The book is available from my webshop at >>> Polar Tunes.
Because the price of paper and shipping have gone up recently, the book is also available from Amazon, here are a few quick links:
>>> Amazon.com
>>> Amazon U.K.
>>> Amazon Germany
>>> Amazon France
>>> Amazon Japan
>>> Amazon Australia
>>> Amazon Canada
Signed editions are available from the author at >>> elvis @ xs4all.nl. For wholesale enquiries please use the same address.
Exclusive Hardcover Edition
Also available is a Poplar Tunes Exclusive hardcover edition. The latter is a bit more expensive as it is made 'print-on-demand'.
>>> Poplar Tunes webshop.
The preview video
Reviews Elvis Day By Day 2022
Review by Rogier van Luyken - It's Elvis Time
From an interview with Kees Mouwen in the Memphis Flyer: “In the 'Elvis Day By Day - The Year In Review' yearbook series, I try to capture everything about Elvis Presley, day by day and year by year, because we don't always realize how quickly we forget everything that happens. Do you remember what you were doing three years ago, let alone what was happening in Elvis Presley's world three years ago?
This ‘Elvis Day By Day - The Year In Review’ book series preserves Elvis Presley's modern legacy, the future collectibles so to say. All the news, as it happened, featured all new book, music, and movie releases, including in-depth reviews of the major ones. The ‘Elvis Day By Day’ yearbook series is your Elvis Presley reference, today, tomorrow and forever.”
We have previously written about Kees' yearbooks. And once again, the I had the honor to make a modest contribution to this year’s publication, so writing a review requires an objective view to inform you as honest as possible. Fortunately, Kees makes it very easy for me, because even without my contribution, this voluminous, 400+ page edition is another finger licking book. And if I may say so, this 2022 edition is the best of all Yearbooks to date.
Kees has discovered a niche in the market and with success. Because my goodness: there is so much to do every year in regard to our hero. In the news, but also in terms of the never-ending, almost swirling stream of releases in all kinds of areas. And you can now read all about it in this beautiful new book, which now deals with the year 2022.
I’ve spent hours of browsing, reading and marveling at all those releases. It does not seem to me that it is feasible for a fan to purchase all those releases in a year. I read a lot about our hero, but I also see a lot of things passing by in this book that I apparently missed and that really should still be included in the collection.
A number of releases receive a very extensive and informative review. The analysis of all released mixes of 'Aloha From Hawaii', following the FTD release, stood out for me. Very readable and beautifully designed. But besides this huge overview of 2022, this book is much more. There is a foreword by the well-known and respected Phil Gelormine (Elvis World) in the Elvis world. Bizarre and sad fact is that Phil sadly passed away recently and it is probably one of the last things he did. Phil also provided a beautiful photo to accompany his foreword, taken by himself on April 9, 1972, Hampton Roads, during the afternoon concert.
In addition to reviews, you can read interesting interviews with Mariusz Ogieglo from Poland who published his third Elvis book (translated: 'Elvis: All The King's Records') and that provides a very intriguing look at how Elvis is viewed in the former Eastern Europe.
Also special: an interview with writer Gary Parker about his book: 'The Sonic Swagger of Elvis Presley - A Critical History of the Early Recordings'. In connection with the 'ELVIS' movie there is also a very good new interview with the well-known writer Alanna Nash.
So besides just a summary of what came out in 2022, this is really a book that has much more to offer. You can find and read all this and much more in a beautifully designed 'Elvis Day By Day - 2022'. And yes; Objectively speaking, I can say with confidence that this 2022 edition is highly recommended and that Kees has once again delivered a marvelous piece of work!
Review by renowned Elvis Biographer Paul Belard
Elvis Presley biographer Paul Belard reviewed the 2022 edition of 'Elvis Day By Day'. This is the 6th review since the release of the book 1 month ago.
First, let’s get what’s unwelcome about this release out of the way! I’m beginning to accumulate years and every time a new copy of this book arrives, it’s a reminder another one has been added to the pile. I know, nothing I can do about it; still, at my age, it can’t be ignored.
