——. Deep Blues. New York: Viking, 1981.
——. Jerry Lee Lewis Rocks! New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1981.
——. A Tale of Two Cities: Memphis Rock and New Orleans Roll. I.S.A.M. Monographs: Number 12. Brooklyn: Institute for Studies in American Music, 1979.
Palmer, Tony. All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music. New York: Viking Press, Grossman Publishers, 1976.
Parker, Ed. Inside Elvis. Orange, Calif.: Rampart House, 1978.
Parker, John. Five for Hollywood. New York: Lyle Stuart, 1991.
Passman, Arnold. The Deejays. New York: Macmillan, 1971.
Pearl, Minnie, with Joan Dew. Minnie Pearl: An Autobiography. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1980.
Peary, Danny, ed. Close Ups: The Movie Star Book. New York: Workman, 1978.
Percy, William Alexander. Lanterns on the Levee: Recollections of a Planter’s Son. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1973.
Perkins, Carl, with Ron Rendleman. Disciple in Blue Suede Shoes. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978.
Pleasants, Henry. The Great American Popular Singers. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974.
Poe, Randy. Music Publishing: A Songwriter’s Guide. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 1990.
Porterfield, Nolan. The Life and Times of America’s Blue Yodeler: Jimmie Rodgers. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1979.
Presley, Dee, Billy Stanley, Rick Stanley, and David Stanley, as told to Martin Torgoff. Elvis, We Love You Tender. New York: Delacorte Press, 1980.
Presley, Priscilla Beaulieu, with Sandra Harmon. Elvis and Me. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1985.
Presley, Vester. A Presley Speaks. Memphis: Wimmer Brothers Books, 1978.
Presley, Vester, and Nancy Rooks. The Presley Family Cookbook. Memphis: Wimmer Brothers Books, 1980.
Quain, Kevin, ed. The Elvis Reader: Texts and Sources on the King of Rock ’n’ Roll. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992.
Raines, Howell. My Soul Is Rested. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1977.
Reagon, Bernice Johnson, ed. We’ll Understand It Better By and By. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992.
Rheingold, Todd. Dispelling the Myth: An Analysis of American Attitudes and Prejudices. New York: Believe in a Dream Publications, 1993.
Rijff, Ger. Faces and Stages: An Elvis Presley Time-Frame. Amsterdam: Tutti Frutti Productions, 1986.
——. Long Lonely Highway. Amsterdam: Tutti Frutti Productions, 1985.
——. Memphis Lonesome. Amsterdam: Tutti Frutti Productions, 1988.
——. The Voice of Rock ’n’ Roll: Elvis in the Times of Ultimate Cool. Rotterdam: It’s Elvis Time, 1993.
Rijff, Ger J., and Jan van Gestel. Elvis: The Cool King. Amsterdam: Tutti Frutti Productions, 1989.
——. Fire in the Sun. Amsterdam: Tutti Frutti Productions, 1991.
——. Florida Close-Up. Amsterdam: Tutti Frutti Productions, 1987.
Roark. Eldon. Memphis Bragabouts. New York: McGraw-Hill, Whittlesey House, 1945.
Rodriguez, Elena. Dennis Hopper: A Madness to His Method. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1988.
Rosenberg, Neil V. Bluegrass: A History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1985.
Rovin, Jeff. The World According to Elvis: Quotes from the King. New York: HarperCollins, Harper Paperbacks, 1992.
Russell, Tony. Blacks Whites and Blues. London: Studio Vista, 1970.
Russell, Wayne. Foot Soldiers and Kings. Brandon, Manitoba: Wayne Russell, n.d.
——. Foot Soldiers and Kings. Vol. 2. Brandon, Manitoba: Wayne Russell, n.d.
Sanjek Russell. American Popular Music and Its Business: The First Four Hundred Years. Vol. 3, From 1900 to 1984. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
——. From Print to Plastic: Publishing and Promoting America’s Popular Music (1900–1980). I.S.A.M. Monographs: Number 20. Brooklyn: Institute for Studies in American Music, 1983.
Sawyer, Charles. The Arrival of B. B. King. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1980.
Schlappi, Elizabeth. Roy Acuff: The Smoky Mountain Boy. Gretna, La.: Pelican Publishing, 1978.
Schroer, Andreas. Private Presley: The Missing Years—Elvis in Germany. New York: William Morrow, 1993.
Selvin, Joel. Ricky Nelson: Idol for a Generation. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1990.
Shaw, Arnold. The Rockin’ ’50s. New York: Hawthorne Books, 1974.
Shelton, Robert, and Burt Goldblatt. The Country Music Story: A Picture History of Country and Western Music. New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1966.
