A diary, a King, and a young girl's heart. Love Beads from Elvis: The Diary of Kathy Tatum I wasn't looking for it, but I found it just the same. The red leather covering is well worn, and the locking clasp that once kept my secrets safe from the world is missing. There is duct tape on the binding, and the page edges have yellowed over time, but it is, after all, almost fifty years old. A well-worn Polaroid photo slips out... I remember vividly the night it was taken, oh, to be held in his strong arms. He was beautiful then-his skin tanned to a golden brown, his jet black hair neatly combed straight back, how it felt when he gently kissed the back of my neck and sang softly into my ear...
The stories behind the luck, inspiration, and timing that brought hits like "Heartbreak Hotel," "Don't Be Cruel," "In the Ghetto," and "A Little Less Conversation" to life are told in this look at some of the world's most popular hits. Fans will be given the inside story of how these and other of the best known rock songs were written, why they were recorded, and how they became hits. Along the way, they will meet and get to know the men and women who wrote songs for the "King," follow the route these songs took to Elvis, and understand how he reshaped the songs to fit his vision. The author spent countless hours interviewing songwriters, digging through dusty charts, and listening to demos in order to uncover the great stories he tells here. Each song in this book is a commentary on where the world was and what was making it tick, making these songs as much a glimpse into the life of America as into the life of Elvis.
The king of rock-and-roll's #1 hit song "Love Me Tender" is now an endearing picture book Adapted from the unforgettable classic song, Elvis Presley's Love MeTender is a heartwarming ode to the special bond between children and the adults who love and care for them--be they parents, grandparents, adoptive parents, aunts, uncles, or guardians. With its simple, timeless message, Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender is destined to join Guess How Much I Love You as a baby shower staple. And the sweet, inclusive illustrations make it a book every family will treasure "all through the years, 'till the end of time."
A “sympathetic and exceptionally well-written account” (USA Today), Ray Connolly’s biography of the King soars with “spontaneity and electricity” (Preston Lauterbach). Elvis Presley is a giant figure in American popular culture, a man whose talent and fame were matched only by his later excesses and tragic end. A godlike entity in the history of rock and roll, this twentieth-century icon with a dazzling voice blended gospel and traditionally black rhythm and blues with country to create a completely new kind of music and new way of expressing male sexuality, which simply blew the doors off a staid and repressed 1950s America. In Being Elvis veteran rock journalist Ray Connolly takes a fresh look at the career of the world’s most loved singer, placing him, forty years after his death, not exhaustively in the garish neon lights of Las Vegas but back in his mid-twentieth-century, distinctly southern world. For new and seasoned fans alike, Connolly, who interviewed Elvis in 1969, re-creates a man who sprang from poverty in Tupelo, Mississippi, to unprecedented overnight fame, eclipsing Frank Sinatra and then inspiring the Beatles along the way. Juxtaposing the music, the songs, and the incendiary live concerts with a personal life that would later careen wildly out of control, Connolly demonstrates that Elvis’s amphetamine use began as early as his touring days of hysteria in the late 1950s, and that the financial needs that drove him in the beginning would return to plague him at the very end. With a narrative informed by interviews over many years with John Lennon, Bob Dylan, B. B. King, Sam Phillips, and Roy Orbison, among many others, Connolly creates one of the most nuanced and mature portraits of this cultural phenomenon to date. What distinguishes Being Elvis beyond the narrative itself is Connolly’s more subtle examinations of white poverty, class aspirations, and the prison that is extreme fame. As we reach the end of this poignant account, Elvis’s death at forty-two takes on the hue of a profoundly American tragedy. The creator of an American sound that resonates today, Elvis remains frozen in time, an enduring American icon who could “seamlessly soar into a falsetto of pleading and yearning” and capture an inner emotion, perhaps of eternal yearning, to which all of us can still relate. Intimate and unsparing, Being Elvis explores the extravagance and irrationality inherent in the Elvis mythology, ultimately offering a thoughtful celebration of an immortal life.
A personal introspective by the influential pop songwriter and performer traces his Liverpool upbringing, artistic influences, creative pursuit of original punk sounds, and emergence in the MTV world.
The myth-shattering account of the most famous—and most taboo—marriage in rock-and-roll history “Fascinating . . . Finstad’s research and her analysis of Priscilla’s complex character make for a riveting read.”—New York Post The real story [of Elvis and Priscilla] is infinitely more powerful than the myth and, ultimately, tragic; the true Priscilla more complex. Priscilla Beaulieu Presley is not, and never was, the fragile, demure child-woman she has come to personify; she is, in a word, a survivor, a woman of indomitable will and almost frightening determination.—from the Author’s Note Child Bride reveals the hidden story of rock icon Elvis Presley’s affair with fourteen-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, the ninth-grader he wooed as a G.I. in Germany and cloistered at Graceland before marrying her to fulfill a promise to her starstruck parents. But who is Priscilla—and what was her role in their infamous relationship? Award-winning biographer Suzanne Finstad perceptively pieces together the clues from candid interviews with all the Presley intimates—including Priscilla herself, along with hundreds of sources who have never before spoken publicly—to uncover the truth behind the legend of Elvis and Priscilla, a tumultuous tale of sexual attraction and obsession, heartbreak and loss. Child Bride, the definitive biography of Priscilla Beaulieu Presley, unveils the controversial woman who evolved from a lonely teenager bound to the King of Rock and Roll into a shrewd businesswoman in control of the multimillion-dollar Elvis Presley empire—a rags-to-riches saga of secrets, lies, and betrayal.
A chronicle of the comeback performance that marked Elvis Presley’s return from the screen to the stage. Includes exclusive content from the show’s director, Steve Binder. The book contains a foreword by noted film director Baz Luhrmann, whose film credits include Strictly Ballroom, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!, The Great Gatsby, and the 2022 Warner Brothers feature film, Elvis. Take a tour behind the scenes at the NBC television special that relaunched Elvis Presley’s career as a stage musician. Author Steve Binder—who directed the TV special—provides exclusive content that gives fans even more insight into the performance that many see as a high point in the King of Rock’s reign of American music. Elvis ’68 Comeback includes full-color photographs and detailed commentary on the show’s development and production, making this an excellent addition to the shelf of every Elvis fan. Foreword by film director Baz Luhrmann.
Part mystery, part love story, part mordant commentary on America's waning presence in the world, this hugely entertaining novel tells the story of a trio of Elvis impersonators working out of the Graceland club in Olongapo, Phillipines. In their act, Baby Elvis, Dude Elvis and Biggest Elvis incarnate the King's evolving life. Their popularity grows. In a tawdry town, this successful act becomes almost an obsession. But there are those that think Biggest Elvis has to go. Re-envisioning the life of America's greatest hero, this is an edgy and evocative novel.
