Review The King of the Bling

One of the most productive authors in the Elvis world, visual biographer Paul Bélard, recently published his second book of the year; ‘Elvis The King of Bling’. 

With this book he puts the record straight on where some of the newer artist tried to claim a position, that obviously belongs to the King.  

 

Design

The 220-page full color book, sized 8.5 by 11 inches, follows the design of previous titles from this author. And since this is primarily a picture book, showing the bling of the King, size matters. 

The design is very easy on the eye, with a strong focus on the graphic element, allowing the picture of the jewelry speak for itself, supported by pictures of Presley wearing the items. The latter adds to the credibility of the featured “bling”. 

Using glossy paper would have made the gold, diamonds and other bling shine even more, but that would also have made this book more expensive, especially with the prices of paper and printing going up year after year. The quality of the images varies, due to being obtained from various on-line sources, but this does not take the shine away from the content. 

 

Content

Talking about content, it is impressive, you could say that Bélard opened another Elvis Presley treasure as chest of you look at all that gold, diamonds and other typical seventies material.

On the backflap the author refers to an article in the NY Times magazine in which the  author argued that the story of hip-hop could be told “through the stunning and surreal evolution of the jewelry the artists wear.” And while the author of the article is correct, he forgot to mention that there was one artist who showed the way and who got away with wearing very flamboyant jewelry, accessories, golden guns and even a Gold Lame suit to top it off!

This book is the proof of that. As Paul Bélardd stated: "If it is true that the term “bling” entered the vocabulary at the turn of the 2000s, Elvis was the “blinger” par excellence before the word came into use."

Some of the observations I made while reading it. First off, it is all a matter of taste, some pieces are simple and beautiful by design or in the craftsmanship it took to create them. Just take a look at the 1972 Peacock necklace which Elvis gifted to Linda Thompson. Others are plain ugly like the silver and turquoise gun belt buckle. But I’ll leave the final judgement to you as a reader.

Several items have become iconic like the TCB and TLC pendants, the Neo-Nautic sunglasses, the Ramshorn or Lion's Head and Lion's Claws (wearing those while accepting his Jaycee award and visiting President Nixon in the Oval Office), the Maltese Cross, the Tree of Life pendants and of course the 1969 Las Vegas Attendance belt. Next to the obvious expensive materials, Elvis' love for materials like Indian turquoise is presented too.

All of these items are connected to Elvis, and have become part of his legacy. It takes a big name to get away with jewelry like this. But our man could, as he demonstrated with so much humor during his Madison Square Garden press conference in 1972 showing off his Attendance Belt.

Some items tell the story of his life and career, as they were gifts and mementos to and from girlfriends, lovers, friends, family, record company and personal managers and yes, even total strangers. The author of the NY Times magazine was right, you can a story, based on the gold, silver and diamonds.

Several expressive items illustrate the style of the period, especially the items from the seventies using silver and turquoise material, others reflect his pride as an American (using the Star Strangled banneer design in diamonds). 

Also presented here are examples of Elvis' personal interest in the "higher powers". We see Elvis wearing Christian symbols like a Cross, but also a Chai and a Star of David. He once jokingly said that he "didn't want to miss getting into heaven on a technically". 

Elvis was a big spender, and shared his wealth with (too) many people if you look at the number of Elvis jewelry available. The author wrote about Elvis' motivation to share his riches in previous books. 

Looking and the number of items that hit the auction block - a main source of information for the author - it amazes me that those who received gift like this from Elvis don't seem to be attached to them, as they were sold, even when Elvis was still around or shortly after his passing. Also interestingly, prices vary over the years, going both up and down. "Elvis Gold" isn't a secure investment.

Conclusion

The book is another relevant addition to the ever-growing Elvis Presley library. Together with the previous books on Elvis' bling, this is a good reference of what was made, and what it out there somewhere. Including a book on Elvis watches, this is the 4th book from Bélard on Elvis’ “bling”, and I’m sure there is more to follow.

And, looking at the content presented in this book, Bélard is right, Elvis is the original King of the Bling, you hold the proof in your hands when you read this book.  

The book is available from Amazon sites, if you want a signed copy - making it more valuable :-) - you can contact the author by mail. 

Copies of 'The King of Bling' can be ordered directly from the author Paul Bélard at pbelard@hotmail.com or from >>> Amazon U.S. or an Amazon outlet near you.

Listen to an interview Paul Belard did with the Two Blokes chatting Radio Show on Jy 20, 2024.