Peter Guralnick

Pasará mucho tiempo antes de que otra biografía coseche tan encendidos elogios como los obtenidos por esta obra definitiva (el adjetivo no es, por una vez, hiperbólico) sobre la fulgurante ascensión y la apoteósica decadencia de un cantante ya instalado en la mitología popular contemporánea. Basten dos muestras extraídas del New York Times:«Un triunfo del arte biográfico [...] un libro profundo y conmovedor» (Stephen Wright); «Hagamos un poco de ruido [] Aparte de ser la mejor biografía jamás escrita sobre una estrella de rock, esta obra figura entre las más ambiciosas y cruciales aventuras biográficas consagradas a un icono de la cultura norteamericana de la segunda mitad del siglo XX» (Gerard Marzorati). Incluso el huraño Bob Dylan ha abandonado su guarida para unirse al coro de apologetas: «[Elvis] parece salir de estas páginas, notas cómo respira: este libro anula todos los demás.» Tras una meticulosa investigación, Peter Guralnick afronta las luces y las sombras de Elvis para devolvernos a la persona silenciada por su máscaray rescatar la realidad sepultada bajo el templo de la idolatría. Guralnick no juzga ni declama: se limita a mostrar los hechos con apasionado rigor o con piadosa objetividad sin caer jamás ni en la crueldad exhibicionista ni en el sentimentalismo devoto. El resultado es un retrato magistral delindividuo y de la sociedad que lo elevó a los abismos del trono.

Pasará mucho tiempo antes de que otra biografía coseche tan encendidos elogios como los obtenidos por esta obra definitiva (el adjetivo no es por una vez hiperbólico) sobre la fulgurante ascensión y la apoteosica decadencia de un cantante ya instalado en la mitologia popular contemporanea. Basten dos muestras extraidas del New York Times: Un triunfo del arte biografico [] un libro profundo y conmovedor (Stephen Wright); hagamos un poco de ruido [] la mejor biografia jamas escrita sobre una estrella del rock (Gerald Marzorati). Incluso el huraño Bob Dylan ha abandonado su guarida para unirse al coro de apologistas: [Elvis] parece salir de estas paginas, notamos como respira; este libro anula todos los demas. Tras una meticulosa investigacion, Pete Guralnick afronta las luces y las sombras de Elvis para devolvernos a la persona silenciada por su mascara y rescatar la realidad sepultada bajo el templo de la idolatria. Guralnick no juzga ni declama: se limita a mostrar los hechos con apasionado rigor o con piadosa objetividad sin caer jamas ni en la crueldad exhibicionista ni en el sentimentalismo devoto. El resultado es un retrato magistral del individuo y de la sociedad que lo elevo a los abismos del trono.

From the author of the critically acclaimed Elvis Presley biography: Last Train to Memphis brings us the life of Sam Phillips, the visionary genius who singlehandedly steered the revolutionary path of Sun Records. The music that he shaped in his tiny Memphis studio with artists as diverse as Elvis Presley, Ike Turner, Howlin Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash, introduced a sound that had never been heard before. He brought forth a singular mix of black and white voices passionately proclaiming the vitality of the American vernacular tradition while at the same time declaring, once and for all, a new, integrated musical day. With extensive interviews and firsthand personal observations extending over a 25-year period with Phillips, along with wide-ranging interviews with nearly all the legendary Sun Records artists, Guralnick gives us an ardent, unrestrained portrait of an American original as compelling in his own right as Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, or Thomas Edison.

By the bestselling author of Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock n Roll and Last Train the Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley, this dazzling new book of profiles is a culmination of Peter Guralnicks remarkable work, which from the start has encompassed the full sweep of blues, gospel, country, and rock n roll. It covers old ground from new perspectives, offering deeply felt, masterful, and strikingly personal portraits of creative artists, both musicians and writers, at the height of their powers. You put the book down feeling that its sweep is vast, that you have read of giants who walked among us, rock critic Lester Bangs wrote of Guralnicks earlier work in words that could just as easily be applied to this new one. And yet, for all of the encomiums that Guralnicks books have earned for their remarkable insights and depth of feeling, Looking to Get Lost is his most personal book yet. For readers who have grown up on Guralnicks unique vision of the vast sweep of the American musical landscape, who have imbibed his loving and lively portraits and biographies of such titanic figures as Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, and Sam Phillips, there are multiple surprises and delights here, carrying on and extending all the themes, fascinations, and passions of his groundbreaking earlier work.One of NPRs Best Books of 2020 One of Kirkus Reviews/Rolling Stones Top Music Books of 2020 One of No Depressions Best Books of 2020 Best Music Books of 2020, Variety

