, the tongue-in-cheek ballad “The Lady Loves Me” finds the duo participating in a flirtatious argument over whether Ann-Margaret finds Elvis attractive. The lyrics are again clever and amusing. The plot of the song is that Ann-Margaret is attracted to swivel hips but does not want him to get too cocky about it. The musical accompaniment is simple and sparse yet quite appropriate as the success of the number relies on the uncluttered vocal interplay between the duo.

The Rock numbers

One of the best aspects of the “Viva Las Vegas” soundtrack is the inclusion of so many genuine rock numbers. These include “C’mon on Everybody”, “If You think I Don’t Need you”, “Night life” and “What’d I Say” (a cover of the Ray Charles R and B classic). Significantly, on these tracks Elvis sounds like the rock hero he is supposed to be. In “C’mon on Everybody” Elvis even gives a wail in the chorus (in key of course) “I was born to rock!” What makes these numbers so good is that there is a return to that seductive undertone with an appropriate sense of menace approach that was characteristic of some of Elvis’s best 50’s work.

Also of significance is the quality musicianship and at times imaginative instrumentation used in these numbers. In “If You think I Don’t Need you”, for example, there is a hard driving and surprisingly successful big-band backing with a saxophone musical break that is nothing short of outstanding. Also in “Night life” a baritone saxophone and an electric bass are used with excellent results to give the number a sleazy sixties nightclub feel.

“Viva Las Vegas”

For whatever reason this number has become associated with Elvis over the years. This is something of a mystery as Elvis never sang the song live or particularly promoted it. Further, as a single release it was only moderately successful and had the dubious distinction of actually been out-charted by its B-side “What’d I Say”. For those not familiar with it, the track is a medium tempo rather unique rock-cabaret style tune where the beat seems to being going at times a touch to fast for the lyric. It is one of those songs that gains appeal after repeated playing and seems to have become something of an Elvis classic.

“Today, Tomorrow and Forever” and “Santa Lucia”

Both “Today, Tomorrow and Forever” and “Santa Lucia” are surprise choices for inclusion in an Elvis album. The first of these if I am not mistaken is Liszt’s “Liebestraum” put to words. Given its most distinguished origins it is not surprising that the number is far superior to the average Elvis movie ballad. The number is perfectly suited for Elvis voice and he uses his higher register to great effect.

“Santa Lucia” is the well-known Neapolitan ballad and is most impressively sung by Elvis in Italian. Elvis pulls out all stops to effectively put over the material and his strong baritone vocals come over quite well. That being said, lovers of opera can be assured that Pavarotti is in no great threat.

“I need someone to lean on”,

A simple yet beautiful ballad complemented by a filigree guitar and a gentle piano. At this stage in his career, Elvis’s voice was particularly well suited to this type of material and his voice handles the higher notes with ease. Elvis sings this number about the woes of loneliness with incredible sincerity and there is an appropriate use of echo that accentuates this at times mesmerizing number.

“Yellow Rose of Texas/Eyes of Texas”

Without doubt this medley is the weed in this otherwise musical rose bed. Further, the “Eyes of Texas” sounds identical to the song on my kid’s toy train namely, “I’ve been working on the rail road”. There is also a lot of “yipping” and “yahooing” going on the background. Let’s just say we are talking high irritation factor and leave it at that.


Roustabout Tracks

In “Roustabout” Elvis wore a black jacket, was anti-authoritarian, owned a motorbike (his only possession) and a cleverly disguised heart of gold. In many ways Elvis’s character was similar (albeit watered down) to those he played in his 50’s movies “Loving You” (1957), “Jailhouse Rock” (1957) and “King Creole” (1958). Unfortunately, most of the numbers included on the soundtrack are not in the same class as the legendary material that was so much a part of these 50’s silver screen classics. That being said a number of the tracks are still much better than the average 60’s Elvis movies music.

Little Egypt

Without doubt, “Little Egypt” is the standout song from the film. Composed by 50’s rock writing legends Leiber and Stoller, this medium paced rocker showcases Elvis at his best. This is not surprising as most of Elvis’s biggest hits in the 50’s were written by the talented duo. Given the quality of the number it is a mystery why it was not used as a single release at the time. The song did, however, reappear in Elvis’s 1968 comeback special where it was used in an extended musical sequence that seemed to be loosely based on Elvis’s Roustabout character.

For those who may not have heard the tune (originally recorded by the Coasters), “Little Egypt” in the song is a belly dancer. Of interest, a real belly dancer by the name of Little Egypt sued Elvis (for $3 million) over his performance claiming her name was used without permission (she lost).

Hard Knocks

Another better than average rock number is “Hard Knocks”. The song has attitude and most importantly is sung with attitude. The subject matter is about growing up the hard way and in poverty. This is something Elvis could identify with and this seems to have spilled over into the quality of his performance. The number is also complemented by excellent guitar and drum work as well as outstanding backing vocals by the Jordanaires.

“Big Love, Big Heartache” and “One Track Mind”

Unfortunately, as is the case with too much of Elvis’s mid-60’s work, it is not the quality of these songs that saves the day but the artistry given to it. The success of the 50’s style ballad “Big Love, Big Heartache”, for example, can almost solely be attributed to Elvis’s use of his natural wide vocal range and the Jordanaires backing vocals. In the hands of lesser talents the number could have been a musical nothing.

The medium tempo “One Track Mind” falls into the same category as again Elvis and the Jordanaires, helped along by some imaginative use of drums, work their magic on song that would be disregarded by any major (or minor) artist in any era without a second thought.

“There’s a Brand New Day on the Horizon” and “Wheels on My Heels”

The first of these tracks is an “everything is going to be alright” number that increases in tempo with each verse. There is a hint of rock Gospel throughout this performance that is quite catchy.

“Wheels on My Heels” has a similar feel. As with “There’s a Brand New Day on the Horizon”, Elvis really cuts loose on the last verse and it is this final burst of energy in both numbers that raises them to tolerable. The strong saxophone work on this second track is also worthy of mention.

The fillers

Unfortunately the rest of the tracks are plot related songs that lose a lot of their appeal when divorced from the movie. They also have the disadvantage that they are far removed from the rock sounds of the 50’s and 60’s. The only thing that they do have going for them is that Elvis is on vocal and he makes the most of the material presented.

A typical example is the track “Carny Town”. The tune is based on Fucik’s “Entry of the Gladiators” which is used by just about every circus as its theme. It would be difficult for anyone (including Elvis) to make this type of material into a musical blockbuster. Other fillers of the same ilk include “Roustabout”, “It’s Carnival Time” and “Poison Ivy League”.

Rating

In terms of rating, I would give the “Viva Las Vegas” soundtrack - 4.5 stars and “Roustabout” - 3 stars.

The Last Word

If you are an Elvis fan and have the urge to add some of his 60’s film soundtracks to your collection, then the soundtrack to "Viva Las Vegas", along with the soundtracks to Elvis’s last 4 films (all of these are fortunately contained on the double feature CD “Live a Little Love a Little”) “Blue Hawaii” and “GI Blues” are in the "must have" category. Unfortunately, in the case of this CD you will also have to persevere with some weak tracks on the “Roustabout” set.


Recommended: Yes