Beginning in 1949, while Elvis Presley and Sun Records were still virtually unknown--and two full years before Alan Freed famously "discovered" rock 'n' roll--Dewey Phillips brought the budding new music to the Memphis airwaves by playing Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, and Muddy Waters on his nightly radio show Red, Hot and Blue. The mid-South's most popular white deejay, "Daddy-O-Dewey" soon became part of rock 'n' roll history for being the first major disc jockey to play Elvis Presley and, subsequently, to conduct the first live, on-air interview with the singer. Louis Cantor illuminates Phillips's role in turning a huge white audience on to previously forbidden race music. Phillips's zeal for rhythm and blues legitimized the sound and set the stage for both Elvis's subsequent success and the rock 'n' roll revolution of the 1950s. Using personal interviews, documentary sources, and oral history collections, Cantor presents a personal view of the disc jockey while restoring Phillips's place as an essential figure in rock 'n' roll history.

Beginning in 1949, while Elvis Presley and Sun Records were still virtually unknown--and two full years before Alan Freed famously "discovered" rock 'n' roll--Dewey Phillips brought the budding new music to the Memphis airwaves by playing Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, and Muddy Waters on his nightly radio show Red, Hot and Blue. The mid-South's most popular white deejay, "Daddy-O-Dewey" soon became part of rock 'n' roll history for being the first major disc jockey to play Elvis Presley and, subsequently, to conduct the first live, on-air interview with the singer. Louis Cantor illuminates Phillips's role in turning a huge white audience on to previously forbidden race music. Phillips's zeal for rhythm and blues legitimized the sound and set the stage for both Elvis's subsequent success and the rock 'n' roll revolution of the 1950s. Using personal interviews, documentary sources, and oral history collections, Cantor presents a personal view of the disc jockey while restoring Phillips's place as an essential figure in rock 'n' roll history.

The touching story of thirty years of friendship between George Klein and the King that “offers an insider’s view of Presley the man as opposed to Presley the singer, actor, and icon” (Associated Press). “You capture the essence of Elvis not only in dialogue, but also in giving the reader a sense of his personality, humor, and his spirit of play.”—Priscilla Presley When George Klein was an eighth grader at Humes High, he couldn’t have known how important the new kid with the guitar—the boy named Elvis—would later become in his life. But from the first time GK (as he was nicknamed by Elvis) heard this kid sing, he knew that Elvis Presley was someone extraordinary. During Elvis’s rise to fame and throughout the wild swirl of his remarkable life, Klein was a steady presence and one of Elvis’s closest and most loyal friends until his untimely death in 1977. In Elvis: My Best Man, a heartfelt, entertaining, and long-awaited contribution to our understanding of Elvis Presley and the early days of rock ’n’ roll, George Klein writes with great affection for the friend he knew about who the King of Rock ’n’ Roll really was and how he acted when the stage lights were off. This fascinating chronicle of boundary-breaking and music-making through one of the most intriguing and dynamic stretches of American history overflows with insights and anecdotes from someone who was in the middle of it all. From the good times at Graceland to hanging out with Hollywood stars to butting heads with Elvis’s iron-handed manager, Colonel Tom Parker, to making sure that Elvis’s legacy is fittingly honored, GK was a true friend of the King and a trailblazer in the music industry in his own right.

Twenty-five years after his death, Elvis Presley is still the king of Rock N Roll.

Of the millions of Elvis Fans around the globe, I would place Heart Shapre' among the top ten persons for her love, mystique and dedication to King Presley. I wish her the best of luck in her new book endeavor. Capt. Bob Ferguson, Ret. Memphis Police Dept. Some things are meant to be, this writing is based on ELVIS THROUGH MY EYES; the facts remain. Here is your friend, and you will learn about the man. Would anyone who loves ELVIS toss his life away? Influential people like ELVIS are not forgotten no matter what. Seven lost childhood years of ELVIS' life is related by James Samuel Denson selected by Gladys Presley to help raise him. On stage beneath those costumes was a person who had struggles, FBI involvement and is a phenomenon. What was the price...the blood talks. This work was written with Priscilla and Lisa Marie in mind. To quote Elvis, My image is one thing and the human being is another...it's hard to live up to an image...Elvis gave possibly more than he had and his spirit still connects with all who love and understand him far beyond the emotionalism. The God in Elvis connects with the God in others.Don't miss knowing him plus the blessing this book brings as, if you shut the door here, you may be walking on Elvis' soul. As some desire only the showmanship, there is no need to say 'enjoy it' - you have that but we have the man - ELVIS. We were extremely fortunate to have had Elvis for so long. Yet today, his music is kept alive so beautifully by radio, TV, film and the gifted Tribute Artists world-wide; we are highly blessed with their artistry. Elvis was not finished by August 17, 1977

