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Written with grace, humor, and affection, Last Train to Memphis has been hailed as the definitive biography of Elvis Presley. It is the first to set aside the myths and focus on Elvis' humanity in a way that has yet to be duplicated.A New York Times Notable BookWinner of the Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award"Elvis steps from the pages. You can feel him breathe. This book cancels out all others." --Bob Dylan From the moment that he first shook up the world in the mid 1950s, Elvis Presley has been one of the most vivid and enduring myths of American culture.Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley is the first biography to go past that myth and present an Elvis beyond the legend. Based on hundreds of interviews and nearly a decade of research, it traces the evolution not just of the man but of the music and of the culture he left utterly transformed, creating a completely fresh portrait of Elvis and his world.This volume tracks the first twenty-four years of Elvis' life, covering his childhood, the stunning first recordings at Sun Records ("That's All Right," "Mystery Train"), and the early RCA hits ("Heartbreak Hotel," "Hound Dog," "Don't Be Cruel"). These were the years of his improbable self-invention and unprecedented triumphs, when it seemed that everything that Elvis tried succeeded wildly. There was scarcely a cloud in sight through this period until, in 1958, he was drafted into the army and his mother died shortly thereafter. The book closes on that somber and poignant note.Last Train to Memphis takes us deep inside Elvis' life, exploring his lifelong passion for music of every sort (from blues and gospel to Bing Crosby and Mario Lanza), his compelling affection for his family, and his intimate relationships with girlfriends, mentors, band members, professional associates, and friends. It shows us the loneliness, the trustfulness, the voracious appetite for experience, and above all the unshakable, almost mystical faith that Elvis had in himself and his music. Drawing frequently on Elvis' own words and on the recollections of those closest to him, the book offers an emotional, complex portrait of young Elvis Presley with a depth and dimension that for the first time allow his extraordinary accomplishments to ring true.Peter Guralnick has given us a previously unseen world, a rich panoply of people and events that illuminate an achievement, a place, and a time as never revealed before.
Musical innovation is full of danger to the state, for when modes of music change, the laws of the state always change with them. (Plato, The Republic)I only caught something of the aftermath of Elvis' music as I was a child in the seventies, but recently I became intrigued with people like Elvis, Johnny Cash, and the Beatles who rose from poverty and obscurity to unfathomable stardom. What were the circumstances at the time that sprouted such abundance of talent, innovation and catalytic changes in music?I decided to begin by exploring the ascent of the King. Peter Guralnick' portrayal of Elvis' life in this first volume, from early childhood to his departure for Germany, was a remarkable feat of writing. In fact, I could not put the book down, as the author depicts the era so vividly, it feels as if you are taking a journey back in time. Every aspect of Elvis's life is dissected, so much so that that one has the uncanny feeling that the author was omnipresent, able to witness it all firsthand. He mentions the clothes Elvis wore on particular appearances, what he had for dinner, what he said on a particular date with a girl, and so on. It is all done so discreetly, however, that while remaining true to Elvis's portrayal he does not offend by providing information that we would wish to remain private. Guralnick gives a detailed historical background which is vital to understanding the cultural influences on the young, impressionable Elvis growing up in the small, agricultural town of Tupelo, Mississippi in the 30's and 40's. The family's constant struggle to find work, the father, Vernon, well-meaning but somehow always failing to hold down a steady job, the mother, Gladys, labouring in the cotton fields, doing the laundry and sewing to keep up payments, the family's humiliation when Vernon is incarcerated for forging a check, are all chronicled on a background of Church music, sermons by ardent preachers and the sounds of gospel and rhythm and blues emanating from the negro quarter of the town. Elvis comes across as a poignantly sensitive boy, who silently internalizes the suffering of the family's dismal plight, feeling despondent to help, but sensing that he will amount to something one day and will therefore be able to relieve his family from their perpetual financial woes, particularly his beloved mother. His mother's unconditional love and unswerving support provide him with the confidence he needs to retain his nonconformist look despite the bullying from his classmates.But where would such artist be without the visionary Sam Phillips, a talent scout, who opens Sun recording studio in the early 50s, just when Elvis begins to hear his calling for music? Elvis’s first self financed recordings are made in 1954 but rock-et science hits the scene with “That’s all right” and from then on Elvis splits the atom on stage driving his fans to unprecedented frenzy with his sensational energy, charisma and infectious charm. The book is so thourougly researched that most of the names of the musicians contemporary to Elvis are mentioned as well as their influence on the King and the music scene at the time. With the help of the amazing internet I was able to find the ones that interested me, like Big Mama Thornton and her marvelous rendition of Hound dog! Watching videos of the youthful dynamite from the Hayride days, which I had not seen before, justified the stories I had heard about the extreme scenes of adulation, of the young girls wailing and screeching like maenads in orgiastic ecstasy for their Dionysian god. I realized why Elvis was such a threat to the establishment and how extraordinary he must have looked at a time when other performers wore conservative suits and sang sedately with little sexual innuendo.Reading the book was a real treat, a journey back in time which for the five days it took me to read, immersed me in the time of innocence, discovery, promise and expectation. Too bad it was so short lived
