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.

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.

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!

This is a must for Elvis collectors, there are only but 2 songs from this Cd that I do not have till I purchased this Cd. The duets with Ann-Margaret," You're the Boss" which was edited from the film, and the humorous, "The lady loves me" are included in this Cd. It would have been nice if "You're the Boss" was included in the film, I believe it would have added more chemistry between the two of them. But I am very happy that I purchased this Cd,I highly reccomended for all Elvis fans.

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.