This highly acclaimed biography from the author of Last Train to Memphis illuminates the extraordinary life of one of the most influential blues singers of all time, the legendary guitarist and songwriter whose music inspired generations of musicians, from Muddy Waters to the Rolling Stones and beyond. The myth of Robert Johnsons short life has often overshadowed his music. When he died in 1938 at the age of just twenty-seven, poisoned by the jealous husband of a woman hed been flirting with at a dance, Johnson had recorded only twenty-nine songs. But those songs would endure as musical touchstones for generations of blues performers. With fresh insights and new information gleaned since its original publication, this brief biographical exploration brilliantly examines both the myth and the music. Much in the manner of his masterful biographies of Elvis Presley, Sam Phillips, and Sam Cooke, Peter Guralnick here gives readers an insightful, thought-provoking, and deeply felt picture, removing much of the obscurity that once surrounded Johnson without forfeiting any of the mystery. I finished the book," declared the New York Times Book Review,"feeling that, if only for a brief moment, Robert Johnson had stepped out of the mists.

Last Train to Memphis, the first part of Guralnick''s two-volume life of Elvis Presley, received unprecedented accolades. This concluding volume recounts the second half of Elvis''s life in rich and previously unimagined detail, and confirms Guralnick''s status as one of the great biographers of our time. Beginning with Presley''s army service in Germany in 1958 and ending with his death in Memphis in 1977, Careless Love chronicles the unraveling of the dream that once shone so brightly, homing in on the complex playing-out of Elvis''s relationship with his Machiavellian manager, Colonel Tom Parker. It''s a breathtaking drama that places the events of a too often mistold tale in a fresh, believable, and understandable context. This is the quintessential American story, encompassing race, class, wealth, sex, music, religion, and personal transformation. Written with grace, sensitivity, and passion, Careless Love is a unique contribution to our understanding of American popular culture and the nature of success, giving us true insight at last into one of the most misunderstood public figures of our times.

ESTE É UM RESUMO DA OBRA ELVIS PRESLEY - ÚLTIMO TREM PRA MEMPHIS, DE PETER GURALNICK. PARA SE APRODUNDAR, LEIA A OBRA COMPLETAA história que mostra o homem por trás do mito.O mundo em que Elvis Presley cresceu, o mundo que o moldou e o mundo que ele, quase sem perceber, moldou para si proprio.Ultimo trem para Memphis conta de forma vivida os primeiros 24 anos da vida de Elvis. A infancia, os primeiros sucessos, a carreira no cinema, a relaço particularmente intima com os pais e tambem com namoradas, colegas, mentores e fs. Tudo isso narrado com toda a graça e a singeleza da vida cotidiana, numa epoca de sonhos e de uma industria musical que ainda no tinha se definido, e embasado por centenas de entrevistas e anos de pesquisa.A energia dele era feroz; o espirito competitivo parecia tomar conta do garoto timido e educado que existia la no fundo; cada minuto que ficava no palco era como uma exploso incendiaria.

From the acclaimed author of Last Train to Memphis, this is the definitive biography of Sam Cooke, one of most influential singers and songwriters of all time. Sam Cooke was among the first to blend gospel music and secular themes -- the early foundation of soul music. He was the opposite of Elvis: a black performer who appealed to white audiences, who wrote his own songs, who controlled his own business destiny. No biography has previously been written that fully captures Sam Cookes accomplishments, the importance of his contribution to American music, the drama that accompanied his rise in the early days of the civil rights movement, and the mystery that surrounds his death. Bestselling author Peter Guralnick tells this moving and significant story, from Cookes childhood as a choirboy to an adulthood when he was anything but. With appearances by Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, James Brown, Harry Belafonte, Aretha Franklin, Fidel Castro, The Beatles, Sonny and Cher, Bob Dylan, and other central figures of this explosive era, Dream Boogie is a compelling depiction of one man striving to achieve his vision despite all obstacles -- and an epic portrait of America during the turbulent and hopeful 1950s and 1960s. The triumph of the book is the vividness with which Peter Guralnick conveys the astonishing richness of the black America of this era -- the drama, force, and feeling of the story.