Siegel, Don. A Siegel Film: An Autobiography. London: Faber and Faber, 1993.
Sigafoos, Robert A. Cotton Row to Beale Street. Memphis: Memphis State University Press, 1979.
Smith, Wes. The Pied Pipers of Rock ’n’ Roll: Radio Deejays of the 50s and 60s. Marietta, Ga.: Longstreet Press, 1989.
Snow, Hank, with Jack Ownbey and Bob Burris. The Hank Snow Story. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1994.
Snow, Jimmy, with Jim Hefley and Marti Hefley. I Cannot Go Back. Plainfield, N.J.: Logos International, 1977.
Stanley, Billy, with George Erikson. Elvis, My Brother. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989.
Stanley, David. Life with Elvis. Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell, 1986.
Stanley, Rick, with Michael K. Haynes. The Touch of Two Kings: Growing Up at Graceland. N.p.: T2K Publishers, 1986.
Staten, Vince. The Real Elvis: Good Old Boy. Dayton: Media Ventures, 1978.
Stearn, Jess, with Larry Geller. The Truth About Elvis. New York: Jove Publications, 1980.
Stern, Jane, and Michael Stern. Elvis World. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987.
Storm, Tempest, with Bill Boyd. The Lady Is a Vamp. Atlanta: Peachtree Publishers, 1987.
Sumner, J. D., with Bob Terrell. Elvis: His Love for Gospel Music and J. D. Sumner. N.p.: The Gospel Quartet Music Company and Bob Terrell, 1991.
Swaggart, Jimmy. The Campmeeting Hour: The Radio Miracle of the 20th Century. Baton Rouge: Jimmy Swaggart Evangelistic Association, 1976.
Swaggart, Jimmy, with Robert Paul Lamb. To Cross a River. Plainfield, N.J.: Logos International, 1977.
Swenson, John. Bill Haley: The Daddy of Rock and Roll. New York: Stein and Day, 1982.
Terrell, Bob. The Music Men: The Story of Professional Gospel Quartet Singing. Asheville, N.C.: Bob Terrell Publisher, 1990.
Tharpe, Jac L., ed. Elvis: Images and Fancies. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1979.
Thompson, Charles C. II, and James P. Cole. The Death of Elvis: What Really Happened. New York: Delacorte Press, 1991.
Thompson, Sam. Elvis on Tour: The Last Year. Memphis: Still Brook Publishing, 1992.
Tobler, John, and Stuart Grundy. The Record Producers. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1982.
Toll, Robert. Blacking Up: The Minstrel Show in Nineteenth-Century America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974.
Torgoff, Martin, ed. The Complete Elvis. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1982.
Tosches, Nick. Country: The Biggest Music in America. New York: Stein and Day, 1977.
——. Dino. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
——. Hellfire: The Jerry Lee Lewis Story. New York: Dell, 1982.
——. Unsung Heroes of Rock ’n’ Roll. Rev. ed. New York: Harmony Books, 1991.
Townsend, Charles R. San Antonio Rose: The Life and Music of Bob Wills. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1976.
Tribute: The Life of Dr. William Herbert Brewster. 2d ed. Memphis: Brewster House of Sermon Songs, n.d.
Tucker, David. Lieutenant Lee of Beale Street. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1971.
——. Memphis Since Crump: Bossism, Blacks, and Civic Reformers, 1948–1968. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1980.
Turner, Steve. Hungry for Heaven: Rock and Roll and the Search for Redemption. London: W. H. Allen, 1988.
Van Doren, Mamie, with Art Aveilhe. Playing the Field: My Story. New York: G
. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1987.
Vellenga, Dirk, with Mick Farren. Elvis and the Colonel. New York: Delacorte Press, 1988.
Vernon, Paul. The Sun Legend. London: Paul Vernon, 1969.
Vince, Alan. I Remember Gene Vincent. Liverpool: Vintage Rock’n’Roll Appreciation Society, 1977.
Wade-Gayles, Gloria. Pushed Back to Strength. Boston: Beacon Press, 1993.
Wallis, Hal, and Charles Higham. Starmaker: The Autobiography of Hal Wallis. New York: Macmillan, 1980.
Ward, Ed, Geoffrey Stokes, and Ken Tucker. Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll. New York: Summit Books, 1986.
Weinberg, Max, with Robert Santelli. The Big Beat: Conversations with Rock’s Great Drummers. New York: Billboard Books, 1991.
Wertheimer, Alfred, with Gregory Martinelli. Elvis ’56: In the Beginning. New York: Collier Books, 1979.
