Last Train to Memphis

Starred review from October 3, 1994
Given the passion evident in most books about Elvis Presley (1935-1977), the scrupulously dispassionate tone of this new biography, the first of a projected two volumes, is admirable and startling. Guralnick (Lost Highway) lets the facts speak for themselves, more or less, by providing solid background and quoting at length from people who knew Elvis as well as the contemporary press. In retelling the familiar story of a poor Southern boy's meteoric rise to unprecedented fame, Guralnick eschews the conventional wisdom-Elvis was an instinctive artist whose career was trashed by his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, and by movie and record company executives-to present a more complex picture. He shows those associated with Elvis struggling to get a handle on a new music form, rock 'n' roll, that they barely understood. At times, one wishes the author were more open about his own opinions. But this welcome relief from the hysterical tone of most Elvis books closes somberly with the performer's induction into the Army and the death of his beloved mother in 1958. Photos. Author tour.

May 15, 1994
Another work on Presley? Since Guralnick is "one of the best, most respected popular music historians" in the business (Sweet Soul Blues Music, LJ 6/1/ 86), this could be good.

July 1, 1994
Forty years ago this month, during a break in an unsuccessful recording session at Sam Phillips' studio in Memphis, a shy, well-mannered though strangely dressed young singer started fooling around with the old blues song That's All Right. The session guitarist and bass player joined in, and in the control booth, Phillips realized this was the synthesis of hillbilly music and rhythm and blues he'd been looking for. Pretty soon, Elvis Presley was making hit records, his public appearances were mob scenes, and Hollywood was calling. Retelling the oft-told early Elvis story soberly, thoroughly, and unsensationally, Guralnick depicts Elvis as a naive yet extremely talented boy whose dream of stardom came true, leaving him a virtual prisoner of his own success. Realized through scores of interviews and hours of in-depth research, Guralnick's Elvis is ignorant of worldly matters, seemingly without artifice, but a quick study; he aims to please, wants to be a good role model, and is genuinely distressed when some find his gyrations vulgar, even pornographic. He loves his mother excessively and will not sleep with hometown girlfriends. The first half of Guralnick's projected two-volume biography is eminently engrossing. Taking pains to keep the story fresh and flowing and refraining from foreshadowing and editorializing, Guralnick lets the facts speak for themselves. If you really want only one Elvis biography, let this sensitive book be it. ((Reviewed July 1994))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1994, American Library Association.)