Review | Elvis '57: The Final Fifties Tours Book by Alan Hanson

Books that examine Elvis' concerts tend to concentrate on those of the 1970s. In 'Elvis '57: The Final Fifties Tours', however, author Alan Hanson provides a detailed look at the three tours that provided those twenty-eight concerts. Furthermore, he does so with style. Hanson is a retired teacher of history, English and journalism, and is an Elvis fan to boot-it is difficult to imagine a better combination of qualifications for writing such a book. The result is a well written and engrossing narrative, full of detail and interest, that should please any Elvis fan.

Hanson begins his book with a brief look at the context of the tours, examining Elvis' career at the time and the reasons for the tours. Then it's into a chapter by chapter look at each stop along the tours. Again, context is important and Hanson provides plenty of background information in each chapter: the anticipation of the local population, often negative towards Elvis; contemporary press quotes; fans' activities; promotion; ticket sale arrangements, and so on. Each concert is then studied, often with information being provided about the acts that preceded Elvis in the 'Elvis Presley Show' (usually including, believe it or not, jugglers and tap-dancers!), seat prices, press conferences and, more importantly for the Elvis fan, the clothes he wore, the songs he sang (just how many times did he sing 'Fools Hall Of Fame' and did he ever record it?) and the way in which Elvis performed and how his performance was received by his largely adoring audience. Again, the narrative is backed up by contemporary reports and more recent reminiscences of those who were actually present, including fans, performers and local disk-jockeys.

Hanson is not afraid to correct some widely-held beliefs, either: the concerts were not all sell-outs as is often stated, some promoters probably lost money, and Colonel Parker was all too willing to inflate figures of all sorts in his wily attempts to promote his product.

In addition to the chapters specifically about the concert stops, several others look at related issues: the two-day train journey at the start of the Pacific Northwest tour in August 1957; the split with Scotty Moore and Bill Black; Parker's machinations. Finally, Hanson closes with an examination of the long-term impact and historical and cultural significance of the 1957 tours and Elvis in general.

'Elvis '57: The Final Fifties Tours' is propped full of information and anecdotes, much of which was new to me. It is also illustrated with 18 black-and-white photographs, few of which have previously been published in book form. Just one of these photos is poorly printed; it is a US Army photo showing Elvis performing during his very last concert of the 1950s, held at the Conroy Boxing Bowl, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, on 11 November, 1957. Given the quality of the other photos in the book, I suspect the cause of the poor reproduction is the original photo itself. Given the paucity of information about this show, however (it was not covered by the main Hawaii newspapers and only one brief review of it, which appeared in the barracks' newspaper three days later, is known to exist), the photo is a real gem.

Contrary to what one might think, given the number of titles available, it is not easy to get a book about Elvis published. Publishers seem to be interested only in those books by recognised names in the Elvis world, often providing redundant information, or rehashes of the biography, replete with the usual errors. Well researched and well written books are sadly few and far between (Marc Hendrickx has been trying for several years to get a publisher interested in the English translation of his excellent 'Elvis A. Presley: Muziek, Mens, Mythe', perhaps the best general Elvis biography available, so far without success). Alan Hanson has therefore chosen to self-publish his work through iUniverse, but don't be put off by the resulting lack of advertising hype and promotion: 'Elvis '57: The Final Fifties Tours' is one of the best Elvis books in many a year and deserves to gain the full support of all Elvis fans.

Buy it; you will not be disappointed.

Read the article Alan Hanson help us withp; The true story of Elvis' 'infamous' performance at the Pan Pacific Auditorium - October 28, 1957.

Author: Alan Hanson
Paperback, illustrated, 314 pp., incl. notes and index

This is the original review of first edition of Elvis '57 (2007)

Buy Elvis '57: The Final Fifties Tours

In 1957, Elvis Aron Presley was still a one-man phenomenon with six titles on the charts, one movie to his credit, and two movies soon to follow. But while he pursued his dream of becoming a Hollywood actor, the military draft threatened to shatter it along with his wildly successful rock 'n' roll career. Elvis couldn't resist the excitement he found performing on stage before swarms of shrieking teenage girls, and in that final year before he entered the U.S. Army, he went back on the road for three short tours.

Elvis '57 recalls that magical year when the King played to audiences a quarter of a million people strong, and controversy and pandemonium accompanied him wherever he went.

Alan Hanson takes us for a rollicking ride through eighteen major cities in the United States and Canada. Elvis wore his famed gold lame suit and thirteen girls fainted in an effort to reach him. In Vancouver, British Columbia, thousands left their seats and rushed the stage, forcing him to abruptly end the show.

Drawing on first-hand accounts from the disc-jockeys on the front lines of Elvis' exploding career and fans who attended the '57 concerts, Hanson sweeps you back to the years that forever changed the King of Rock 'n' Roll.

Alan Hanson turned to writing after thirty years as a public high school history teacher. He and his wife, Christine have two daughters, Katie and Beth, and live in Spokane, Washington. Elvis '57: The Final Fifties Tours is Hanson's first book.

BONUS:

Compact 33 vinyl EP containing:

That's When Your Heartaches Begin
Tell Me Why
Peace In The Valley
I Believe

Review | Elvis '57: The Final Fifties Tours is Hanson's first book.

Elvis '57 - The Final Fifties Tours By Alan Hanson 300+ Pictures Hardcover Book from FTD
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