Happy 77th Birthday, Elvis!

This past Sunday, January 8^th, fans the world over gathered to celebrate and remember the life of the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, on the anniversary of his 77^th birthday. Thousands of guests visited the Heartbreak Hotel and other Graceland attractions, as well as the Elvis Presley Birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi to honor the King, who passed away in 1977. In Memphis, the historic city where Elvis’s prodigious talents first came to light, officials proclaimed the date a new city-wide holiday, Elvis Presley Day.

Elvis has the largest and most dedicated following in the history of show business, and this year’s birthday festivities jump-start what will undoubtedly be a moving year for Elvis fans worldwide, as it commemorates the 35^th anniversary of his untimely death at the age of 42. For Presley enthusiasts searching to learn more about the life and career of the biggest name in show business during this historic anniversary year, Overlook offers a wide range of books about the King, ranging from encyclopedic compendiums detailing his dual careers on the stage and on the screen, to original fiction inspired by the Presley legacy.

Elvis first performed in Vegas in 1958 and bombed. His rockabilly act was considered too uncouth for an older audience used to show tunes, and he didn’t return until 1963. By the late 1960s, however, the King had won over the city of sin, and would ultimately perform more than eight hundred sold-out shows throughout the city’s hotels and casinos before his death in 1977. Elvis in Vegas, the latest addition to the Overlook Elvis collection, spotlights the King’s life and career in Las Vegas. Published in late 2011, it features over 300 full-color and black-and-white photos, as well as concert and set lists, news clippings, and interviews. Written and compiled by Elvisologist and long time Presley friend Paul Lichter, Elvis in Vegas is the missing volume in any Elvis aficionado’s collection.

For a more comprehensive guide to all things Presley, The Elvis Encyclopedia by Adam Victor is “a valuable one-stop source of all things informational about the King. The A-Z reference covers seemingly every person, place, and thing that touched Elvis's eventful life” (Bookpage). A visual compendium of Elvis’s career, featuring more than four hundred photographs ranging from never-before seen candid moments to the extraordinary iconic images the world has come to love, Elvis in Vegas is the definitive one-stop resources for fans and scholars of the King.

Elvis’s Hollywood years are rigorously documented in The Elvis Film Encyclopedia, a guidebook to Elvis’s more than thirty iconic appearances on the silver screen, as well as the original music he wrote and recorded for his films ranging from fan favorites Love Me Tender, Jailhouse Rock, and King Creole to the golden-globe winning documentary Elvis on Tour. With an unbiased view, one-to-five star ratings for all his movies, as well as complete credits, synopses, and soundtrack details, The Elvis Film Encyclopedia offers a fresh look at the cultural phenomenon and the distinctive place Elvis’s movies hold in film history.

Part mystery, part love story, part commentary on America’s waning presence throughout the world, P.F. Kluge’s Biggest Elvis tells the story of a trio of Elvis impersonators working out of a club called Graceland set in the Philippines. Biggest Elvis revives and re-envisions the life of America’s leading twentieth-century folk hero in an edgy and compassionate novel that NPR calls, “highly entertaining.”

It's Viva Las Vegas for ELVIS WEEK 2011

It's Elvis Week in Memphis, the annual gathering of Elvis fans from around the word who come to Graceland to pay respects to the King, who died on August 16, 1977.

In 2008, Overlook published the most definitive and all-encompassing book on Elvis Presley, The Elvis Encyclopedia, by Adam Victor. This critically-acclaimed and truly monumental document is an essential part of every Elvis fan's library.

But there's more! Coming in November is a brand new volume, Elvis in Vegas, which concentrates on the many years Elvis spent in Las Vegas. The author, Paul Lichter, is one of the world's leading authorities on the subject of Elvis Presley. Featuring more than 300 full-color and black-and-white photographs – many of which have never been seen – Elvis in Vegas is the only book to focus exclusively on the Vegas years, which ran from the late 1960s (he married Priscilla in 1967 at the Aladdin) to his death in 1977. Over the years, Elvis performed over 800 sold-out shows in Vegas, mostly at the International, which later became the Hilton. This was the era of Elvis in jump suits, 25 piece bands, state of the art sound and stage design, and of course the mighty spectacle of the King performing on stage. Lavishly illustrated and beautifully produced, Elvis in Vegas also includes a comprehensive overview of Elvis’s life in Vegas – concerts, set lists, news clippings, interviews, and details about his legendary month-long hotel engagements.

