Around five-plus years ago, John Townson and Gordon Minto published various titles as a digital flipbook. The reason was simple economics, the sheer volume of material they had collected for their 'Elvis UK' projects would make it (too) expensive to publish a traditional paper book for private publishers in a niche market.
And while the economics sounded logical, and the digital flipbook functionality worked very well, readers, including this one, still preferred a physical copy. Fortunately the authors found a way to publish affordable paperback editions of their recent work and started to re-publish their digital work on paper. With the release of 'Elvis UK - Cover Story' the last digital book transitioned from a modern e-book (back) to a physical paperback.
Design
Readers familiar with the 'Elvis UK' books know what to expect regarding the structured way these authors present their information. This book follows the same format, but where the previous books were text heavy - John and Gordon love "typing away" on their keyboards, going the extra mile in their research and explaining everything in detail - this book is almost fifty percent text and graphics. Looking at the subtitle 'The ultimate Guide To Elvis Presley's British EP and LP Sleeves 1956 - 1977', that is only logical.
The thick paper and full-color presentation of the content adds to the general impression that you're holding a quality book in your hands. What I especially enjoyed were the many original photographs of the (cropped) pictures we know from the covers in our collections.
Added to that are several non-cover illustrations, like Elvis waiting between the scenes of 'Clambake' (page 202). The overall black design with the now well-known 'Elvis UK' logo fits in nicely with the other books in this series in your library.
Content
We collectors are a strange breed, using Google, Discogs, eBay and other digital outlets each day to expand our collection, but for a quality catalog or encyclopedic publication we don't want a Wikipedia-clone, no we want to hold a real book, even if it offers exactly the same content as the digital equivalent.
This book can in no way be compared to the old cover art books by Paul Dowling - who doesn't own a copy of his 'The Ultimate Cover Book' from 1996 - or the German 'Elvis Record Covers' book which offered primarily pictures of record sleeves. If you were lucky, titles like this featured a release from an exotic country, but those books never offered the complete story. This is where the work of these two authors distinguishes itself.
This book expands on the previous work by these two authors, this time examining the various aspects of the vinyl UK cover-art. They are companions to the 'Elvis UK' discography books. This books adds the context that Tunzi's back cover-art book from earlier this year omitted.
I do hope the collectors of UK releases realize just how lucky they are, that John Townson and Gordon Minto present everything there is to know about their releases in such meticulous detail.
Following the introduction explaining their thoughts and reasons for this decision, the 20 chapters in this volume offer everything there is to know and discover "about and behind" the covers of the records in our collections: adverts, back cover photographs, corporate details, credits, cut-outs, for UK fans only, front cover fact file, hidden history, inserts, laminated, non-standard LP covers, printing companies, record shops, sleeve manufacture, sleeve notes, spines, stereo records, stickers, titles and of course the "winning sleeve".
Reading this book, you learn how much there is to discover on each of these cover elements, most we probably take for granted, each time we hold a record in our hands, not always realizing that almost every element is there for a reason. This book points that out, in meticulous detail. But thanks to the engaging writing-style, this isn't a book 'for Elvis LP nerds only'.
To quote the most famous Dutch football player, Johan Cruijff: "You won't see it until you understand it", and that is exactly what we get. The authors did their research, and present you with the facts and illustrations to back them up, but they also offer the opportunity to discover it yourself.
The chapter about the sleeve-notes illustrates this nicely. Some readers may think they are just "marketing blurb," but next to the tracklisting, that is what many of us read first picking up an album. In this book the authors offer us the differences in these texts for the various pressings and countries of origin.
The same goes for the credits; you would expect the people who contributed to an album would get the same respect and recognition on each (original) release. But it appears that more credit is passed along in the States than on the British isles. Overall, the comparisons are made between the U.K. and U.S. releases, this way we learn where the UK releases differ from the US releases, which is probably the starting point for most collectors.
Nice graphic examples include the four photos from 'Paradise Hawaiian Style' on the back-cover of the 'Clambake' soundtrack, the use of Elvis' head from a photoshoot for 'Girl Happy' and pasting it on the picture for 'Frankie and Johnny' for the album sleeve. Something no-one discovered for about 40 years until Roger Semon stumbled upon the original photograph. Presented together, you see the differences.
The authors traced the back-picture of the 1970 re-issue of 'Elvis' Christmas Album' back to the original photograph from the 1968 'ELVIS TV Special' and even show how many degrees it was tilted. Nerdy but fun detective work.
The cover art is not shown in page-filling pictures, this may be a surprise to some readers, but in each chapter, the relevant element is superimposed, once again, when pointed out to you, you know where to look. The "production dates" on some of the 'Strictly Elvis' Extended Play are presented almost complete. I can only imagine how much research has gone into this.
Here you also see that this book complements and expands on other books in the 'Elvis UK' series. In a real sense, this book is an adjunct / reference source to the other volumes offering details into things many people may be wholly unaware of.
Next to the almost scientific approach to record sleeves, the authors express their criticism in humorous ways. Not only pointing out humorous (as another word for "stupid") mistakes by RCA or the Colonel, but also adding some fun elements themselves. I really like the picture of Elvis giving "the bird" to the design of the 1973 Camden 'Separate Ways' LP. And the "winning sleeve" shows that the authors are no fools :-)).
One of the joys of this book is the obvious love and enjoyment that the authors have for Elvis' recorded work - but at the same time they show the right amount of humor and delight in the many stupid mistakes that RCA and The Colonel decided to foist on UK's general public.
Conclusion
I can continue to highlight interesting elements from the book, or discoveries I made, but this is the kind of body of work that collectors can buy blindly to make their own discoveries and educate themselves. Townson and Minto provided all the elements.
This physical edition confirmed for me once more that there really is a difference between browsing and reading. And the latter is exactly what this physical version offers, allowing you to really take it all in. Combined with the high quality research and structured presentation, these books belong in each Elvis (UK) book library.
It is not a book you'll read cover-to-cover, but a scholarly reference that - with the help of headmasters Townson and Minto - will educate you, chapter by chapter. And for around UK£40, this encyclopedic discography offers real value for money.
Note: The authors stated that the digital version will now be deleted from the back catalogue, perhaps a good reason to return to an old fashioned paper edition (meant in the best possible sense).
On Sean Tarrant's 'Sincerely Elvis Presley YouTube channel you can watch an unboxing video of this new book.
Get the book
The print copy of Cover Story costs £40 and can only be ordered via our website >>> Elvis UK Books website. You can also find details of all their other recent publications: 'Elvis UK' (digital copy only), 'Elvis UK2', 'Beyond RCA', 'Extended', '78 RPM' and, most recently, the three volumes of 'Compact'. Each of them highly acclaimed.