West, Red, Sonny West, and Dave Hebler, as told to Steve Dunleavy. Elvis: What Happened? New York: Ballantine Books, 1977.
Westmoreland, Kathy, with William G. Quinn. Elvis and Kathy. Glendale, Calif.: Glendale House Publishing, 1987.
White, Charles. The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Quasar of Rock. New York: Harmony Books, 1984.
Wiegert, Sue. Elvis: For the Good Times. Los Angeles: The Blue Hawaiians for Elvis, 1978.
Wiegert, Sue, with contributions by Elvis friends and Elvis fans. “Elvis: Precious Memories.” Los Angeles: Century City Printing, 1987.
——. “Elvis: Precious Memories.” Vol. 2. Los Angeles: Century City Printing, 1989.
Williams, William Carlos. In the American Grain. New York: New Directions Press, 1956.
Winters, Shelley. Shelley II. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989.
Wood, Lana. Natalie: A Memoir by Her Sister. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1984.
Woodward, C. Vann. The Burden of Southern History. Rev. ed. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1968.
——. Thinking Back: The Perils of Writing History. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1986.
Wren, Christopher S. Winners Got Scars Too: The Life of Johnny Cash. New York: A Country Music/Ballantine Book, 1971.
Wynette, Tammy, with Joan Dew. Stand By Your Man: An Autobiography. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979.
Yancy, Becky, and Cliff Linedecker. My Life with Elvis. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1977.
Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1974.
Zmijewsky, Steven, and Boris Zmijewsky. Elvis: The Films and Career of Elvis Presley. New York: Citadel Press, 1991.
CLIPPINGS, COLLECTIONS, PICTURE BOOKS, AND MEMORABILIA
Burk, Bill E. Elvis: Rare Images of a Legend. Memphis: Propwash Publishing, 1990.
Clark, Alan. Buddy Holly and the Crickets. West Covina, Calif.: Alan Clark Productions, 1979.
——. Elvis Presley Memories. West Covina, Calif: Leap Frog Productions, 1982.
——. The Elvis Presley Photo Album. West Covina, Calif.: Alan Clark Productions, 1981.
——. Gene Vincent: The Screaming End. West Covina, Calif: Alan Clark Productions, 1980.
——. Legends of Sun Records. West Covina, Calif.: Alan Clark Productions. Various volumes, 1986 to present.
——. Rock-a-billy and Country Legends. West Covina, Calif: Alan Clark Productions.
——. Rock and Roll in the Movies. West Covina, Calif.: Alan Clark Productions. Various volumes.
——. Rock and Roll Legends. West Covina, Calif: Alan Clark Productions. Various volumes.
——. Rock and Roll Memories. West Covina, Calif.: Alan Clark Productions. Various volumes.
Cortez, Diego, ed. Private Elvis. Stuttgart: FEY Verlags GmbH, 1978.
Curtin, Jim. Unseen Elvis: Candids of the King. Boston: Little, Brown, 1992.
DeNight, Bill, Sharon Fox, and Ger Rijff. Elvis Album. Lincolnwood, Ill.: Beekman House, 1991.
Esposito, Joe. Elvis: A Legendary Performance. Buena Park, Calif.: West Coast Publishing, 1990.
Fox, Sharon R., ed. Elvis, His Real Life in the 60s: My Personal Scrapbook. Chicago: Sharon Fox, 1989.
Hannaford, Jim. Elvis: Golden Ride on the Mystery Train. Vols. 1 and 2. Alva, Okla.: Jim Hannaford, 1986.
Kricun, Morrie E., and Virginia M. Kricun. Elvis: 1956 Reflections. Wayne, Pa.: Morgin Press, 1991 and 1992.
Lamb, Charles. The Country Music World of Charlie Lamb. Nashville: Infac Publications, 1986.
Life: 1946–1955. New York: Little, Brown, New York Graphic Society, 1984.
Loper, Karen. The Elvis Clippings. Houston: “The Elvis Clippings,” n.d.
Michael Ochs Rock Archives. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1984.
Now Dig This. The King Forever. Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, U.K.: Now Dig This, 1992.
O’Neal, Hank (text). A Vision Shared: A Classic Portrait of America and Its People. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1976.
Parish, James Robert. Solid Gold Memories: The Elvis Presley Scrapbook. New York: Ballantine Books, 1975.
Rijff, Ger, and Poul Madsen. Elvis Presley: Echoes of the Past. Voorschoten, Holland: “Blue Suede Shoes” Productions, 1976.
Tucker, Gabe, and Elmer Williams. Pictures of Elvis Presley. Houston: Williams and Tucker Photographs, 1981.