But this forlorn feeling disappears as soon as the package is unwrapped. Here we have a hefty volume, well over 400 pages, the largest of all the books published so far in this series. The color cover is attractive with an Elvis semi crouching on the stage in one of those poses he favored in the seventies. He holds the mike in his right hand, the left with fingers curled as if he wanted to grasp and hold on to the meaning of the song he was performing. Great picture!
In the first pages, there is a detailed table of contents that is a real help in navigating the ocean of information overflowing from this book. The foreword is heartbreaking. It was written by Phil Gelormine who since sadly passed away in early February. Phil was a freelance photojournalist who worked on Billboard magazine.
He reviewed Elvis' records, concerts and even the 'Aloha' TV special. His photos were featured in magazines, TV shows and Rolling Stone magazine. Phil was lucky to be in the audience at thirty-two of Elvis' performances. Along with his main collaborator, Dave Wolven, Phil attended Elvis' seventies personal movie sessions at the Memphian.
When Elvis died, he began publishing the magazine Elvis World which ran for quite a few years. I subscribed to it and it was always a pleasure to read it. This foreword is a timely, albeit sorrowful, reminder of how great a fan Phil was.
What follows is a seemingly endless list of events that happened in the Elvis world in 2022. Of course, the highlight was the release of the Baz Luhrmann's No. 1 award winning 'ELVIS' biopic and soundtrack. Its worldwide success was an immensely gratifying pleasure for us Elvis fans. A ten-page review does justice to this film which is destined to become a classic. Since the movie is in a way narrated by Tom Parker, Alanna Nash who wrote a book about Elvis’ manager updated it to coincide with the release of the movie. She was interviewed by Kees and Nigel Patterson of the Elvis information Network. It is an exhaustive and informative piece to which I had the privilege of being invited to add my two cents!
Of course, every book, every vinyl, every CD released in 2022 is reviewed by Kees and others, often with original material. As an example, to support the release of the Volume 2 about Polish records released between 1966 and 1977 by Polish author Mariusz Ogielo, Kees and Nigel Patterson interviewed the author. It is a fascinating look at the way Elvis was ostracized in that country under the communist regime and the clever extremes the Polish fans went to to obtain his records. I was delighted to learn that Elvis has a star on the Avenue of Stars in Krakow.
The presentation is very well thought out. The text is laid out on two or three columns, making the read stress-free on the eyes. The pictures are sharp and easily blend with the writings on pages of different colors. I have published a series of books myself; I must say with a hint of envy that Kees’ books are a lot more attractive than mine.
It is a reference book that does not need to be read in one sitting. One can pick a subject, randomly or intentionally. Kees’ books are ones that one will go back to regularly, if only to be reminded that Elvis’ legacy is not moribund. Their pages are proof that indeed it is alive and well. Elvis often said he was afraid that he would be forgotten. “They’re not going to remember me; I’ve never done anything lasting.” He may have left the stage in mid-song, but little did he know that his legend is forever encased in stone like King Arthur’s Excalibur sword.
Thank you for the kind words Paul, nice to read how you connected the various elements in the book as a whole.
Mariusz Ogiegło wrote why you should buy this book
Mariusz Ogiegło, author of the book ‘Elvis All the King's Records 1966 - 1977’ and webmaster on the Polish Elvis Promised Land website, wrote a review explaining why you should buy the book ‘Elvis Day By Day 2022 - The Year In Review’.
There are some ironclad truths about the Internet. One of them is that the Internet is an inexhaustible source of information, the other is that nothing ever gets lost online. And it's hard to disagree with either one of these two.
After all, it is enough to enter the subject we need information on in any search engine and within seconds a complete list of results will displayed on our screen. When we want to know when our favorite book or album was released, all we have to do is enter its title in the search-box and seconds later you will get all the necessary information.