Elvis in Vegas will be published on October 27, 2011, and available in fine bookstores and through online booksellers.

Spend Christmas with ELVIS!

Christmas at Graceland is one of the best times of the year for Elvis fans, as readers of Adam Victor's monumental The Elvis Enyclopedia know. During his lifetime, Elvis released two original Christmas records (Elvis Christmas in 1957 and The Wonderful World of Christmas in 1971). The 1957 album was re-released as Elvis's Christmas Album, which has become Elvis's best-selling LP of all time! Last year, Elvis Presley Christmas Duets was released, featuring Elvis's classic holiday songs with new recordings by some of today's biggest stars paired with the King's original vocals.

Elvis fans can find out more about Elvis and his deep love for the Christmas season in The Elvis Encyclopedia. A perfect gift for Elvis fans, this is a visual compendium of Elvis's life, offering hundreds of photographs, ranging from never-before-seen unposed moments to the extraordinary iconic images the world has come to love. Fans and scholars finally have easy access to all of the information on Elvis s life and times, testing what is real against legend. The facts are represented in full a childhood mired in poverty, his unstoppable rise to the top with over 150 gold, platinum, or multi-platinum albums, 31 feature films, and 14 Grammy awards, his marriage to Priscilla, his early death. Entries cover every significant aspect of Elvis and his world from family members, lovers, benefactors, mentors, agents, directors, co-stars, and coaches. Complete with cross-referencing and a comprehensive bibliography, The Elvis Encyclopedia surpasses everything that has come before it.

Elvis and Michael: Two Kings Who Died Too Young

Hillel Italie of the Associated Press writes insightfully about two Kings - Elvis Presley, King of Rock and Roll, and Michael Jackson, King of Pop, who died tragically yesterday in Los Angeles:

"Michael Jackson didn’t want to be just a superstar. Like the Beatles, he wanted to be the biggest, the king. He wanted to topple the reigning man with the crown, Elvis. In life and in death, there was Elvis. “It’s just so weird. He even married Elvis’ daughter,” said author-music critic Greil Marcus, who wrote at length about Presley in his acclaimed cultural history, Mystery Train. Elvis Presley overdosed — in his bathroom — on prescription drugs in 1977 at 42, his bloated, glazed middle age a cautionary tale to rock stars and other celebrities. Jackson died Thursday at 50, rushed from his Los Angeles home and pronounced dead at the UCLA Medical Center. The death shocked more than surprised. While endless fame seemed to inflate Elvis like helium, Jackson’s fame seemed to scrub the flesh and wear into his bones until you could almost see him shiver. Like Elvis, Jackson was once beautiful, outrageous, a revolutionary without politics who shook down the walls between black and white. He had the hits, the style, the ego, the talent. He was the King of Pop and he needed only to fill in the life: He married Elvis’ daughter. He bought the rights to some of Elvis’ songs. Elvis owned Graceland, its name a symbol for a deliverance the singer prayed for until the end of his life. Jackson had Neverland, a fantasy for a child-man for whom money meant the chance to live in a world of his own. He did, and did not, want to be like Elvis."

Read more about Elvis, Michael, and Lisa Marie in Adam Victor in The Elvis Encyclopedia.

THE ELVIS ENCYCLOPEDIA: Required Reading for the 2009 Tupelo Elvis Festival

Note to Elvis fans: The 2009 Tupelo Elvis Festival will take place on June 5-7, 2009 in Elvis' birthplace of Tupelo, Mississippi. Three days of fun events, including an Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest preliminary, live concerts, a parade and more! If you're planning to attend, you'll first want to check out Adam Victor's monumental celebration of all-things-Elvis, The Elvis Encyclopedia. The Elvis Birthplace and Museum opened in 1971 and is the most visited attraction in Mississippi with over 100,000 visitors every year. Another Tupelo Elvis site worth seeing, according to Victor, is the Tupelo Hardware Store (at the time Booth's Hardware), where Elvis bought his first guitar.

Adam Victor, author of THE ELVIS ENCYCLOPEDIA, on NPR's Weekend Edition

As part of NPR's Weekend Edition's series "On the Couch," Scott Simon speaks with Adam Victor, author of The Elvis Encyclopedia (an A-to-Z guide to Presley's life), and Gordon Stoker, a singer in the superstar's backup band The Jordanaires, to discuss the legacy of the man still known as "The King." They're joined by fans Tess Foley of New Haven, Conn.; Jerry Sailor of South Bend, Ind.; and NPR's Sylvia Poggioli. Listen here.