Feel Like Going Home vividly brings to life such early blues masters as Muddy Waters , Skip James, and Howlin Wolf, along with illuminating excursions into the blues-based rock n roll of Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich, and the Sun Records label. With unique insight and unparalleled access, celebrated author Peter Guralnick (Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley) dramatically depicts the people, the songs, and the performances that forever changed not only the American music scene but America itself.With a brand-new introduction by David Keenan to cast new light on the book today, and published for the first time as part of White Rabbits Deep Cuts series, Feel Like Going Home takes its place once again as a classic in the world of music literature.

Rock n roll was born in rural Alabama, 1923, in the form of Sam Phillips, the youngest son of a large family living in a remote colony called the Lovelace Community. His father had a gift for farming, which was brought to an end by the Depression. His mother picked guitar and showed the kind of forbearance that allowed her to name her son after the doctor who delivered him drunk and then had to be put to bed himself. And yet from these unprepossessing origins, in 1951 Phillips made what is widely considered to be the first rock n roll record, Ike Turner and Jackie Brenstons Rocket 88. Just two years later a shy eighteen-year-old kid with sideburns, fresh out of high school, wandered into his recording studio to make a record for his mother, secretly hoping that it might somehow get him noticed. His name was Elvis Presley. Elviss success, and the subsequent triumph of rock n roll, was initially propelled to an almost astonishing degree by a limited number of releases by Carl Blue Suede Shoes Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis - all from this tiny, one-man label. An engaging mix of biography and anecdote, Peter Guralnicks book brilliantly recreates one shining moment in the history of popular culture. And Sam Phillips was the man who brought it all about.

Essential reading for anyone who loved Baz Luhrmanns biopic Elvis, starring Austin Butler and Tom HanksLast Train to Memphis, the first part of Guralnicks two-volume life of Elvis Presley, received unprecedented accolades. This concluding volume recounts the second half of Elviss life in rich and previously unimagined detail, and confirms Guralnicks status as one of the great biographers of our time. Beginning with Presleys army service in Germany in 1958 and ending with his death in Memphis in 1977, Careless Love chronicles the unraveling of the dream that once shone so brightly, homing in on the complex playing-out of Elviss relationship with his Machiavellian manager, Colonel Tom Parker. Its a breathtaking drama that places the events of a too often mistold tale in a fresh, believable, and understandable context. This is the quintessential American story, encompassing race, class, wealth, sex, music, religion, and personal transformation. Written with grace, sensitivity, and passion, Careless Love is a unique contribution to our understanding of American popular culture and the nature of success, giving us true insight at last into one of the most misunderstood public figures of our times.

INCLUDED IN TIMES 100 MUST READ BOOKS OF 2025The concluding volume of Peter Guralnicks critically acclaimed Elvis Presley biographiesGuralnick knows the intricacies of this story more than anyone, except perhaps the Colonel and Presley themselvesGUARDIANIn early 1955, Colonel Tom Parker discovered a teenage Elvis Presley and declared him destined for greatness. What followed was one of the most extraordinary partnerships in music history and the creation of a bond built on loyalty, ambition and an unshakeable belief in each other.From the meteoric rise that reshaped popular culture to the struggles that shadowed their final years, this concluding volume of Peter Guralnicks acclaimed trilogy reveals the full complexity of their relationship.Drawing on previously unpublished letters and telegrams from Parkers own archives, it offers an intimate, unflinching portrait of two American originals: the visionary manager who invented the modern superstar and the artist who became one. Brilliant, flawed and inseparable, Elvis and the Colonel changed the music world forever.Guralnicks view of Parker is both clear-eyed and sympathetic, but best of all, its persuasiveTIMEA riveting and revelatory readSUNDAY INDEPENDENT