February 01 - The Woman Who First Recorded The Golden Boy

Graphic Elvis Presley biographer Paul Belard published a long overdue book, 'Marion Keisker: The Woman Who First Recorded Elvis Presley'.

The 309-page biography of Marion Keisker covers her early days in Radio broadcasting, working together with Sam Phillips, founding SUN Records and the Memphis Recording Service, recording Elvis Presley on his first acetate and everything she did after that.

Publicity stated: At the Jaycee ceremony in January 1971, honoring Elvis Presley as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation, Elvis saw Marion Keisker in the  audience. As he approached with Priscilla, he said, “This is the woman I’ve been telling you about. She’s the one who made all this possible. Without her, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Marion was Sam Phillips’ assistant when he established the Memphis Recording Service, and later Sun Records. She is best remembered as the first person to record Elvis in July 1953, then encouraging Sam Phillips (numerous times) to record him "commercially", therefore playing a pivotal role in Elvis’ ascent towards the pinnacle of his career.

Throughout interviews given, Marion discloses the workings of Sun Records, the sessions and Elvis’ moods during those first days of his career. There is a trove of little known or unknown anecdotes many fans will delight in. This book is a fitting and well-deserved tribute to Marion.

The book is available from >>> Amazon.

Golden Boy Elvis 

The German Golden Boy Elvis fan club published its first digital magazine for 2025. 

It contains reports on Elvis' 90th birthday, new book, movie and music releases, articles on Elvis in Germany, reviews and much more. I especially enjoyed the feature on the 'Elvis Day By Day 2024' yearbook  :-) Overall a nice "in-between" until the first physical 2025 magazine is available.

For more information on the magazine visit the publisher's website at: >>> www.goldenboyelvis.de or contact them by mail at service@golden-boy-elvis.de.

Remembering Lisa Marie

Today would have been Lisa Marie Presley's 57th birthday. Priscilla Presley posted: "You're Always On My Mind 💗". Graceland posted: "Happy Birthday, Lisa Marie Presley. Today, we are remembering and celebrating your life. 💗"

(Source: Nigel patterson / Amazon / Volker Christensen / Graceland / Priscilla Presley)

Elvis Day By Day 2024 Reviewed

The 2024 edition of 'Elvis Day By Day - The Year In Review' has been out for 2 weeks and the first reactions and reviews on social media, webshops and magazines are positive with 5 star reviews on Amazon stating:

A series of essential books: "It's a book I've been looking forward to. A real reference not just for fans, but for everyone. It's amazing what's going on after all these years. I own every book in this series. They are all an incredible source of information. Great reference books and nothing is forgotten for each year. 

It's a titanic job. High quality books. With incredible print quality. Interviews and analysis to better understand the impact of the main outputs. And these analyses are fair and precise and often give us a different perspective and above all makes us want to get them."

Riveting Book full of colossal information: "Like all previous editions of the book, from front cover to back it is an invaluable addition to my collection of Elvis Books".

On the first day of release, the book climbed to the No. 1 spot on Amazon U.S. Pop Culture Encyclopedias best seller list and on the Hot New Releases lists for the categories 'Almanacs & Yearbooks' and 'Pop Culture Encyclopedias'.

From Facebook: "I was very impressed with last years Elvis Day By Day News 2023 book! If you want a book that looks great, is easy to use and captures all the releases and news from 2024 using stunning imagery and a great layout this is a must buy for me."

"This is my annual bible, 480 pages! A must-have! Thumbs up!".

And today Piers Beagley wrote a great review in the Elvis Information Network, stating: "Elvis is still impacting the world we live in. His legacy is truly stunning. To appreciate Elvis’ lasting impact we actually need an “Annual” summary where we can take it all in - and this is what ‘Elvis Day By Day 2024’ provides.

Over the 480 pages there is so much to discuss, lots to debate and always stunning images. Plus some delicious negative reviews. What makes the Elvis world so fascinating 47 years after his death is that there is still so much talk about and so much being released - both good and bad! And always plenty still to investigate and learn. If you are an Elvis collector I think you will truly enjoy this book."

Read the complete review on the >>> Elvis Information Network website.

 

Do you want a copy too? Go to the Poplar Tunes webshop for signed copies of the >>> paperback edition or the >>> hardcover edition.

Or visit your local Amazon store through these direct links:
>>> Paperback edition from >>> Amazon.co.uk.
>>> Paperback edition from >>> Amazon.com. 
>>> Paperback edition from >>> Amazon.de. 
>>> Paperback edition from >>> Amazon.ca.
>>> Paperback edition from >>> Amazon.co.jp.
>>> Paperback edition from >>> Amazon.com.au.

You can also get the book from the >>> United Elvis Presley Society or >>> ElvisMatters fanclubs or >>> Bennies Fifties webshop. More webshops will be added shortly.

February 01 - Charts February 2025 - Week 1

Elvis Presley’s name can always be found on the U.S. Billboard and Official U.K. charts, here are the rankings for week 1 of February 2025. 

Sales appear slightly better than last week in the U.S. and U.K., but fell back in Greece. 

Official U.K. charts:

• On the Official Album chart, the 'ELV1S 30 #1 Hits' dropped 1 spot, from No. 40 to No. 41. 
• On the Official Streaming Album chart, the 'ELV1S 30 #1 Hits' also lost 1 spot and dropped to No 36. 

Irish IRMA charts: (to be updated)

• Official Irish Album chart: 'ELV1S 30 #1 Hits' couldn't continue the climb from the past few weeks, and dropped from No. 74 to No. 81.  this week.  

U.S. Billboard charts:

• Top Country Album chart: 'ELV1S 30 #1 Hits' won 1 place and climbed to No. 33. 
• Top Rock and Alternative Album chart: 'ELV1S 30 #1 Hits' gained 3 places and climbed from the last place on the chart to No. 47. 

Greek Charts:

• Greek IPFI Album Top 75: the 'ELV1S 30 #1 Hits' compilation dropped from No. 10 to No. 28. 
• Greek IPFI Album Top 75: 'The Wonder of You' (with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) dropped off the chart after last week's re-entry at No. 65. 

(Source: Billboard / Official Chart Company / IRMA / UK Mix Forum/ IPFI / Amazon / NY Times / Publisher's Weekly / Entertainment Weekly / ARIA / Forbes)