Review by Paul Richardson - Elvis: The Man And His Music
David English keeps a-movin on in his effort to chronicle specific aspects of Elvis’ post-Army career with a stunning new hardback tome. Summer Of ’61, the biggest and best of the three books that he’s produced in association with Pål Granlund this past year, focusses on July and August 1961 when The King was busy filming Follow That Dream in Florida and Hollywood. From the great cover shot of Elvis looking super-cool in wraparound shades through to the lengthy closing credits on page 387, this FTD publication is a pure delight and, as Gordon Minto points out in his foreword, will have every reader itching to watch the Kwimpers’ comic capers on the screen again.
In providing a fascinating, exhaustively researched insight into one of Elvis’ finest movies, from its announcement in August 1960 to its premiere in April 1962, Summer Of ’61 delivers a lot of bang for the buck. It tells the story through a wealth of materials that include original newspaper articles, first-hand accounts from people - including the singer Tom Petty - who saw or worked with The King, recording session information, and details of deleted scenes. The book also contains a shedload of images, most of which have been acquired from the collection of an American fan, Keith Russell. To be more precise, there are over five hundred black and white/colour photos, a significant number of which were only unearthed recently and therefore appear in print for the first time.
In addition to such things as studio portraits, publicity stills, on-set snaps and wardrobe shots are a ton of candids taken throughout Elvis’ month-long stay in the Sunshine State. Many show Elvis happy and at ease with fans and friends, co-stars, film extras and production staff, and various members of his family. There are far too many highlights to list, but my eye was drawn to pictures of Elvis rehearsing the bank scene with the wonderful Howard McNear (pp. 100–107), the fifty-two photos detailing his visit to Weeki Wachi Springs (pp. 168–205), and thirty images taken inside the Citrus County Court House, Inverness (pp. 332–351). Also worth mentioning are the three frames of 8mm home movie footage to be found on page 118. This was recorded by one young observer, Joe Stewart, and shows Elvis leaving the Marion Hotel in Ocala with his co-star, Anne Helm. One day, hopefully, we’ll get to see the film in its entirety.
As you’d expect from a magazine that has always prided itself on being as objective as possible, it is necessary to point out a very small number of things that could have been improved. For instance, in the well-known photo of Elvis holding his cousin Billy Smith in an arm-lock (p. 152), Joe Esposito is wrongly identified as Lamar Fike. And, on page 279, a main heading mangles the suggested title for the autobiography - How Much Does It Cost If It’s Free? - that Colonel Parker threatened to write.
On the whole, however, Summer Of ’61 contains considerably fewer typos or errors than David’s two previous books, Welcome Home Elvis and From Memphis To Hollywood. Much of the credit for this improvement goes to my apprentice, Master Minto, who cast an eagle eye over the proofs before they went to press.
As a bonus, in keeping with David’s two other books, the package comes with a CD containing all the songs from Follow That Dream and a few other numbers that were cut in Nashville around the same time. The only “new” things on offer are a couple of demos of ‘What A Wonderful Life’ (one of these has different lyrics and is titled ‘This Is The Life’), which you’ll possibly want to listen to only once, and a stereo version of ‘A Whistling Tune’ that’s been created by Keith Flynn using two separate sources.
Of course, what really matters is the book and, if you don’t mind me getting on my high horse, I’d like to end this review with some sound advice. Celebrate the 100th issue of Elvis: The Man and His Music by treating yourself to Summer Of ’61. It’ll bring a bit of Floridian sunshine into any household and I can guarantee that it will add a glow to every Elvis collection.
