Late December 2023, early 2024, Alner published ‘Elvis On Record The Definitive Guide to UK Record Releases 1956-1965 Volume 1’, the first of a two-volume set covering in part the same UK record releases on more than double the number of pages.
In a joint interview with Nigel Patterson from the >>> Elvis information Network and Elvis Day By Day, author Paul Alner took time out to discuss what is a massive upgrade to his already excellent, 2017 book.
DBD / EIN: What is the Paul Alner (Elvis) story?
Paul Alner: My first purchase of an Elvis record was ‘Moody Blue’ in 1977, I was 12. I would go to Woolworths every Saturday and by a 45 with my pocket money. I would buy chart singles, ABBA, Showaddywaddy, The Sweet etc. If I liked the B-side then I would get the next 45 by that artist.
Of course, not long after this Elvis died and it was impossible not to know something seismic had happened. Early in September I saw the album charts through the window of Woolworths and this Elvis guy had umpteen albums in the top 30. I thought he must be good and I should find out more. The following day I bought a Camden for 99p, ‘Easy Come, Easy Go’, many young fans started with these records, cheap but cheerful.
I loved it! ‘C’mon Everybody’, ‘Follow That Dream’ and ‘A Little Less Conversation’, I was hooked! I wanted the ‘40 Greatest’ next but although it was at number 1 it had been deleted and I couldn’t find it anywhere. I browsed the racks and chose ‘G.I. Blues’ (I had heard of ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ at least). The album got played to death, every other week I would add another, ‘Loving You’ and ‘King Creole’ were next… There was no stopping me now, and it hasn’t stopped.
I continue to buy new releases but only Sony or FTD and always support discographies produced by other collectors. If I had to pick a favorite my song would be ‘A Big Hunk O’ Love’ (on original 1959 vinyl not the digitally remastered) and movie ‘King Creole’. Contrary to many others, I loved the Baz Luhrman movie. I have visited Graceland many times and August 1997 and 2002 were very special with the shows at the Mid-South Coliseum and the Pyramid. I’m still irked that the Hall of Gold has gone from the house!
DBD / EIN: Many fans will already have your excellent 2017 release, ‘Elvis On Record: A Comprehensive Guide to UK Record Releases 1956-2017’. Why should they buy / what can they expect, in your new edition?
Paul Alner: The 2017 book I now see as a Layman’s guide. At the time it was everything I wanted it to be and the thought of doing another was not considered.
I can’t answer why anybody should buy it but in answer to what to expect, the reader is getting a history of Elvis vinyl production in the United Kingdom for the years 1956-65. It shows every variation of every record I could find as well as an overview of each release with chart positions, reviews and sheet music. It is more than just pages of pictures of labels.
DBD / EIN: There also will be obvious comparisons between your ‘Elvis On Record‘ series and the ‘Elvis UK’ volumes. What distinguishes each series, or is it a case there is room for two publishers of Elvis UK discographies?
Paul Alner: Ideally we would have worked together and created an encyclopedia Britannica on UK records. There is some cross over but the original 2 ‘Elvis UK’ books, from almost 40 years ago, are way out of date and have no color photography so were in dire need of an update, which is achieved in my volumes.
‘Elvis UK’ have recently produced other books which cover the background of each release. They are more of a literary series and run alongside my volumes quite nicely.
Paul Alner: Yes everything was done myself, the 2017 book was a great learning curve which I took on board with the new books. The structure is a matter of taste, I wanted photos of even the most subtle differences, as little text as possible without leaving readers scratching their head and most of all the layout had to make the pictures large enough for the naked eye without using too much space and also every record had to start on a new page which meant a lot of planning. The biggest headache was when something new was found after the page had already been formatted.
DBD / EIN: Paul, what was the hardest part of producing ‘Elvis On Record The Definitive Guide to UK Record Releases 1956-1965 Volume 1’?
Paul Alner: There were two difficulties. The first was research, what was out there? Why has this record got this label and this one hasn’t? There was no pattern to the schedule of re-pressings, it all seemed to be ad hoc which made it difficult to predict the existence of a record.
Secondly once existence was established, I needed a picture good enough to use in the book, blurry or off-centre pictures could not be used. I had to find the record myself or find an owner capable of supplying a suitable picture.
DBD / EIN: Elvis vinyl in the UK involved three record companies: HMV, Decca, and RCA. What is the background to this?
Paul Alner: This is all covered in the book intro but put simply HMV had a license to press Elvis until September 1958 this overlapped slightly with Decca gaining the license until 1970.
As you will find in volume 2 Decca didn’t stop pressing Elvis records on behalf of RCA until the late 1970s. Various other companies would also press Elvis records, initially CBS. There are no RCA pressings in the UK before 1970.
