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A review by melissad1975
Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick
5.0
Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley is beautifully written portrait of Presley's early years -- his impoverished childhood in Tupelo, Mississippi, the move to Memphis in his teenage years, and the amazingly rich and complex soup of musical influences that city offered to a shy, sensitive boy with a huge love of singing and music of all kinds.
The Elvis you meet in this book is not the troubled, larger-than life, jumpsuit-wearing star of the Vegas years that may first spring to mind when you think of him. Instead author Peter Guralnick introduces us to a churchgoing, family-loving, polite, humble, kindhearted young man who didn't quite fit in anywhere until he knocked (timidly but tenaciously...and repeatedly) on the door of Sun Records in Memphis, eager to make music and have Sun founder Sam Phillips hear him. Once the ball got rolling at Sun, things happened fast. Guralnick paints a vivid picture of lengthy but creatively exhilarating recording sessions, nonstop road trips to play gigs in small towns throughout the South, and the mounting hysteria surrounding this young man (only 21 when he hit it big on the national scene, aided by the smarmy but undeniably effective huckster "Colonel" Tom Parker) as his fame and wealth exploded. Soon he was off to Hollywood, where he dreamed of becoming a dramatic actor like his heroes James Dean and Marlon Brando.
Guralnick must have read everything ever written about Elvis, listened to every interview or press conference Elvis ever gave, listened to every recording or snippet of a recording he ever made, and spoken with every possible person still living who knew Elvis Presley even a little bit. The book is that authoritative and in depth on both the personal and the musical Elvis. It's a brilliant biography, presenting a wealth of research in a totally readable way. The book is a page turner, except for the moments when you want to put it down to Google Dewey Phillips (famed Memphis DJ who first played Elvis's tunes) or The Statesmen (one of the gospel quartets that greatly influenced Elvis's sound), or look at the famous, breathtakingly intimate photos of Elvis on the cusp of massive fame, taken by Alfred Wertheimer in 1956.
The book ends in 1958, the year Elvis's music and movie career was put on hold by his induction into the Army. It's also the year his beloved mother Gladys died. The unselfish love and devotion she had always shown him were suddenly gone, at the very time when the rest of his life was going dizzyingly, ridiculously nuts, and it tore him up. Without her as his moral compass, he was never the same again.
Guralnick continues Presley's life story in the second volume of his biography, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley. That book delves into the darker side of his life -- the bad choices, the drugs, the women, the entourage of sycophants with their hands out, the ego run amok. Last Train to Memphis focuses on Elvis's rise, however, and it's a remarkable rags-to-riches story about an endearing and talented young man you can't help but empathize with and root for. It made me look at and appreciate Elvis in a whole new way, and wish his story could have had a happier ending.
The Elvis you meet in this book is not the troubled, larger-than life, jumpsuit-wearing star of the Vegas years that may first spring to mind when you think of him. Instead author Peter Guralnick introduces us to a churchgoing, family-loving, polite, humble, kindhearted young man who didn't quite fit in anywhere until he knocked (timidly but tenaciously...and repeatedly) on the door of Sun Records in Memphis, eager to make music and have Sun founder Sam Phillips hear him. Once the ball got rolling at Sun, things happened fast. Guralnick paints a vivid picture of lengthy but creatively exhilarating recording sessions, nonstop road trips to play gigs in small towns throughout the South, and the mounting hysteria surrounding this young man (only 21 when he hit it big on the national scene, aided by the smarmy but undeniably effective huckster "Colonel" Tom Parker) as his fame and wealth exploded. Soon he was off to Hollywood, where he dreamed of becoming a dramatic actor like his heroes James Dean and Marlon Brando.
Guralnick must have read everything ever written about Elvis, listened to every interview or press conference Elvis ever gave, listened to every recording or snippet of a recording he ever made, and spoken with every possible person still living who knew Elvis Presley even a little bit. The book is that authoritative and in depth on both the personal and the musical Elvis. It's a brilliant biography, presenting a wealth of research in a totally readable way. The book is a page turner, except for the moments when you want to put it down to Google Dewey Phillips (famed Memphis DJ who first played Elvis's tunes) or The Statesmen (one of the gospel quartets that greatly influenced Elvis's sound), or look at the famous, breathtakingly intimate photos of Elvis on the cusp of massive fame, taken by Alfred Wertheimer in 1956.
The book ends in 1958, the year Elvis's music and movie career was put on hold by his induction into the Army. It's also the year his beloved mother Gladys died. The unselfish love and devotion she had always shown him were suddenly gone, at the very time when the rest of his life was going dizzyingly, ridiculously nuts, and it tore him up. Without her as his moral compass, he was never the same again.
Guralnick continues Presley's life story in the second volume of his biography, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley. That book delves into the darker side of his life -- the bad choices, the drugs, the women, the entourage of sycophants with their hands out, the ego run amok. Last Train to Memphis focuses on Elvis's rise, however, and it's a remarkable rags-to-riches story about an endearing and talented young man you can't help but empathize with and root for. It made me look at and appreciate Elvis in a whole new way, and wish his story could have had a happier ending.