So when it seems that everything important is already available on the worldwide web, do we really need anything else? Until recently, I thought, no I was almost convinced, that the answer was “no”. However, my opinion changed drastically quite when I received the book ‘Elvis Day By Day 2022 - The Year In Review’ by Kees Mouwen. He is the author of the blog Elvis Day By Day, which is appreciated by fans around the world.
A beautiful, 400+ pages, richly illustrated reference, in which the author meticulously presents and discusses all the Elvis Presley publications that were released (probably) around the world last year. Everything that is important to me as a fan and collector has been collected in one place. All the discs - official and bootleg - as well as books, DVDs, Blu-ray discs and more, are presented in chronological order.
The author provided solid commentary or in-depth reviews for some of these releases, so that I - and every other reader of this book - knows which release is worth getting and which ones to avoid.
And although what I wrote above should be reason enough to add this book to your Elvis library, it is also worth mentioning that the author also included interesting interviews, including my favorite one with Alanna Nash, and reviews and articles on Baz Luhrmann's ‘ELVIS’ movie. So we get absolutely everything here, the complete year 2022 in a nutshell (everything Elvis Presley, that is).
In addition, the book has been beautifully designed, is illustrated with many color photographs and has been published on good quality paper. This makes reading ‘Elvis Day By Day 2022 - The Year In Review’ a real pleasure, especially when listening to Elvis' music at the same time, like the new box ‘Elvis On Tour’ set.
And there is something else that makes this book absolutely unique and for me personally the reason why it has a place of honor in my collection. Namely, the fact that Kees also included a review of my book ‘Elvis All the King's Records 1966 - 1977’ and the interview we did in 2022. Thank you very much for that!
You will understand that I highly recommend getting ‘Elvis Day By Day 2022 - The Year In Review’.
Thank you Mariusz, I appreciate the kind words, and you are right, when you read the book you get the concept.
Review from Germany
Michael Sander wrote a review of the 2022 edition in the 'Elvis Day By Day' series for the German Elvis Club Berlin forum.
Kees Mouwen has just published the 5th volume in his ‘Elvis Day By Day’ yearbook series. With the 2022 edition just out, which includes two articles co-written by me and Kees - a modest 10-page contribution on a total of 420 pages - I thought it was time for a review. Despite my participation, I tried to be completely objective.
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.
I said I would be objective, so to be honest, I'm still skipping these pages at the moment, because they consist of a lot of still well-known releases - news that happened not all that long ago - so it doesn't contain anything new at the moment. The official press releases and announcements of future releases are often just exaggerated advertising and usually unnecessarily long. The author once stated that he writes reference books, “to preserve future memorabilia / content in a digital world where everything disappears after a while … and don’t we all love books with old newspaper clippings, advertisements and so on?”.
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.
The reviews are inserted at the appropriate place and stand out visually. Apart from the table of contents, you can clearly see where the next review starts when you flip through the book. And you can see right away whether a release has any relevance. Positive or negative, all essential releases are presented with a review. With the abundance of reviews, however, it is now difficult to go into further details. As an example I want to show you the Follow That Dream ‘It Happened at the world’s Fair’ LP review, which I think is spot-on.
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!
Gerrit's Rocking Bopping Hopping Review
Gerrit de Jong reviewed the 2022 edition of 'Elvis Day By Day - The Year in Review'. Here is his straight rocking bopping hopping review:
How can one not enjoy the design of the new 2022 ‘Day By Day’ book from Kees Mouwen? With ‘Elvis On Tour’ celebrating its 50 anniversary in 2022, this book pays tribute to the event by using the overall poster design.
Am I truly immodest to say how glad I am to provide a very small part in this book? I am a 100% proud of it that in contrast to some other projects I worked on last year and I want to thank Kees for allowing me to do this.
The book is over 400 pages and it includes also interviews with Alanna Nash among others which I extremely enjoyed. It's also nice that, while reading the reviews, you find yourself agreeing or not agreeing and realizing that it's always about taste. And in my taste, this book is absolutely positive.