DBD / EIN: In researching your books, which record was the hardest to find, and were there any releases you know exist, but you were unable to obtain substantial information about?
Paul Alner: Believe me if I was 100% certain a record existed and I didn’t have a suitable picture the book would not have been released. Of course something will always turn up after the fact, just ask Ernst with his ‘Boy From Tupelo’. As mentioned in various sections of the book, the original Elvis UK states some records exist that I couldn’t find. I mention them but believe in most cases they are errors and don’t actually exist.
There were records that were hard to find and those will be the ones in the book that don’t have pictures as good as the others. The hardest to find would undoubtedly have been the Demos especially in the quality I have them. Fortunately, I have a special friend that supplied all the pictures.
Paul Alner: The most unexpected was discovery of the “(R)” discussed on page 481 being in two formats on the same release.
Also the discovery of Black label re-pressings being done in 1968 until now nobody had paid any attention to the press markings at the centre of the record. It was only discovered by comparing Elvis and Rolling Stones pressings, both done by Decca.
DBD / EIN: How on earth did you keep track of every release over the years, there seems to be "Too Much" to get one's head around?
Paul Alner: I really don’t know. It was a project of passion for what I was producing. If I had no interest and was just being paid for my time I wouldn’t have known where to begin and would probably have given up.
DBD / EIN: There are thousands of photos in the book. It must have been an incredibly challenging and often tedious task. How long did it take to scan all the images?
Paul Alner: Fortunately, I didn’t have to do them all myself, I have a very passionate collector friend that became the scanning department. Although I was responsible for all the photo cropping. In all it took many hours.
DBD / EIN: Is your house laden down with every release featured in the book? And which 3 records are your personal favorites?
Paul Alner: I don’t have every release in the book but a very high percentage. How else could I get a decent image if I didn’t own it or didn’t know who had it!
And my 3 favorites? I can’t say I have any. The favorite is always the next one you buy!
DBD / EIN: Which record do you think is the rarest UK record release?
Paul Alner: Wow now that is a big question! There are many sought after records but in my opinion, these are rare only because lots of collectors are after a limited supply. Having searched and studied UK records for the past ten years there are certain records I have only come across once and so must be extremely rare.
If I were to stick my neck out, I would say Variation 5 (a 1968 pressing) of RCA 1455, ‘Crying In The Chapel’, is the rarest though I could say the same for a few others. The book does denote any records I consider rare.
Paul Alner: Variation 1a of ‘Girl Happy’ a 1968 pressing. It was the last record I discovered before going to print.
DBD / EIN: Reading Elvis On Record Volume 1, there are many pieces of fascinating information. Why did RCA release Elvis' Golden Records (RB 16069) on its Red Seal label (which is normally for classical and soundtrack releases)?
Paul Alner: The reason it was a Red Seal release was purely financial. RB releases were more expensive than the RD. The cost of including the booklet meant that it was released as an RB to cover the extra cost.
DBD / EIN: Paul, you note that with the release of Elvis’ film, Follow That Dream, RCA decided not to release a single from the soundtrack, instead opting for an EP with four tracks. Was that a mistake?
Paul Alner: With ‘Good Luck Charm’ and then ‘She’s Not You’ topping the charts in May and August of 1962 the June release of ‘Follow that Dream’ did not cater for another single release in the schedule. So NO probably not a mistake, especially as the EP sold by the truckload and would have commanded a higher price.
DBD / EIN: What will readers find in your book(s) that they won’t find in other UK discography books?
Paul Alner: They will find everything in one place and no other publication or digital domain has so many photographs of so many UK releases.
DBD / EIN: Your initial Elvis on Record book in 2017 contained 450 pages. ‘Elvis On Record The Definitive Guide to UK Record Releases 1956-1965 Volume 1’, which is the first of two volumes, contains 561 pages. If Volume 2 has a comparable number of pages you will have added around 700 pages since your first book in 2017. Given your exhaustive research, is there anything left to find regarding Elvis' vinyl output in the UK?
Paul Alner: There are obviously 50s and 60s demos that I haven’t tracked down but they are almost certainly out there. Retail wise, there may be 1 or 2 minor variations (I have discovered 2 that will be included in Volume 2) and possibly 1 or 2 1968 album pressings I hadn’t come across. I wouldn’t expect to find anything earth shattering as the research was extensive.
DBD / EIN: Your single volume release in 2017 covered the period 1956 to 2017, yet your expanded volumes only cover the period 1956 - 1981, 36 years less. Why is this?
