ElvisElvis Presley: hundreds of books written about himin Print

Category: Biography pre army

Last update: Friday, 17 September 2010
Roots Of Elvis book
Book info
Please note that I do not attempt to list ALL available Elvis printed matter; included are only Elvis books and some Elvis magazines that I personally own. I have attempted to categorise the titles of these Elvis publications. If you have comments or questions, contact me.

Important message for writers and publishers!

Information listed:
title; author; publisher; 1st publ.; this publ.; isbn; language; type; search icons (date of entry) brief review -- furthermore, numerous Elvis titles are linked to full reviews.
NB US search for Elvis Presley publicationAmazon.com ISBN search; UK search for book about Elvis PresleyAmazon.co.uk ISBN search; ABE search for Elvis Presley bookworldwide ABE.com 2nd hand search by title and author (also linked to from title!)

Early Elvis: The Humes Years; Burk, Bill E.; Red Oak Press; 1990; 1990; 0-9625604-0-5; English; Hardback; ; Search abe.com (Wednesday, 1 January 1997)
Recollections from those who knew him then, gathered by Bill Burk and forming an excellent trilogy with "The Tupelo Years" and "The Sun Years". Well worth it!
Early Elvis: The Sun Years; Burk, Bill E.; Propwash Publishing; 1997; 1997; 1-879207-51-6; English; Hardback; ; Search abe.com (Wednesday, 1 January 1997)
Recollections from those who knew him then, gathered by Bill Burk and forming an excellent trilogy with "The Tupelo Years" and "The Humes Years". This is perhaps less successful than the other two parts of the trilogy, but together they form an excellent insight into an otherwise murky period.
Early Elvis: The Tupelo Years; Burk, Bill E.; Propwash Publishing; 1994; 1994; 1-879207-50-8; English; Hardback; ; Search abe.com (Wednesday, 1 January 1997)
Recollections from those who knew him then, gathered by Bill Burk and forming an excellent trilogy with "The Humes Years" and "The Sun Years". Well worth it!
Elvis On The Road To Stardom 1955-1956; Black, Jim; W.H. Allen & Co.; 1988; 1988; 1-85227-016-0; English; Hardback; ; Search abe.com (Sunday, 21 April 2002)
Why isn't this book better known? Why has Jim Black apparently not written any more books about Elvis? Excellent review of Elvis's rise to fame, with plenty of quotes from those who were there at the time and richly illustrated in both colour and black-and-white (and not limited to the usual run-of-the mill pics, either!). Also has pics of contemporary newspaper articles and advertisements. A small blunder with a clipping of the Jordanaires, indicated as being at the time of the subject of the book, but actually from about 1963, but otherwise a great book, clearly written by a fan who knows what he's writing about.
Elvis: The Sun Years; DeWitt, Howard A.; Popular Culture Ink.; 1993; 1993; 1-56075-020-0; English; Hardback; ; Amazon.com Find Elvis Presley book at Amazon.co.uk Search abe.com (Monday, 18 July 2005)
Interesting study of Elvis's life and times up to and concentrating on his years with Sun and his first year with RCA (when his Sun recordings were still used). Relies perhaps rather too much on unsubstantiated reports from Elvis's pre-fame friends (one Ronald Smith is a prime example), who seem to know just a bit too much to be believable. Pity, too about the misspelling of Tom Parker's real name (Van Kujik, instead of Van Kuijk -- the man was Dutch, for heaven's sake) and the idea that England and the UK are one and the same. If nothing else, the book demonstrates the hard work and effort that Elvis had to put into his so-called meteoric rise to fame.
King! When Elvis Ruled The World; Nelson, Peter; Proteus Books; 1985; 1985; 0 86276 205 7; English; Paperback; ; Amazon.com Find Elvis Presley book at Amazon.co.uk Search abe.com (Wednesday, 1 January 1997)
1955 to 1958, well presented with some "supposed" dialogue and good photos. Very readable and contains some good information and interesting descriptions of early appearances. Good book!
Last Train To Memphis; Guralnick, Peter; Little, Brown; 1994; 1994; 0-316-33220-8; English; Hardback; ; Amazon.com Find Elvis Presley book at Amazon.co.uk Search abe.com (Wednesday, 1 January 1997)
Very good text, though partially fantasised (some conversations have been made up). Covers Elvis's career up to the army, with special reference to his musical influences.

Find the title you want information about in the Languages & Titles Index

Titles listed by date included in Elvis In Print can be found here!

Browse by Category:
ArtBiography pre armyBiography armyBiography post army
Biography generalCommentaryConcertsFiction
FilmsMusic commentMusic scoresOther
PhotosReferenceTattle tales

My information for Elvis fans

Search my pages of information for Elvis Presley fans:


For questions and comments about this page, contact me.

Statement of copyright

All original work presented here is copyrighted by the author.
All Rights Reserved.
This means do NOT reproduce without prior permission.
For further information contact me.


Guestgear for David Neales Elvis Presley information
View My Guestbook
Sign My Guestbook

SuperCard used to generate Elvis Presley In Print


Made with a Mac for David Neales Elvis Presley information!

Help Elvis Presley end world hunger

Visit The Hunger Site with Elvis Presley