Shortly after the announcement of the release of this new volume you could read the usual comments on various forums; “what's the point of this book when you can basically read most of it online?” Well, you could say the same thing about fan club magazines, although there is still the difference as the latter are not limited to today’s Elvis news and new releases, but also cover a wide variation of other Elvis topics. Nevertheless, the new releases with the corresponding reviews, are often the most interesting reads for me.
You could think of Kees' books as a collection of bundled 1 year fan-club magazines. And anyone who is a member of a fan club is probably well taken care of with their fan-club magazines. These fans know that the reviews they read in their favorite Elvis magazines are, in most cases, much more in-depth than what they find online. The articles in these magazines are usually written by experts who usually don’t participate or write (much) online. This is what makes these physical paper releases so great!
About the book
It's the same with Kees Mouwen’s book, the core of the book are the numerous and detailed reviews. Although I've been following all the new releases throughout the year, I actually discovered a few that I somehow didn't really pay attention to during the year, but which in retrospect, turn out to be interesting. The new mix of ‘Elvis Is Back’, released by the Danish Memphis Mansion record label as ‘Soldier Boy 53310761’ is one such example.
Anyone who thinks that the reviews are all taken from the corresponding websites is wrong. On the contrary I should say, the majority of the reviews is written specifically for the book. Several of the reviews and articles written by Kees himself were previously published on his blog, so he is both the main contributor and competition to his own book. But presented on paper, with the additional illustrations and pictures, it looks and reads a lot better than online.
Speaking of “reading better”, the large print is very pleasant too. There are books that make you lose interest, because you first need to find a pair of glasses before you can actually read it. The author consistently uses paragraphs separated by blank lines in the text - a virtue sometimes forgotten by writers - that makes reading it a real pleasure. The great advantage of a book is also that it has a table of contents, which makes it easy to find any review. How often does it happen that I want to read something again online, but have to search forever to find it. This is something you won’t find online that often.
As for the further structure of the book, it is a chronological listing of all events and new releases, as we know it from the author’s Day By Day website. This listing is divided into three columns per page, with the corresponding photos and the official text and publicity blurbs from the publishers.
That said, the listing of all these new items makes a lot of sense and does make the book colorful in the truest sense of the word. There is no saving on pictures, everything is illustrated. Visually, the books are real treats, beautiful colors on quality paper and, as I said, very pleasant to read.
Conclusion
My first thought, like last year, was what a ton of work must have gone into these books. You can only do that if you're an absolute hardcore fan. Even if a lot of content could be read on the author's website over the course of the year, it still has to be checked, corrected, and sometimes rewritten, illustrated and designed for publication in a physical book. The care and attention to detail that Kees also shows on his website can be found here too.
What is particularly pleasant, as I also know from working with him, is that Kees always maintains the necessary objectivity. Even for fans who are well informed this is exciting, because you may not always share the same opinion or have reservations about a release, but here you get to read perspectives from him and other fans, authors and Elvis experts that shed a different light on some releases.
For me personally, the whole book could be just the reviews, those alone would be worth it, but the mix makes it more attractive in the end. A complete Elvis year, summarized in a book, unique in this completeness and a nice yearbook to browse through every now and then. And in a few years it may grow into a that future reference the author mentioned earlier, just like the old Elvis Specials and magazines.
Thanks you for the honest review Michael, much appreciated and it motivates me to continue the series!
The book isa available through the >>> 'Elvis Day By Day 2022' page.