Viva Las Vegas

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Viva Las Vegas (1964) is an American romantic musical motion picture co-starring American singers Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret. The movie is regarded by fans as one of Presley's best and is noted for the on-screen chemistry between Presley and Ann-Margret. However, according to a contemporary review in the New York Times, "Viva Las Vegas the new Elvis Presley vehicle, is about as pleasant and unimportant as a banana split." Notwithstanding, "Viva Las Vegas" has become one of Presley's most iconic phrases. The Elvis Pressley Movie - The Classic Movie

The chemistry between the two stars was apparently real during the filming. Presley and Ann-Margret allegedly began an affair which received considerable attention from gossip columnists and led to a showdown with a worried Priscilla Beaulieu. In her 1985 book, Elvis and Me, Priscilla described the difficulties she experienced when the press announced that Ann-Marget and Elvis were engaged to be married. However, there may have been other reasons for the great publicity campaign about the romance between Elvis and Ann-Margret during the filming of Viva Las Vegas and the following weeks. It primarily helped to increase the popularity of the young Hollywood beauty. In her memoir, Ann-Margret only refers to Presley as her "soulmate", but very little is revealed about their long-rumored romance. In his critical study on the "dream machine" that publicists, tabloid newspapers, journalists, and TV interviewers use to create semi-fictional icons, often playing with inauthenticity, Joshua Gamson cites a press agent "saying that his client, Ann-Margret, could initially have been "sold ... as anything"; "She was a new product. We felt there was a need in The Industry for a female Elvis Presley."

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In addition, the filming produced unusually-heated exchanges between Colonel Tom Parker, Presley's manager, and the movie's director, the highly experienced George Sidney, concerning the time and effort allotted by the cinematographer, ostensibly on Sidney's orders, to the musical scenes involving Ann Margret, which included views from many different angles, re-takes and the use of several cameras for each shot.

Presley's screen charisma was nevertheless there for anyone to see. The scene in which he delivers the title song remains the only one in his career to depict him performing an entire song, in one uncut take, and as shot by the lens of a single camera.

Plot summary
Lucky Jackson (Elvis Presley) goes to Las Vegas, Nevada to participate in the city's first annual Grand Prix. However, his race car is in need of a new engine in order to compete. Jackson raises the money but mislays it when distracted by Rusty Martin (Ann-Margret). Soon, Jackson's main competition, Count Elmo Mancini (Cesare Danova), enters the picture to steal both the race and Rusty.

Cast
Elvis Presley : Lucky Jackson
Ann-Margret : Rusty Martin
Cesare Danova : Count Elmo Mancini
William Demarest : Mr. Martin
Nicky Blair : Shorty Fansworth
Jack Carter : Himself
Teri Garr : Showgirl

Soundtrack
The soundtrack songs were recorded in July of 1963 at Radio Recorders Studios in Hollywood, California and are regarded by some as among Presley's best. In addition to Presley's vocals, Ann-Margret performs two solos in the film. Three songs, "Night Life", "Do The Vega" and "You're The Boss", were recorded for the film but never used. "You're The Boss" is a duet by Elvis and Ann-Margret.

RCA Records has been heavily criticized (in Elvis: The Illustrated Record and other retrospectives) for mishandling what was considered by critics to be the best set of songs recorded for an Elvis film for years. None of the vocals involving Ann-Margret was released at the time, although she was a successful RCA recording artist in her own right and had performed two solo numbers in the film ("Appreciation" and "My Rival"). The only recordings released simultaneously with the film were the theme song plus a cover version of "What'd I Say?" on a single; and a few additional songs on an EP entitled Viva Las Vegas, even though the title track was not included. Additional songs recorded for the film would appear scattered about later album compilations, while the Ann-Margret duets with Presley - "The Lady Loves Me" and the deleted "You're the Boss" - would not be officially released until after Presley's death. The version of "C'mon Everybody" released on record is a different version than the one used in the film, lacking Ann-Margret's backing vocals, a whistling interlude, and the closing bars.

