VIVA LAS VEGAS

VIVA LAS VEGAS personnel: Elvis Presley, Ann-Margaret (vocals); Scotty Moore, Billy Strange, Tiny Timbrell, Alton Hendrickson, Glen Campbell (guitar); Boots Randolph, William Green, Steve Douglas (saxophone); Oliver Mitchell, James Zito (trumpet); Randall Miller, Herb Taylor (trombone); Floyd Cramer, Artie Cane, Calvin Jackson (piano); Bob Moore, Ray Siegel (bass); D.J. Fontana, Buddy Harman, Frank Carlson (drums); Roy Hart (percussion); The Jordanaires, The Jubilee Four, The Carole Lombard Quartet (background vocals). ROUSTABOUT personnel: Elvis Presley (vocals); Scotty Moore, Tiny Timbrell, Billy Strange (guitar); Boots Randolph (saxophone); Floyd Cramer, Dudley Brooks (piano); Bob Moore, Ray Siegel (bass); D.J. Fontana, Buddy Harman, Hal Blaine, Bernie Mattinson (drums); The Jordanaires, The Mello Men (background vocals). Compilation producers: Ernst Mikael Jorgensen, R. Semon. Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California. Includes liner notes by Roger Semon. Digitally remastered by Dick Baxter (November 1992, BMG Studios, New York). Two soundtracks on one CD. Upon his return from the Army in 1960, Elvis Presley resumed the successful movie career he had begun in 1956. He scored quick successes with two lightweight films, G.I. Blues and Blue Hawaii. These hits, coupled with the commercial failure of Presley's efforts at more serious acting, doomed the star to a seemingly endless series of happy-go-lucky, boy-meets-girl musicals. VIVA LAS VEGAS and ROUSTABOUT are two of Elvis' better movies in this genre, benefiting from strong supporting casts (Ann-Margret in VIVA LAS VEGAS, Barbara Stanwyck in ROUSTABOUT) and better-than-average scores. Songwriting giants Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman contributed two songs to VIVA LAS VEGAS: the rhumba-tinged title track, and the jazzy ballad "I Need Somebody to Lean On." Other highlights include "If You Think I Don't Need You" and a cover of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say." The standout track from ROUSTABOUT is Presley's remake of the Coasters hit "Little Egypt." As on all Presley soundtracks, there are also a few clinkers, among them the infamous "Poison Ivy League" and VIVA LAS VEGAS' "The Lady Loves Me," a Presley-Margret duet salvaged in the film by the two stars' visual interplay.