You are invited to take a journey, along with the author, to her hometown in the American South, a unique culture of relative safety within a sheltered small town in the mid-twentieth century. You will discover a time when sorority girls were virgins, baton twirlers mattered, and Elvis Presley's hips were the wildest thing on the block. Against the backdrop of groundbreaking musical environments from Memphis, Tennessee to the Mississippi Delta, you will share stories that follow Elvis and his rise to fame through the eyes of his Graceland neighbors in the small suburb of Whitehaven. The author's mother, a young girl who was as much a celebrity in this small town as Elvis, reveals never-before-shared photographs and stories that chronicle a town, an extraordinary man, and a time forever lost to history, each on the brink of explosion and change.

On a lazy Sunday in 1954, twelve-year-old Jerry Schilling wandered into a Memphis touch football game, only to discover that his team was quarterbacked by a nineteen-year-old Elvis Presley, the local teenager whose first record, "That’s All Right," had just debuted on Memphis radio. The two became fast friends, even as Elvis turned into the world’s biggest star. In 1964, Elvis invited Jerry to work for him as part of his "Memphis Mafia," and Jerry soon found himself living with Elvis full-time in a Bel Air mansion and, later, in his own room at Graceland. Over the next thirteen years Jerry would work for Elvis in various capacities — from bodyguard to photo double to co-executive producer on a karate film. But more than anything else he was Elvis’s close friend and confidant: Elvis trusted Jerry with protecting his life when he received death threats, he asked Jerry to drive him and Priscilla to the hospital the day Lisa Marie was born and to accompany him during the famous "lost weekend" when he traveled to meet President Nixon at the White House. Me and a Guy Named Elvis looks at Presley from a friend’s perspective, offering readers the man rather than the icon — including insights into the creative frustrations that lead to Elvis’s abuse of prescription medicine and his tragic death. Jerry offers never-before-told stories about life inside Elvis’s inner circle and an emotional recounting of the great times, hard times, and unique times he and Elvis shared. These vivid memories will be priceless to Elvis’s millions of fans, and the compelling story will fascinate an even wider audience.

This is the first of two volumes that make up what is arguably the definitive Elvis biography. Rich in documentary and interview material, this volume charts Elvis' early years and his rise to fame, taking us up to his departure for Germany in 1958. Of all the biographies of Elvis - this is the one you will keep coming back to.

In this gorgeously illustrated book, Japanese ikebana expert Yuji Ueno shares his novel ideas on how to create simple yet elegant arrangements from readily available flowers, branches, vines, grasses and twigs. He artfully combines these in simple vases and quirky recycled containers to suit the occasion and mood. All the containers and plant materials are easily obtained, and readers are encouraged to use whatever is around them rather than going out to buy exotic or expensive items.

When George Klein was thirteen, he couldn't have known how important the new kid in class - the one with the guitar, the boy named Elvis - would become in his life. But from the first time GK (as he was nicknamed by Elvis) heard this kid sing, he knew that Elvis Presley was someone extraordinary. In this heartfelt, entertaining and affectionate memoir, George Klein writes candidly about their close friendship, which began at school and continued through Elvis's rise to fame and the wild swirl of his tumultuous life, right up to the singer's tragic death. Writing with the authority of someone who was in the midst of it all, from the good times at Graceland and hanging out with Hollywood stars to butting heads with Elvis's iron-handed manager, Colonel Tom Parker, GK reveals who the King really was and how he acted when the stage lights were off. Full of anecdotes and first-hand accounts of some of the most defining moments in the legend's life, Elvis: My Best Man captures the true essence of the man behind the music.