Tunzi, Joseph A. Elvis ’69: The Return. Chicago: JAT Productions, 1991.
——. Elvis ’73: Hawaiian Spirit. Chicago: JAT Productions, 1992.
PERIODICALS
I couldn’t begin to list all the periodicals, past and present, that I have consulted. Just for the briefest of references, I have found Now Dig This, Goldmine, DISCoveries, New Kommotion, Kicks, Country Music, and Picking Up the Tempo particularly useful (and frequently invaluable) over the years. In addition, I have consulted the following Elvis publications extensively: Elvis: The Man and His Music; Elvis: The Record; Elvis World; Because of Elvis; Elvis International Forum; and Graceland Express. Musician’s special 1992 report, “Elvis Presley: An Oral Biography,” with interviews conducted by Peter Cronin, Scott Isler, and Mark Rowland, offered an insightful portrait. Finally, Orbis’ History of Rock, vols. 3 and 5, published in 1981 and 1982, has good pictures and interesting background on the early career, and life and times, of Elvis Presley.
For detailed reference to specific articles and periodical sources, however, please see the Source Notes (here).
A Brief Discographical Note
MUCH OF THE WORK THAT would once have gone into pointing people toward the best of Elvis Presley on record has finally been done (or is in the process of completion) by RCA/BMG. Thanks to the efforts of Ernst Jorgensen and Roger Semon, the vast majority of Elvis’ essential performances are now available on three 5-CD sets. Elvis: The King of Rock ’N’ Roll: The Complete 50’s Masters (RCA 66050), Elvis from Nashville to Memphis: The Essential 60’s Masters (RCA 66160), and Walk a Mile in My Shoes: The Essential 70’s Masters (RCA 66670) contain nearly everything in the way of studio masters (the ’60s and ’70s boxes leave out all the movie soundtrack material), together with some wonderful, frequently enlightening surprises along the way.
The Complete 50’s Masters alone could, really, serve as the soundtrack to this book, including everything from the first acetate to the last in-uniform ’58 session, with such bonuses as Elvis’ embarkation press conference, his 1956 Las Vegas show, and a number of impromptu 1955 performances, both live and in the studio.
In addition, Amazing Grace (RCA 66421) is the definitive 2-CD compilation of Elvis’ gospel recordings, and no respectable record collection should be without either it or Sunrise (RCA 67675), a 2-CD set of the Sun sides, various alternate takes and Hayride performances, and not just the first but the second pre-professional acetate that Elvis recorded at his own expense at 706 Union Avenue. The only other truly essential purchases that I can think of are The Million Dollar Quartet (RCA 2023), which offers a fascinating, unbuttoned view of the creative process at work, with powerfully ragged harmonies from Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Per
kins (the one-man-short but scarcely overvalued quartet) and the incomparable audio spectacle of Elvis imitating Jackie Wilson imitating him; Elvis/NBC-TV Special (RCA 61021) and Tiger Man (RCA 67611), which represent, respectively, the soundtrack for the ’68 comeback special and the second live sit-down show complete; and Suspicious Minds (RCA 67677), a 2-disc set which includes all the masters cut at the American studio in 1969, along with a generous assortment of outtakes from what may have been the single most productive session undertaken by Elvis after Sun. With that said, however, I should mention that Elvis’ initial post-army session, whose eighteen cuts were dispersed among three singles (including “It’s Now or Never” and “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”) and the only album that could arguably be compared with From Elvis in Memphis (the first LP to present the American material), has now been released as a complete eighteen-track CD under the same name as the original twelve-track album, Elvis Is Back (RCA 67737). Presented in its entirety for the first time, that album is, I think, a true revelation.
There are lots of other avenues to explore—the movie songs, live performances, alternate takes (The Essential Elvis series, of which Volume 2, Elvis Presley Stereo ’57 [RCA 9589] is the most consistently engaging), theme- and chronology-linked compilations—but for these and numerous other permutations, I’ll leave you to your own devices. The only other suggestion that I have (though this is one that could sustain almost endless exploration) is the music from which Elvis derived his inspiration: music from sources as varied as Roy Hamilton, Hank Snow, Arthur Crudup, Martha Carson, Eddy Arnold, Ray Charles, Bing Crosby, Little Junior Parker, the Ink Spots, the Statesmen, the Blackwood Brothers, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. There are two albums out featuring original versions of some of Elvis’ better-known songs (The King’s Record Collection, volumes 1 and 2 [Hip-O 40082 and 40083]), and they are certainly a good start, but if Elvis’ music moves you, it’s worth more than a leisurely stroll along the frequently diverging paths of great American vernacular music. There’s a wealth of inspiration to be found for music still to be made.
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