The 2022 Day By Day book is available in soft and hardcover and it's a recommended read which proves that Elvis is still a force to be reckoned with, and as long as guys like Kees Mouwen continue their work Elvis will be on everyone's lips every day.
For more on Kees Mouwen also check out his Day By Day blog and order your copy on Popular Tunes. You have Gerrit’s straight rocking bopping hopping fun loving guarantee you won't regret it!
What can I say Gerrit, other than "Thank you "big bopper from Fryslan"!"
Readers Reactions:
Graham R Knowles on Facebook: Love these books. What I usually do is backtrack to the better CDs books etc featured within because the info is precise and I can pick only the items I want to own. Also I look forward to a new year with this book(s) leading the way.
Anthony Stuchbury summed it up nicely: "Once again Kees Mouwen provides an essential reference book for all things Elvis from 2022. You just can’t beat dipping into a real book for this kind of thing, and personally, to me, it’s easier on the eye than keep looking at a damn screen!"
Martin Kloster posted: "A must have every year".
Jayne Bhardwaj said: "I’ve got to buy these. Anything Elvis as I’m addicted!. Look compelling reading!"
The Elvis Files magazine reacted: "Looking great as always".
Martin St. Pierre reacted: "I received my copy and it is simply fantastic. You are doing an amazing job. Thank you for all these hours devoted to our Elvis and especially for us. I'm going to have hours of fun reading and watching all of this. Thank you, thank you very much!"
Jean Christophe Escleine wrote: "I have just read it with, and as always, the reviews are very good! What a pleasure to see all the titles that were released over the course of each year, and particularly in 2022. Thank you again for the dedication and especially for the enormous effort that you make to collect all the information over each year and present it like this!"
Pascal Dorschner posted on Facebook: I recommend these books to everyone! This is a perfect summary of the ELVIS universe over the past year. And so much has happened in a year!
Susanlouise Maud reacted: "I have got this book I think it is fantastic. I collect Elvis Presley books and anything to do with Elvis Presley on amazon.
Niels Bohrman stated: "I think its cool and beautiful! Good job!"
5-star review on Amazon Canada: Fifth volume of this magnificent series. I am impressed with the thoroughness and detail of this book. A titanic job. Thanks to the author of this book. Elvis left us over 45 years ago and it's amazing what we can still find out about him. This book is a bit of a bible or testament devoted to everything that came out only during the year 2022. In fact, I don't just recommend this book, but the whole series of books. These are essential books. Many thanks to the author and I am already looking forward to his next publication.
Giuseppe Castiglia shared his first impressions of the 2022 edition of ‘Elvis Day By Day’. All I can say is, “thank you, thank you very much!”, this really inspires my to continue the series.
I have to say that I have zero knowledge on design, but I can tell what looks good on the eye. First of all, the graphics within the book are excellent! I love that everything has a corresponding picture to it. Items gone at auction, magazines, records etc. The reader is never left to imagine what the subject of the article / write up, looks like.
I love the use of different colors for the pages that match the background or main color of the item displayed. I enjoy also the way you take elements from a release (title or logo), blow it up and place within the article, it looks really good. Love the bright colors and the fact that you made sure the text is easy to read, very important.
The articles are, as usual, varied and well written. I enjoyed your review ‘Boston '71 Back To Back’, very comprehensive, the "ELVIS’ soundtrack and others. I really appreciate your honest review of ‘Prodigy’ and ‘The Airplanes and the King’ books. It is important for a book like yours to stay impartial and occasionally criticize when needed.
I though the audio analysis of FTD’s ‘Aloha from Hawaii’ was exceptional! I really enjoyed that one. The best of the best for me, is the review of the movie ‘ELVIS’. Rogier Van Luyken has delivered the best and most intelligent overview of this biopic. I have found that people in the Elvis world are too emotionally attached to the subject to be able to relax for 2 hours and 40 minutes and enjoy a great performance.
