From the moment that he first shook up the world in the mid 1950s, Elvis  Presley has been one of the most vivid and enduring myths of American  culture.



Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley is the first biography to go past that myth and present an Elvis beyond  the legend. Based on hundreds of interviews and nearly a decade of  research, it traces the evolution not just of the man but of the music  and of the culture he left utterly transformed, creating a completely  fresh portrait of Elvis and his world.



This volume tracks the  first twenty-four years of Elvis' life, covering his childhood, the  stunning first recordings at Sun Records ("That's All Right," "Mystery  Train"), and the early RCA hits ("Heartbreak Hotel," "Hound Dog," "Don't  Be Cruel"). These were the years of his improbable self-invention and  unprecedented triumphs, when it seemed that everything that Elvis tried  succeeded wildly. There was scarcely a cloud in sight through this  period until, in 1958, he was drafted into the army and his mother died  shortly thereafter. The book closes on that somber and poignant note.



Last Train to Memphis takes us deep inside Elvis' life, exploring his lifelong passion for  music of every sort (from blues and gospel to Bing Crosby and Mario  Lanza), his compelling affection for his family, and his intimate  relationships with girlfriends, mentors, band members, professional  associates, and friends. It shows us the loneliness, the trustfulness,  the voracious appetite for experience, and above all the unshakable,  almost mystical faith that Elvis had in himself and his music. Drawing  frequently on Elvis' own words and on the recollections of those closest  to him, the book offers an emotional, complex portrait of young Elvis  Presley with a depth and dimension that for the first time allow his  extraordinary accomplishments to ring true.



Peter Guralnick has  given us a previously unseen world, a rich panoply of people and events  that illuminate an achievement, a place, and a time as never revealed  before. Written with grace, humor, and affection, Last Train to Memphis has been hailed as the definitive biography of Elvis Presley. It is the  first to set aside the myths and focus on Elvis' humanity in a way that  has yet to be duplicated.