Elvis and Vegas, together again

By GINA VIVINETTO

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 16, 2001

Elvis Presley died 24 years ago today, but the King of Rock and Roll lives on. Presley is now delighting fans with Elvis Live in Las Vegas, a new four-CD box set that chronicles his famous performances in the town he made his own.

How fitting to remember Elvis by way of Vegas. The city like no other hosting a performer like no other. The two understood each other. Vegas was the town in which Presley staged his comeback performances in 1969, after his famous television special the year before. Presley enjoyed sellout crowds there every season until his last in 1975.

Every year around this time, and also around Presley's birthday, we're reminded of the world's love for him. Michael Omansky, senior vice president of strategic marketing at RCA Records, the label for which Presley recorded from 1955 until his death, says the reason is simple:

"No one has ever come along who could replace him."

Omansky's job at RCA is to keep Elvis' flame alive. That's not difficult.

"Elvis will always have a die-hard fan base," Omansky says. "There is always interest in him."

There is also new material popping up all the time from the RCA vaults.

Presley had a repertoire of more than 600 songs. "And God knows how many versions of each were recorded," Omansky says.

Omansky adds that every so often, someone will come along with an authentic, unreleased Presley recording. Omansky gives one hypothetical example of the child of a studio engineer finding in the archives outtakes from recording sessions with the King. RCA has the rights to release those recordings. That person has the tapes. "So," Omansky says, "obviously we make a deal."

More than half the tracks on Elvis Live in Las Vegas, all recorded by RCA, have never been released. The set covers Presley's first not-so-successful ventures into Vegas, when he had trouble winning over the crowd, through his last performances, when rumors were circulating about his health, drug use and personal life.

"Physically he didn't look as great," Omansky says of those later performances, "but vocally he was at his peak."

Elvis Live in Las Vegas features plenty of Presley stage patter and humor, as well as some conversations the King seems to be having with himself. The music includes many Presley hits and favorites, as well as covers of songs that were making the rounds at the time: the Beatles' Hey Jude, Something and Yesterday; Creedence Clearwater Revival's Proud Mary; and darker, introspective numbers such as Kris Kristofferson's Why Me Lord?

It's worth noting that around the time Presley's wife, Priscilla, left him, he was performing songs concerning spiritual quests and redemption, such as Marty Robbins' You Gave Me a Mountain and It's Over.

Did Presley's choice of material reflect what was going on in his personal life?

"He was a performer, not a writer," Omansky says. "That may have skewed his choices. But there were so many sides to Elvis. There was the gospel Elvis. The rock 'n' roll Elvis. The country Elvis. You could slice him so many ways."

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