Although bootleg LP's began to appear in the 1970s, purporting to contain the complete soundtrack, RCA did not officially release anything approaching a full soundtrack until 1993, when it began to reissue Presley's film soundtracks on a series of "Double Features" CDs, the pairing of Viva Las Vegas soundtrack with that of Roustabout being in the first batch. These CDs do not include the solo Ann-Margret performances or "The Climb" by the The Forte' Four. An almost complete soundtrack from the film was released on Follow That Dream Records (the Danish division of BMG) in 2003. It includes all master takes plus alternate versions. "The Climb" is also included, but the Ann-Margret solo tracks are not. At present, the Ann-Margret solos are available only on the 5-CD box set: Ann Margret 1961-1966 from Bear Family Records in Germany, but her "You're the Boss" duet with Elvis is on her otherwise solo cd album, "Lovely Ann-Margret: Hits and Rarities," digitally remastered and released 1995 by Marginal Records MA 022, Brussels, Belgium.

According to Elvis historian Steve Pond, in an interview for Kingdom : Elvis in Vegas, a featurette included with the 2007 DVD release of the film, only the lead singer of the Forte Four was actually recorded singing "The Climb", not the rest of his group. Instead, the backing vocals were provided by the Jordanaires and by Elvis Presley himself.

Recording musicians

Ann-Margret & Elvis in a promotional image for the movieElvis Presley (vocals)
The Jordanaires (background vocals)
The Jubilee Quartet (background vocals)
The Carol Lombard Quartet (background vocals)
Scotty Moore, Tiny Timbrell, Billy Strange, Glen Campbell, Alton Hendrickson (guitar)
Bob Moore, Ray Siegal (bass)
Floyd Cramer, Artie Cane, Calvin Jackson (piano)
Oliver Mitchell, James Zito (trumpets)
Boots Randolph, William Green, Steve Douglas (sax)
Randall Miller, Herb Taylor (trombones)
D.J. Fontana, Buddy Harman, Frank Carlson (drums)
Roy Hart (percussion)
Ann-Margret - co-lead vocals on "Lady Loves Me", "You're the Boss"; lead vocals on "Appreciation", "My Rival". She also sings backing vocals on "C'mon Everybody" and "What'd I Say" (film versions only). In addition, a version of "Today, Tomorrow and Forever" was recorded as a duet between Ann-Margret and Elvis; it remained unreleased until 2002 when it appeared as the title track of RCA/BMG's 4-CD box set Today, Tomorrow and Forever.
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Tracks (songwriter)
"Yellow Rose of Texas/The Eyes of Texas" - (Fred Wise & Randy Starr)
"The Lady Loves Me" - (Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett)
"What'd I Say" - (Ray Charles)
"Viva Las Vegas" - (Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman)
"I Need Somebody to Lean On" - (Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman)
"C'mon Everybody" - (Joy Byers)
"Today, Tomorrow and Forever" - (Bill Giant, Bernie Baum, Florence Kaye)
"Santa Lucia" - (Arrangement Elvis Presley)
"If You Think I Don't Need You" - (Red West & Joe Cooper)
"Appreciation" - (performed by Ann-Margret)
"My Rival" - (performed by Ann-Margret)
"The Climb" - (performed by The Forte' Four)
"Do the Vega" (not in film) - (Giant, Bernie Baum & Florence Kaye)
"Night Life" (not in film) - (Giant, Baum, Kaye)
"You're the Boss" (not in film) - (Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller)

DVD Releases
1. Warner Home Video, August 1, 2000.

This was the first DVD release. It contains the movie in two formats on a flipper disc. One side contains the movie in the Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (4:3), the other side is in Widescreen (Letterbox). The soundtrack is presented in mono.

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2. Viva Las Vegas Deluxe Edition, Warner Home Video, August 7, 2007.

Special Features:

- Commentary by Steve Pond, rock journalist and author of “Elvis in Hollywood ”

- Restored and Digitally Remastered in a 16x9 master, enhanced for widescreen televisions. Color/16x9 Anamorphic transfer 2.4:1

- New featurette Kingdom : Elvis in Vegas

- Remastered soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1 from original production elements and original mono theatrical soundtrack.

- Theatrical trailer

- Subtitles: English & Français (feature film only)

"Viva Las Vegas" is a 1964 song written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman and recorded by Elvis Presley for his Viva Las Vegas film vehicle of that year. It has since become widely known and often performed by others.