Adam Victor on THE ELVIS ENCYCLOPEDIA

Adam Victor, author of The Elvis Encyclopedia, talks about the making of the most comprehensive work ever assembled on the life and times of Elvis Presley:

Q: What inspired you to tackle such a labor intensive research project on both of these figures, and what made the Elvis Encyclopedia in particular an even more Olympian task than the Marilyn project?

A: In 1996 I was approached to do the Marilyn Encyclopedia by Peter Mayer of Overlook, and was happy to say yes. If I had known how much work the project involved, I might not have taken on that book, but once I plunged into her exceptional life, I vowed to keep going until I produced an encyclopedia worthy of its subject. After Marilyn, I promised my wife that I would not do another icon encyclopedia. Initially, I declined my publisher’s suggestion to take on Elvis. In the end, I acquiesced because I figured that I already had a method, that my personal approach to putting together this kind of reference work had an appreciate audience, and that I knew how much work would be involved. Once again, to borrow a phrase, I mis-underestimated.

Q: Elvis is altogether a larger, more present figure than Marilyn – the only other comparable twentieth-century icon. The reason?

A: Well, in terms of compiling the Elvis Encyclopedia, apart from the general fact that music is a more pervasive presence in people’s everyday lives than movies, Elvis sang a thousand songs, gave thousands of concerts, starred in more movies than Marilyn, and has had an official body (the Elvis Presley Estate) looking after and developing his image and generally taking care of business for the last thirty years. If writing the Marilyn Encyclopedia was an Olympian task, the Elvis Encyclopedia was a Sisyphean one: a great many rocks needed to be rolled up the hill.

Q: While reviewers commented on your “insanely detailed” work and your lack of humor about Elvis, they all consistently admired the illustrations and photographs, the cross-referencing and your balanced reporting. What do you feel are the strengths of your encyclopedia?

A: I actually took the “lack of humor” comment as a compliment. I wrote an encyclopedia, not a joke book! In my final draft of the book, I actually weeded out the more flippant comments.
I’m gratified that reviewers found the book to be even-handed. Enough people have expressed their opinions on every possible facet of Elvis’s life and work; there was little need for me to add my two cents’ worth. This, I believe – along with its exhaustiveness… I prefer exhaustive or comprehensive to “insanely detailed” – is the strength of this book. Plus, it’s got heft. How many books out there weigh 6 pounds?

Q: What can even moderate fans or even a new generation that knows nothing about Elvis garner from an encyclopedia versus, say, the Life Magazine biography?

A: Once again, my hope – we’re dealing with authorial intention here, which does not always coincide with readers’ impressions – is that the Elvis Encyclopedia offers a kaleidoscopic view of the man, his life and his work. I made great efforts to include a balanced and varied selection of comments on Elvis’s life. Neophytes, and younger people still discovering the topography of modern music, may also appreciate entries on the background to Elvis’s life and times, broad-stroke entries on things as varied as “Rock ‘n’ Roll”, “Gospel”, “Memphis”, “Youth culture” etc., all of which have a bearing on or help to illuminate the subject of the book. There’s a lot of words in a 600 page encyclopedia, but in the end Elvis was about music—he was also about many other things, but really it was his unique voice, his compendium of music styles and trademark songs like “Hound Dog” that keep someone like myself returning to him as an artist, even as I must push aside the public kitschy archetypes of him to get to that original musician.

Q: What are your favorite Elvis songs and why? When did you first remember listening to Elvis? Do you still listen to Elvis? Indeed, did you ever listen to Elvis while working on the encyclopedia? Do you think Elvis will remain relevant for this next generation?

