Elvis Presley was a rare singer and performer that if he put his heart and soul into a song, much like Otis Redding and John Lennon, he could sing the phone book and it could sound rich, soulful, and powerful. Unfortunately, most of the material that Elvis was given was worse than the phone book, and Elvis really mailed in some of those movie soundtrack performances and other recordings in the latter stages of his career.

It was his 1968 “comeback special” (a misnomer in some senses, since Elvis had many charting singles and albums in 1967 and 1968 — but it was an artistic comeback for sure) that Elvis regained his footing. Leaving dreck like “Long Legged Girl With The Short Dress On” behind, Presley sought to regain his title as the “King of Rock And Roll,” and on many counts, he succeeded.

Doing so, Presley then set his sights on the one venue where he had been a professional failure — Las Vegas. Elvis had made one disastrous foray into Sin City back in the 50s, when he was a relatively green performer. Plus, his music wasn’t quite what Vegas has in mind. But in 1969 and 1970, the material he was recording and comfortable in performing was prime for the Vegas stage.

From 1969 until his death, Elvis performed at the International Hotel (later the Las Vegas Hilton) and sold out 837 consecutive shows, which is quite a feat. He released several albums recorded on stage in Vegas. Now, 30 years after his death, ABC-TV and Sony BMG (the parent of his old record company RCA) is commemorating Elvis’ tenure in Vegas. ABC will broadcast a TV special called Elvis: Viva Las Vegas on September 18, 2007, examining Elvis’ tenure in Vegas and how he changed that town.

In conjunction with the upcoming TV special, Sony/BMG has released Viva Las Vegas, a compilation album of live cuts from his Las Vegas shows, except for the title cut which was recycled from the movie soundtrack of the same name. (You would think that he’d have done that song while in Vegas, but I can’t find that song on any live album nor any record of him performing that particular song while in Vegas.)

By this time in his career, Elvis was much more comfortable as a ballad singer and a crooner than a rocker, and the material on this collection shows that bias. Only a few songs could be really considered rockers (if only because of they’re up tempo), and those songs have quite the Vegas sheen to them.

The focus is squarely on Presley, and he does good work on songs like “The Wonder Of You,” “Never Been To Spain” (he really outdoes Three Dog Night on this one), “I Just Can’t Help Believin’,” “Let It Be Me,” and “Release Me”. No late period Elvis record would be complete without “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “An American Trilogy,” or “The Impossible Dream” either.

The only missteps are his versions of “Polk Salad Annie” and “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” where it seems he doesn’t put 100 percent into the songs. Still, Elvis at 75 percent runs rings around most performers on their best nights.

The backing band is tight and professional, but they are unidentified in this package. That’s a shame, because Elvis assembled some crack pros (James Burton, Ronnie Tutt, Jerry Schiff) in his band and the Sweet Inspirations and Imperials provided excellent backing vocals.

Sony/BMG also does not identify the albums that this material came from. If you are an Elvis fan from back in the 60s and 70s, then you probably have On Stage: February 1970 and That’s The Way It Is , another 1970 recording and a soundtrack to a movie about Elvis’ tenure at the International. Most of the live tracks came from those albums. Four of the songs come from a box set entitled Live In Las Vegas, which the hardcore fans probably own. So there is no new material here, and I think Sony/BMG should have alerted fans on the packaging somewhere. Plus, the liner notes are short and are just a tease, although fans could read Peter Guralnick’s book Careless Love and get the entire story of Elvis’ career after his discharge from the Army.

Of course, not many of his RCA albums had any credits or liners to speak of, so that’s par for the course (and quite frustrating to many Presley fans).

Hardcore fans will be disappointed, but to the casual Elvis fan wanting to hear Presley live on stage before the drugs took hold, Viva Las Vegas is a good package to own.