I've just completed reading the sixth biography of Elvis Presley, a work by Joel Williamson titled, "Elvis Presley: A Southern Life." I enjoyed each and every one of the biographies, and learned something about the subject from each. The Williamson biography, however, is the only one to which I would award the grade of A+. Were I teaching a college-level course on The History of Rock and Roll, this is the book I would assign to cover a man without whose influence, the course itself might not exist.
To be clear, I did not read a single biography of Elvis that I did not like. Each work taught me something. Each work was carefully researched and thoughtfully written. The "worst" of the biographies gets a B+. They are all good, very good. Williamson's book gets the lone A+ because (in my opinion) it edges out the others in terms of its scholarly emphasis on magnificent writing, in-depth research and overall contribution to the study of this icon of icons of American popular culture. This makes sense as the book's author is (or was) a college professor. Williamson's facility with the English language and his ability to draw what I believe to be the most rational and logical conclusions from the commonly accepted body of evidence about the subject's life, set his work apart and, thus, invite a marginally higher commendation. His conclusions about the character, personality and motivations of Elvis' father, Vernon Presley, as detailed in the book's Epilogue, are presented in no other Elvis biography and are compellingly persuasive indeed. This biography is worth the read for this reason alone.
Williamson's choice for the book's title, "Elvis Presley: A Southern Life," further distinguishes it from the rest. Elvis Presley was a Southern boy who grew up dirt poor in northeastern Mississippi, the product of two woebegone parents whose best efforts to get ahead were persistently ill-fated. Like his forebears on both sides of the family, Elvis was thoroughly Southern. His charm, politeness, devotion to family and friends, deference to age, gender and authority, humility (before the drugs castrated his conscience) and stunning levels of kindness and generosity toward others, (not to mention his speech and his music) mark him as a pure product of the culture and values of the Deep South. Elvis was as far from being a damn Yankee, milquetoast midwesterner or Left Coast anarchist as one could be, and it appears that Joel Williamson recognized this verity before he had written the first word of this engaging biography. Southern life and culture influenced both the music and the manners of Elvis Presley more than did anything else. Reading an Elvis biography from an author who clearly understood this most essential truth, gives the work insights into the man that are not as finely honed in the other EP biographies I read.
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From the Publisher
Elvis Presley: A Southern Life
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Louisiana HayrideElvis on his way to fame at the Louisiana Hayride, 1956. LSU-Shreveport Archives and Special Collections. |
The Blue Moon BoysPublicity photo of the Blue Moon Boys: Scotty Moore, Elvis Presley, and Bill Black, c. 1955. Joseph A. Tunzi/ JAT Publishing. |
Elvis at GracelandElvis posing with a car in front of Graceland. Photographed by Charles A. Nicholas for the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Memphis and Shelby County Room, Memphis Public Library & Information Center. |
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Elvis Comeback SpecialElvis during his ’68 Comeback Special on NBC. Joseph A. Tunzi/ JAT Publishing. |
Elvis and the PresidentElvis Presley meets President Richard Nixon on December 21, 1970. White House Chief Photographer Oliver F. Atkins. General Services Administration. National Archives and Records Service. Office of Presidential Libraries. Office of Presidential Papers. Collection RN-WHPO: White House Photo Office Collection (Nixon Administration), 01/20/1969–08/09/1974. |
Elvis in ConcertElvis in concert, with screaming fans. Frank Driggs Collection/ Getty/ LIFE.com. |
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