The book is due in 2027, but a limited edition of 50 copies was released for listeners to his ‘In de Ban van de King’ (‘Under the Spell of the King’) podcast.
Being under that same spell for almost the same number of years, I was curious to learn if the author had the same experiences I had while following in the footsteps of the King.
Design
The A5-sized, 180-page hardcover book was published by the author himself. For the cover, he uses a striking picture of the Sundial suit. Even if the cover doesn’t show Elvis or mention his name, fans will know under whose spell the author lives.
The memoir is divided into 10 chapters and an afterword, all divided into small paragraphs, making this an easy read.
The occasional photographs - all by the author - add to the story and comes off well on the high-quality paper. A nice idea was to add some elements from original posters showing how it looked when the author visited Beale Street in 1955 or Elvis’s birthplace in the forties.
Holding this book, you feel and see that the author made an effort to present his Elvis story as best as he could.
Content
The book is a real fan’s memoir, so as a reader, just a few years younger, I can relate to the introduction of discovering Elvis’s music, starting with hearing a hit on television. The 1985 re-release of ‘Jailhouse Rock’ was the starting point for many fans who weren’t around when the song was first released some 20 years earlier.
With music having changed so much from the fifties to the seventies, this illustrates perfectly how timeless some of Elvis’ early work was.
Growing up, didn’t we all start buying the cheap compilations before discovering Elvis’ better work once we grew older and could afford to buy original albums from Elvis’ catalogue?
The chapters I liked best were those in which he described his first trip to Memphis as a fan. The anticipation, the trip across the Atlantic, touching down in Memphis, being welcomed by the ever-friendly customs officers, before embarking on that last part of the journey to Whitehaven, to Graceland. Parking your car, walking up to that famous wall with the musical gates and seeing that white mansion.
Having made the trip one year before the author, I recognized almost everything, and I felt the shivers of that magic moment once more reading Jan’s experiences.
His very personal writing style helps here. You get the idea that you’re tagging along with Jan.
Fun to read that Geerling couldn’t find Elvis’s house on Winchester Avenue (fortunately he found it the second time around). I was a bit jealous that I didn’t visit Jerry Lee Lewis’s or Sam Phillips’s house. Geerling got into both, but the Killer was still asleep when he toured the house (a strange idea!), and the legendary record producer was too ill to meet fans. The author also talked his way into Humes High School, well done! And yes, I should have visited Bill Black's grave to pay my respects too. Great stories to read.
What I didn’t understand was that he cut his first visit to Memphis short; I would have loved to extend my visit to Memphis!
The author’s first visit to Memphis fills the first half of the book. The second half of the book deals with his return visit a few years later and includes a road trip to New Orleans.
Added to that are memories of visiting the Elvis capital of Europe, Bad Nauheim, Germany - where Elvis lived while serving Uncle Sam from 1958 to 1960 - and his hunt for an authentic Elvis signature. All very recognizable for a European Elvis fan.
The book is not without faults. The phrase “Elvis has left the building” was first used by promoter and radio announcer Horace Logan on December 15, 1956, not Al Dvorin.
And in the famous SUN studio, not everything, including the tiles on the wall and the plafond, is original; only the tiles are original. After Phillips sold the studio to Shelby Singleton in 1969, he sold it to a plumbing company, which eventually sold it to an auto parts store that used the original recording studio for inventory storage before it was converted back into a recording studio in 1987 and soon became a tourist attraction for Presley fans and music lovers in general.
The famous Million Dollar Session was not recorded by Sam Phillips. Audio engineer Jack Clement was smart enough to realize he had to turn on the recorder when the guys started jamming.
There are more minor faults, but the author is forgiven, as it reads like he wrote this from memory, with some additional notes updating some facts with a 2025 perspective, informing fans that some places we read about are gone now, like the Heartbreak Hotel, Poplar Tunes record store, the Hardware Store in Tupelo and more.
Conclusion
The book is a personal travelogue of a dedicated fan and reads like a pageturner. Not that it has the suspense of a Stephen King thriller, but simply because it is so recognizable for an Elvis fan.
For me, it is a real trip down memory lane. The first part of the book is a trip I made; the second part is the trip I still want to make. And the author is right, I shouldn’t wait too long with that!
For more information on the book and the author's Elvis podcast, please visit the >>> In de Ban van de King website.