Paul Alner: The simple answer is space. If volume 2 had been amalgamated with volume 1 it would have been a 6kg book at least. That creates its own problems with binding and shipping. 1981 was chosen simply as it will create a book roughly the same size as volume 1 and it coincides nicely with the closing of the RCA pressing plant in the UK.
DBD / EIN: How has the response been so far?
Paul Alner: Having created the book, the decision was how many copies to print, after all just because you are an Elvis fan a book as deep as this about 1 subject doesn’t appeal to the majority. I am happy with the amount chosen and the reception has been fantastic, I have had no negative comments despite the high selling price.
DBD / EIN: The book ‘Elvis On Record Vol. 1’ is limited to 175 copies. Do you think the book has an appeal outside the hardcore UK fan base?
Paul Alner: 20% of the books have gone overseas. Norway, Germany, Australia seem to have vinyl collectors that are interested in the UK releases.
DBD / EIN: As a collector, and with the many discography books coming out, for which country would you like to see a discography book released, and why? Or should we simply wait on Paul Dowling to finish his worldwide discography endeavor
Paul Alner: I would love to see an in-depth German album discography the recent book on EPs was fantastic. I am aware of Paul's endeavor but in all fairness anything he does will be similar to my first Elvis On Record book and cannot be as “in-depth” as my book or the recent Japanese discography. There is just too much to find!
DBD / EIN: Can you tell us what distinguishes UK releases from other European discography releases?
Paul Alner: The biggest is the tax codes as they are unique to the UK.
DBD / EIN: In the details section for releases you identify the relevant tax code (eg. ET, KT, MT, OT, ZT). What is the significance of these codes and why are there so many different codes?
Paul Alner: Before VAT (a purchase tax in the UK). Luxury goods were given a special tax code whereby you would pay a percentage to the government. Similar to how each US state has its own tax rate on purchases. As the rate increased the tax code changed. This caused all sorts of problems for the record companies. They probably should have stuck to the original process of a sticker. In 1959 they started to print it on the label and therefore had to reprint the label each time the code changed.
DBD / EIN: The green and pink-green label 'demonstration sample - not for sale' records are an intriguing mix of one-sided and two-sided records. Is much known about RCA's policy on the 'not for sale' records?
Paul Alner: In a word "NO". We kept finding one-sided records for albums that we thought the process had stopped years before. The 1950s they are all accounted for but for the 60s it is not known exactly which albums were pressed one sided, two sided or both. They continue to surface.
DBD / EIN: Are there many of these 'not for sale' releases available for collectors in 2024?
Paul Alner: Yes we have discovered half a dozen very recently. They will be in volume 2
DBD / EIN: Paul, the archival material you include in the book is impressive. With record and sheet music covers, promo records, music magazine articles, promotional print items, and select Top 10 record charts, and more, it is expansive and exhaustive. It gives the book an important extra element to balance the necessarily repetitive discography element and make the volume even more interesting to readers. How difficult was it sourcing all the material?
Paul Alner: Fortunately, over the years I have forged friendships with other collectors that either love the paper memorabilia or collect demo records. As nobody can have it all their input has been invaluable.
Paul Alner: For years both volumes were worked on simultaneously, early on I mistakenly thought it would be one book! Therefore volume 2 is not far short of completion and should be ready in the summer of 2024.
DBD / EIN: Can you share a few details or a teaser which readers may find in volume 2?
Paul Alner: There is one record included from 1969 that is quite a surprise. Although from 1970 to 1981 there were far less label variations there were many records pressed by other companies that I have tried to help the reader identify. Surprisingly there are many records issued during the period that are extremely rare.
DBD / EIN: Vinyl has been enjoying a renaissance in recent years. What is your view on its longer-term future?
Paul Alner: I have to say its renaissance was a pleasant surprise, many had written it off to the realms of history, after all it isn’t the most portable format for the new generation. Like many formats that have come before its popularity is in the hands of the companies involved, as long as new records are released and turntables are available to be purchased it will continue to thrive.
DBD / EIN: Paul, is there anything else you would like to say to our readers? Or is there a record you need they can help you with?
Paul Alner: I would like to thank everybody that has supported my book either by contribution or by buying it. It truly has been a labor of love on my part and I am just pleased I can finally share it.
If anybody has a 1968 pressing of ‘Girls! Girls! Girls!’ please reveal it as my instinct says it must exist.
DBD / EIN: Thank you for sharing the background behind this great discography Paul, we look forward to reading volume 2.
Paul Alner: Thanks guys, it was a pleasure.
Video Review
Here is an interesting review of the book from David Ward.
Buy the book
Readers interested in getting this book can go to the >>> Elvis 4 Sale website.
Or contact the author directly at: elvisonrecord@gmail.com or follow his >>> Facebook page.