History

Released as a double-sided single along with "What'd I Say" from the same film, "Viva Las Vegas" was a modest hit at best at the time, reaching number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart and number 17 on the UK Singles Chart, improving to number 15 after a reissue in 2007.

However in years since, it has become one of Presley's most recognized numbers. In the 1990s and 2000s, the song has been contained in countless movies, TV sitcoms, either as a reference to the city of Las Vegas, or simply as an expression of joy, or bewilderement in related comedic situations. Somewhat amusingly, it is said that Doc Pomus wrote the words to "Viva Las Vegas" some thirty years before ever venturing west of Newark, New Jersey.

In 2002, the city of Las Vegas requested Elvis Presley Enterprises, the company who handles a portion of Elvis's musical legacy, and all Elvis-related music rights, to allow it to be the official song of the city but negotiations, to this date, have been stalled over the price requested by EPE. Notwithstanding, EPE has not owned the copyright to the song "Viva Las Vegas" since 1993, when it became the property of the families of the long under credited and (believed by many) almost criminally undercompensated songwriters Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. That EPE no longer owns the copyright essentially means that EPE does not have the authority or right to negotiate the use of the song "Viva Las Vegas" in Las Vegas or anywhere else within the United States, its territories and possessions. Although, EPE may be able to negotiate the use of the actual Elvis recording of the song.

Cover versions
Influential punk band Dead Kennedys recorded a version of "Viva Las Vegas" on their 1980 debut album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. The song had been a part of their live set almost since the band's inception. Their version strips the musical arrangement down to guitar, bass, and drums, and uses a slightly faster tempo, yet maintains the song's melodic structure. It also features satirical lyric changes by lead singer Jello Biafra in the second and third verses, referencing a gambler using speed and cocaine in order not to "sleep a minute away". This version can also be found in Terry Gilliam's 1998 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas .
ZZ Top recorded a version of "Viva Las Vegas" in their own inimitable blues-rock-meets-techno style, as one of two new tracks on their 1992 Greatest Hits CD. (This remake can also be heard on the compilations that succeeded it, the box set Chrome, Smoke & BBQ (2003) and the double-CD anthology Rancho Texicano (2004).)
Film co-star Ann-Margaret recut a version of the song for the live action movie The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000) under the pseudonym of her animated alter-ego Ann-Margrock and with the song's title changed to, of course, "Viva Rock Vegas".
The bluegrass novelty act The Grascals did a version of the song on their debut album in 2005.
The Chilean Punk Band Fiskales Ad-Hok covered the song (in Spanish) and changing it to "Viva Santiago".
The song is featured twice in the film, The Big Lebowski. Shawn Colvin performs it as a folk ballad during the closing credits. A rock version in the film is credited to a band called Big Johnson. The Colvin version was recoreded originally for the 1995 Rhino/Forward release, Til the Night is Gone: A Tribute to Songwriter Doc Pomus.
The song is a part of Bruce Springsteen's live act, and was included in The Last Temptation of Elvis, a commemorative album of renditions by singers, and rock groups, of songs made famous by Presley. Springsteen's studio version of "Viva Las Vegas" was also included in the soundtrack of the 1992 film "Honeymoon in Vegas," and in his 2003 compilation, The Essential Bruce Springsteen.
The Thrills performed Viva Las Vegas with James Burton at Elvis' induction to the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004. The song was recorded live and later released as a B-side to The Irish Keep Gate-crashing.
There are also cover versions of the song by Wayne Newton, The Residents, The Misfits, Nine Inch Nails, Billy Swan, Dolly Parton & the Grascals, Dread Zeppelin, Engelbert Humberdinck, Lee Rocker, Phil Cody, The Gipsy Vagabonds, The Stray Cats, Cornell Hurd, King Junior, The Blues Brothers, The Royal Crown Revue, Mort Shuman himself, The Southern Boys, and many, many others.
At UNLV athletic events, UNLV's band often plays a version of "Viva Las Vegas" in the same way most college bands play schools' fight songs.
The song was rerecorded for a Viagra commercial with lyrics changed to "Viva Viagra".
The song served as the theme tune for NBC's short-lived animation Father Of The Pride