A: Yup, a nail-on-the-head statement if ever I’ve heard one. Elvis is, first and last, about music. A unique voice, a unique talent, a unique ability to touch people with his singing... I listened to Elvis constantly while I worked on the encyclopedia, and I continue to listen to him today. One of the greatest pleasures of doing this book was the opportunity to listen to songs I knew I loved, and to discover hundreds of Elvis tracks I had never heard. Then, when I’d gone through pretty much his whole vocal oeuvre, I started in on the outtakes, the alternates, the jam sessions – the things that fans treasure. I wish I had a favorite Elvis song or two in answer to this question, because it’s the one question I am always asked. I have Elvis periods that I listen to more frequently: his early years, of course; a great favourite of mine is the jam session at Sun Studio from December 1956, when he sang for hours with Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and (though there is some controversy about this) Johnny Cash; I love the incredible urgency and power of Elvis in 1968 and 1969 – I find myself returning again and again to the material he recorded and rehearsed for his NBC TV Comeback Special, and the work he did at American Studio with Chips Moman for the albums he recorded immediately after that. The thing about Elvis is that because he effortlessly delivered such emotion and intensity in practically every song he performed or recorded, there are gems to be found even on his more forgettable albums. Unfortunately, I was too young ever to see him perform live; just watching DVDs of his performances shows what an incredible hold he had on an audience."

Celebrate the Birth of the King with THE ELVIS ENCYCLOPEDIA

Today is the birthday of Elvis Presley - and Elvis fans, many of whom are gathering this morning at Graceland, are celebrating the King's birthday all over the world. Elvis was born on January 8, 1935 at 4:35am in Tupelo, Mississippi. For a comprehensive account of this day in the life of Elvis Presley, check out The Elvis Encyclopedia.

"Elvis People, Your Book has Arrived"

Ian McCillis of the Montreal Gazette weighs in on Adam Victor's The Elvis Encyclopedia: "In the nick of time comes the hernia-risking tome of tomes to remind us, in case we've forgotten, just who the real King is. And beyond the doorstops, there are plenty of more esoteric (and liftable) titles on offer. The Elvis Encyclopedia, by Adam Victor, is a work heroic in its dedication and detail, only fitting for a book that strives to be the one-stop source on the figure who still bestrides pop culture like a colossus 31 years after his death. As one flips with increasingly slack jaw through this profusely illustrated small-type cataloguing of any and every aspect of Elvis Presley's life and work, the thought begins to dawn that perhaps no other human life has ever been scrutinized this thoroughly Victor, author of a previous book on Marilyn Monroe (similar, but, of course, smaller), brings to his task a tricky combination of obsession and detachment; he's obviously a fan, but also has a critical edge, fortunate in that vast swathes of his subject's oeuvre are indefensible schlock. The author might on first perusal appear humourless, but in fact he's smart enough to let the surreal truth do its own sometimes mirth-inducing thing. Take the following entry, under Doctors (sub-entry Dentists): "Elvis was a great believer in oral hygiene, and regularly had work done on his teeth. When he met The Beatles, he was reputedly appalled at the condition their teeth were in." Elvis people, your book has arrived."

THE ELVIS ENCYCLOPEDIA in Wall Street Journal and New York Post

Adam Victor's The Elvis Enyclopedia continues to draw praise as one this year's best holiday books. The Wall Street Journal Magazine noted: "The Elvis Encyclopedia explores all things Elvis Presley-related — entries on every song, album and movie ever released by the King. Compiling information from the testimonies of Mr. Presley’s friends, family, agents, managers and others, author Adam Victor even threw in Presley’s last will and testament, and a state-by-state list of all hotels frequented by the rock-and-roll icon." And from the New York Post: "No fan of the King would "Return to Sender" this 598-page volume. Few details are too small for this '70s-Elvis-size book - list of hotels he stayed at in more than four dozen cities, 16 different guitars he used and that Barbra Streisand offered him a part in A Star is Born."

Adam Victor's THE ELVIS ENCYCLOPEDIA in New York Times Book Review

The special "Holiday Books" edition of The New York Times Book Review gives Adam Victor's The Elvis Encyclopedia a full-page review: "Jailhouses to Jumpsuits." Neil Genzlinger calls it "a mammoth new survey of all things King by Adam Victor, the author of “The Marilyn Encyclopedia" . . . The book is lavishly and lovingly illustrated with candid photos, movie stills, posters and assorted oddities. Best of the bunch: the cover of a 1950s magazine called True Strange, which asked that eternal question: “Did the Devil Send Elvis Presley?”

