Product Description

"Maybe someday I will write a book..." – Elvis Presley

In his lifetime, Elvis never did get the chance to pen his story—but he told it through his hundreds of interviews and letters to friends, family, and fans. this book consists of the words Elvis himself spoke and wrote, from his early career through his rise to superstardom, accompanied by rare and previously unseen photographs.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #790579 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-04
• Released on: 2006-04-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Review
"A terrific idea and a badly needed book. Bound to be one of the half-dozen most essential Elvis books ever." -- Mary Hancock Hinds, author of "The Elvis Bibliography," 1999

"Anyone interested in Elvis Presley would have to get this book! It's an exceptionally fine work with a beautiful cover and some extraordinary photos." -- MSNBC-TV, 1999

"If you can own just one book about Elvis Presley, this is the one!" -- ABC-TV, 1999

"Pure and simple, people will learn more about Elvis Presley by reading this book than any other way I can think of." -- Singer, Ronnie McDowell, 1999

From the Author
"Maybe someday I will write a book." Elvis spoke these seven words in response to a reporter's question about Presley's army experience. Unfortunately, during his mere 17 years of life following that comment, Elvis never got around to writing a book, whether about his two years in the army or an autobiographical one.

Elvis - Word for Word now takes its place in the world of Presley literature as the closest anyone will ever get to reading the personal thoughts and feelings of Elvis Presley.

With this project, we made verification our prime directive. It is crucial that readers know, if we could not verify words attributed to Elvis, they do not appear in this book. Since Elvis - Word for Word is not a collection of anyone's personal memoirs and recollections, and in keeping with our steadfast rule against hearsay, we use no citations of what someone - even including this writer - claims Elvis once said.

And so it is that Elvis Presley never wrote a book, though many, many others certainly have. As of this writing there are over 1,200 Elvis books, magazines and major literary pieces that we know, and probably many others we have yet to discover.

Seemingly every imaginable Presley topic has now been investigated, contemplated and gathered together in print. His life story has now been told numerous times, each version a little differently.

All those books, but not once has Elvis really had his say. Now he does and you will read it here, exactly as he shared it ... word for word.

From the Inside Flap
Elvis Presley never did get the chance to write that book, but accumulated in these pages are the words and phrases he may have chosen if he had. Elvis -- Word for Word leaves behind all the hearsay and rumors to get down to the essence of the man.

What you'll read are Elvis's words and only Elvis's words. From his first minor radio appearance to the last letter he wrote before his death, Elvis -- Word for Word includes only what can verifiably be traced back to Presley. You'll see the actual letters he wrote to fans, lovers, and friends as well as photographs, many rare or unknown, that chronicle his meteoric rise to fame. You'll experience the voice of Elvis at the beginning of his career -- youthful and naïve -- and you'll hear this voice grow and mature, becoming tired and jaded as the years progress. This is the story of Elvis that has never been told. A story in his own words, word for word.

Customer Reviews

Elvis-Word for Word - glad The King could sing!
What he said, exactly how he said it... From his first minor radio appearance to the last letter he wrote before his death. Verifiable Elvis Presley telegrams, letters to fans, his lovers & friends as well quips with a slew of rare & unknown photographs.

Elvis & Jerry became friends in 1967, when they both lived in Memphis, Tennessee. Jerry was a deejay then & played The King's disks the most. For more than two decades, when someone calls Graceland asking about Elvis collectibles, they are routinely referred to Jerry Osborne & his series of Presley reference books.

Elvis was not noted for his conversational skills however, I have a feeling we didn't know how funny he actually could be. He cracked some deadpan, off-the-cuff quips that you can just hear him drawl

This has to be for dyed-in-the-wool devotees who want to know every "Thank you" & "Oh Yeah!" & "Yes sir" The King ever uttered or his simple, polite Thank You Notes, congratulatory telegrams & holiday greetings. Sometimes I get the distinct impression that The King just didn't understand what all the fuss was about nor why anyone would want to ask some of the innane questions they did. When he was asked about music, however, he waxed positively poetic!

In his letters, Elvis did quite well, even has a lilt that comes through & it's surprising to see just who he wrote to. There is also a fascinating photographic history of this Legend's public life - a who's who of show business & movies!

If you know any Elvis fans & want to give them the ultimate present, then Jerry Osborne's Elvis-Word for Word is as good as it gets! For my full review do check out [my website].

Through Elvis' eyes
Through the years, lots of books have been published with Elvisquotations such as: "And then he said/He said something like...etc. Never before has there been a book, that wrote exactly what Elvis said about what. No interpretations from writers, friends, family, producers or any other person except than those of Elvis himself.

The book chronologically writes down Elvis' words, from the interviews in Shreveport Louisiana (October 1954), several phonecall conversations while he was in the army (1958-1960), a very long speech from Las Vegas in 1974 (as released at the bootleg CD "Desert Storm") and letters.

About 130 black and white pictures can be found inside this book, including a picture of the last letter Elvis wrote (5 August 1977) and copies of several telegrams. In a way, this book can be considered as Elvis' autobiography, because the main focus of this book is what Elvis thought, said and wrote (and you can trace all the words Elvis said yourself, because every time the source is mentioned---mostly tapes, LPs, CDs, handwritten letters etc.)

Straight from the horse's mouth!
The thing about Elvis is he never wrote an autobiography, so for too long "the real" Elvis had to be revealed by "those who knew him."

Finally here's a comprehensive collection of things Elvis really said.

In this book are transcriptions of press conferences, concerts, and letters.

The biggest thrill for me was the publication of the letters Elvis wrote Anita Wood while he was in the Army. As far as I know, she hasn't allowed them to be shown previously (in the P.S.'s Elvis tells her to never show them to anyone).