It makes me smile how people got upset because they're not included in the movie or they feel they should have been involved somehow. Then there are the ones that don't know the difference between a documentary and a biopic that complain about mistakes. Baz knows very well that ‘Trouble’, was recorded in '58-for example, but he needed it at that point to help the story and it's very effective. Rogier’s review is very thorough and pleasant to read. I particularly like what he says about the positive financial impact Elvis had on movie studios, something that has been forgotten. He really "got it" and does an amazing job illustrating it. Magnificent!
Alanna Nash's interview is interesting, even more when she moves on from the movie discussion. I thought ‘The Lost Session’ FTD release deserved more, but I'm being picky. It's great to read about the many books that have come out, there are so many that you need some sort of guide to decide the ones that are worth reading and your book helps immensely. Interesting interview with the Polish collector. How interesting would be talking to someone from Poland when Elvis was alive to hear what it was like back then.
These are some of the thing that stand out for me, on my first read. I hope you can find these comments of use to you, I know how important feedback is when we present a project that we invested a lot in. Before I go back to read the rest, let me thank you again for allowing me to share some of my thoughts in your book.
Just to let you know the books arrived yesterday and all i can say is WOW!
When I eventually opened the packages (initially thought it was the new ‘On Tour’ set) I had a quick flick through or so I thought! I was literally still reading it going back and forth over the pages 2 hours later! I don't know where the time went but that shows me what an enjoyable and great product it is.
If I can compare it to other book releases, I have never, when receiving a new Lorentzen book, spent 2 hours let alone 1 browsing it as I always feel so let down by the over promise under delivery of his books. I cannot believe the amount of products released worldwide that go largely unnoticed, sure we know all about the imports from the FECC-forum and the like, but some of the other lesser known stuff is incredible.
I must admit when you released your first volume I was really skeptical thinking why do you need a book when it’s all on the net, well I am truly converted these books are as invaluable as a discography in my eyes .
Great work Kees, SUPERB in fact!
Description of the 2022 edition:
Four and a half decades, that's how long it has been since the world lost Elvis Presley. After some entertainers pass away, they fade away too. Not Elvis!
His legacy is just as diverse as it is relevant 45 years later. If the memory of his greatness and uniqueness as a musical artist has slightly faded over the past years, the stunning No. 1 Hollywood blockbuster 'ELVIS', starring Austin Butler as the man himself and Oscar-winner Tom Hanks as his manager Colonel Tom Parker, is a powerful reminder of what an unmatched giant musical and showbiz force he was - and continues to be.
And did you hear the soundtrack for the 2022 biopic? Elvis, side-by-side with contemporary artists, really rocked! Confirming once more that his life and legacy still influence pop culture today.
But there was more that made 2022 another great Elvis year. After 50 years we finally got all the concerts from 'Elvis On Tour', remastered and remixed to perfection by audio-engineer Matt Ross-Spang, just like he did with the 'Aloha from Hawaii' album. From the Follow that Dream collectors label we got the ‘Lost Album Sessions’, new concerts and vinyl re-issues. Official and bootleg labels treated us with many new titles containing new concert performances or alternate recordings, while others offered us newly created stereo mixes. Also hot this year was fan shot 8mm concert footage, especially the combination of remastered concert on CD with the live footage included on DVD proved to be a favorite among fans.
The ’Elvis Day By Day 2022’ yearbook covers all the movie released on DVD and Blu-ray, new music releases on CD, vinyl, cassette-tape and digital platforms. Also included are books from all corners of the world on his all aspects of his life, faith, the SUN recordings, the German and U.K. and LP catalogues, the marketing of his first movies, his cars, planes, pilot and much more.
Added to all the news, this 2022 yearbook contains 55 reviews on all the important releases, including the year’s Top 10 must-have releases and warnings which ones to stay-away from and an in-depth interview with renowned Elvis-author Alanna Nash, talking about Colonel Parker and the 2022 biopic and more.
Yes, Elvis still matters today, and with this 5th volume in the series - over 70 pages bigger than the 2021 edition! - you hold the proof in your hands.
The Foreword was written by Elvis World's Phil Gelormine.