THE ELVIS ENCYCLOPEDIA is "Fit for a King"

Adam Victor's magnificent tribute to one of the true icons of the twentieth-century, The Elvis Encyclopedia, is included in the San Francisco Chronicle's list of best Holiday Books for 2008: "For the serious Elvis Presley fan, this comprehensive collection of all things Elvis covers the King's childhood, music and film careers, life, loves and legacy. With its abundant photos and memorabilia, one could pore over its pages for days on end. It is written by the author of The Marilyn Encyclopedia, a writer who became an Elvis fan though this six-year research project." And BookPage notes The Elvis Encyclopedia is a valuable one-stop source of all things informational about the King. The A-Z reference covers seemingly every person, place, and thing that touched Elvis's eventful life, and it's nothing if not exhausting. . . Victor has certainly cast his net widely in search of rarely seen pictures, and on that nostalgic note alone, his is a regal book - fit for a king."

A Hunk of Burning Love for Adam Victor's THE ELVIS ENCYCLOPEDIA

Adam Victor's magnificent study of the life and legacy of Elvis Presley, The Elvis Encyclopedia, is getting rave reviews all over the world. This just in from The Times (UK):

"Adam Victor has followed his compendium of all known facts about Marilyn Monroe with this remarkably handsome volume on another modern icon - the greatest rock artiste of our time, and (arguably) the most influential singer of any time. If you want to know about Elvis and guns and telephones, how many paternity suits were filed against him, what books he read and even what breed of dog he gave his last-but-one girlfriend, this book is for you. As a visual compendium of Elvis and his times the work is outstanding, and students of rock'n'roll history have a valuable resource of quotes, pictures and facts - for every detail of every single record is here, as well as the names of musicians he worked with, those singers he influenced and the credits for all his movies, down to “Colonel Tom Parker - technical adviser”. (The old rogue looked after himself more than he looked after the genius he managed.) Victor notes that his encyclopedia is “longer than the Old Testament”; certainly to fundamentalist Elvis nerds it will be as valuable as the Bible."

THE ELVIS ENCYCLOPEDIA Receives Starred Review in Publishers Weekly

★ The Elvis Encyclopedia has received a starred review in Publishers Weekly: "This obsessively detailed and completely entertaining chronicle by Adam Victor (The Marilyn Encyclopedia) of every possible aspect of Elvis Presley’s life is mesmerizing and deserves a wide audience. Elvis fans will delight in the many famous and rare photos illustrating entries on the King’s every song, album and movie as well as his complete last will and testament. But nonfans will marvel at such meticulously researched entries as “Religion” (a vision of “Stalin and Jesus in a high bank of cloud” made Elvis consider “joining a monastery”), as well as a comprehensive state-by-state list of “Hotels Where Elvis Stayed.”

THE ELVIS ENCYCLOPEDIA Featured in Kirkus Reviews

The long-waited Elvis Encyclopedia, Adam Victor's comprehensive masterwork on the King, is headed to bookstores next month. This is the definitive reference guide to Elvis Presley, as noted in a glowing pre-publication notice in Kirkus Reviews: "Six years in the making, Adam Victor's Elvis Encyclopedia is just what its title proclaims - a sprawling, 600-page distillation of everything that might conceivably be said and thought about the King, with 500 photographs, many never before published, and extended notes on every song Elvis recorded. . . Improbably rich, admirably thorough, Victor's compendium lends weight to the thought that the Elvis phenomenon reached nearly every corner of the world."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELVIS!

Today, on the 73rd birthday of Elvis Presley, The Overlook Press takes great pleasure in announcing the forthcoming publication of The Elvis Encyclopedia, a new book by Adam Victor. This massive collection of information and never-before-seen photographs is the ultimate tribute to one of the true icons of the twentieth century. After years of research and writing, The Elvis Encyclopedia stands out as the most comprehensive book ever written about the King of Rock & Roll. Now, for the first time, fans and scholars will finally have access to all the information on Elvis's life and times, both real and imagined. The Elvis Encyclopedia will be available in bookstores nationwide in October 2008. Stay tuned to The Winged Elephant for more information on this historic publishing event! Happy Birthday, Elvis!

30 Years after the death of Elvis Presley, Worldwide Sightings Occur

This week we take time out to remember the King of Rock n' Roll who left us too soon some 30 years ago. And give ourselves the chance to remark upon how he has managed to stay in the public eye for so long. The Overlook Press is planning a definitive volume on the life and work of Elvis, due to come out this time next Summer. The Elvis Encyclopedia promises to shed new light with never-published photos and A-Z commentary on the life of this Pop Culture icon. The greatness of Elvis lives on in our memories and this new volume will both help jog those memories and expand our appreciation of the legend. Rock on, king! See you in again in Summer 2008.