Live in Las Vegas
When Elvis Presley played Las Vegas between 1969 and '76, many rock & rollers screamed sellout. Today, every rock act plays Vegas. When Elvis came to town, it wastheevent. RCA--still uncovering unreleased stuff decades after the King's death--celebrates his Vegas legacy with two complete, previously unreleased shows from '69 and '70; a CD of previously released material from '70 (much of it taken from the classicElvis Onstage, February 1970album); and a fourth CD of mostly rarities from '74 and '75. The latter also includes a show from his disastrous '56 Vegas debut. Elvis began moving in a more mainstream direction in Vegas, and some may complain that the two unreleased shows are very similar to several other released shows from the same period. But, at least early on, the boy could still rock when he wanted and break hearts with a ballad. And the "new" 1970 show includes what may be the best live version of "Suspicious Minds" available. Besides, planeloads of fans from Japan and Europe flew to Nevada just to see as many of these shows as they could in a week--two a night for $15, which included dinner or two drinks! Redundancy was never an issue.--Bill Holdship