Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley
by Peter Guralnick
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Book Summary Information
Author: Peter GuralnickEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-02-10
ISBN: 0316332976
Number of pages: 768
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Book Reviews of Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley
Book Review: The Best Elvis Biography, bar none -- volume two
Summary: 5 Stars
Not only is Guralnick's double-volume biography of Elvis Presley the end-all and be-all of biography material on this iconic and preternaturally talented American singer, it is one of the finest musical biographies ever written. Bar none.
Period.
Full Stop.
VOLUME ONE:
Covering the Elvis' birth to his induction into the Army, volume one is a portrayal of a naturally gifted singer (more of a rarity than most people realize, especially in these days of synthesizers, mixing boards and rap recordings which are passed off as melodious and musical), and an unusuall talented arranger of music. Guralnick doesn't just cover the details of Presley's personal life (ala those tabloid type bios by the likes of Albert Goldman), he delves deeply into Presley's musical talents and stylings. As a longtime muscical critic and biographer, Guralnick recognizes what some biographers (like the innocuous and blatantly biased Goldman) as well as musical and theatrical performers still don't (I just saw a movie called "Caddilac Records" in which a one or two of the actors make such a comment about Elvis): the VERY few performers or artists are completely original. Most especially singers, since the very _act_ of singing entails "copying" something already heard (be it the song of a bird, or the voice of another singer. If one doubts this, think about how different the speaking voice of a singer is from the singing voice -- whether we're talking about an Englishman or woman -- who sings in American accent -- or just about anyone else).
Elvis' style was copied from artists as diverse as Pavarotti, ArthurBig Boy Crudup and Dean Martin (the latter especially, and you can hear it in his ballads). Gurlanick recognizes that, and recognizes the artist merit behind Presley's natural desire to synthesize both the styles of the singers he admired and the styles of songs and music he enjoyed: from soul, gospel, and rhythm & blues, to country and western, opera and romantic ballads.
LAST TRAIN... follows Elvis Presley (and Scotty Moore and Bill Black, and later, DJ Fontana) as he finds the luck (Marion, who worked at Sun Records remembered him -- if not, he might never have been "discovered") resilience (Presley endured his share of rejections, early on after perfroming in a nightclub, and then at the Grand Ol' Opry and even in Vegas), and savvy needed to become not only successful, but, eventually, iconic. From his hyper-active need to always move around (which led to the bounciness on stage) to his realization that incorporating burlesque moves in his movements would get an even greater reaction, and his natural charisma and ability to "ham it up", Elvis was a born performer. That he was gifted with a unique voice (and a fairly good range) and the sort of good looks that make most women swoon ensured his mega-success (after all, would Elvis have been as successful if he looked like Buddy Holly? Probably not).
LAST TRAIN also goes behind the scenes at recording sessions, revealing Presley's innate musical abilities (his voice, his ability to know when a particular take was the right one, and his uncanny ability to come up with arrangements -- sometimes based on recordings he'd heard in his youth, turning his ideas into a sort of pastische -- which resulted in some truly unique sounds and recordings). It also details the growth of a young, polite, and shy southern boy into a savvy, successful young man and superstar. It's no secret that Elvis Presley was very close to his mother, and that relationship isn't given short shrift in LAST TRAIN. In fact, it is shown as the driving force behind Presley's desire to become successful (he wants to make sure his mom, and his father, live out the rest of their days in comfort). So when his mother dies, shortly after he is drafted inthe US Army (something his manager, Col. Parker, allows to happen -- during a time when entertainers could get diferrments -- to prove that Elvis is a regular guy), the world of young Presley shatters, resulting in a completely different (more somber, more sad, and less innocent) individual.
(Although most people don't know it, Gurlanick's bio reveals that young Presley was one of the _few_ performers that _didn't_ do drugs and/or get addicted to booze while dealing with all of the fame and fortune -- in fact, he once lectured his mother and an early girlfriend because they decided to share a bottle of beer).
VOLUME TWO:
CARELESS LOVE shows us the Presley who was consumed by bad movies (he was making so much money that Parker convinced him to continue doing the movies, and to record less and less music -- unless it was part of one the usually awful soundtracks) and to many drugs (Presley got into drugs in the Army, when other soldiers convinced him to take uppers to stay awake during maneuvers and guard duty -- Presley found that he loved them, because of the extra energy and the "dietary" effect).
It also details the final years of the white-jumpsuited, heavily drugged out demigod who thought he could make clouds move and who flew to Washington DC on his own, and convinced President Nixon to give him a badge in order to help fight the war on drugs. In between all of that, it details Presley's continuingly astounding ability to interpet songs ("Suspiscious Minds," "True Love Travels On A Gravel Road," "Always On My Mind," "How Great Thou Art", etc.) and record music that transcended the often banal, and sometimes weird, life of the man whose voice gave them their power. From a missed opportunity to truly jam and record with the Beatles (they stopped by to say hi when he was in Hollywood), to his pioneering efforts (Presley was the first recording artist to realize the financial opportunities of pay-per-view, with his "Aloha From Hawaii" concert -- largely Col. Parker's doing, of course), to his ignoble and sad death, CARELESS LOVE, like the first volume, hits all the right notes.
Summary of Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley
Careless Love is the full, true, and mesmerizing story of Elvis Presley's last two decades, in the long-awaited second volume of Peter Guralnick's masterful two-part biography.Last Train to Memphis, the first part of Guralnick's two-volume life of Elvis Presley, was acclaimed by the New York Times as "a triumph of biographical art." This concluding volume recounts the second half of Elvis' 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 unravelling of the dream that once shone so brightly, homing in on the complex playing-out of Elvis' relationship with his Machiavellian manager, Colonel Tom Parker. It's a breathtaking revelatory drama that for the first time places the events of a too-often mistold tale in a fresh, believable, and understandable context.
Elvis' changes during these years form a tragic mystery that Careless Love unlocks for the first time. This is the quintessential American story, encompassing elements of 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.
Until Peter Guralnick came out with Last Train to Memphis in 1994, most biographies of Elvis Presley--especially those written by people with varying degrees of access to his "inner circle"--were filled with starstruck adulation, and those that weren't in awe of their subject invariably went out of their way to take potshots at the rock & roll pioneer (with Albert Goldman's 1981 Elvis reaching now-legendary levels of bile and condescension). Guralnick's exploration of Elvis's childhood and rise to fame was notable for its factual rigorousness and its intimate appreciation of Presley's musical agenda.
Picking up where the first volume left off, Guralnick sees Elvis through his tour of duty with the U.S. Army in Germany, where he first met--and was captivated by--a 14-year-old girl named Priscilla Beaulieu. We may think we know the story from this point: the return to America, the near-decade of B-movies, eventual marriage to Priscilla, a brief flash of glory with the '68 comeback, and the surrealism of "fat Elvis" decked out in bejeweled white jumpsuits, culminating in a bathroom death scene. And while that summary isn't exactly false, Guralnick's account shows how little perspective we've had on Elvis's life until now, how a gross caricature of the final years has come to stand for the life itself. He treats every aspect of Presley's life--including forays into spiritual mysticism and the growing dependency on prescription drugs--with dignity and critical distance. More importantly, Careless Love continues to show that Guralnick "gets" what Presley was trying to do as an artist: "I see him in the same way that I think he saw himself from the start," the introduction states, "as someone whose ambition it was to encompass every strand of the American musical tradition." From rock to blues to country to gospel, Guralnick discusses how, at his finest moments, Elvis was able to fulfill that dream. --Ron Hogan
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