Peter GuralnickClient Information
6 August, 2025Print
Peter Guralnick’s ‘The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World’ out now via Little, Brown and Company
“A new entry in Guralnick’s Presley chronicles is practically the equivalent of an update to Robert Caro’s series on Lyndon Johnson” - The New York Times
Listen to Guralnick discuss ‘The Colonel and the King’ on Fresh Air with Terry Gross:
Upcoming release events planned for Elvis Week in Memphis (August 15) + conversations with Peter Wolf in Boston (August 6), Ace Atkins in Oxford, MS (August 18), Ann Powers in Nashville (August 20), Elvis Costello in New York (September 9) and Many More
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Peter Guralnick builds on his storied four-decade Elvis Presley odyssey with the release of ‘The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley and the Partnership that Rocked the World,’ out now via Little, Brown and Company. In celebration of this highly-anticipated new work from Guralnick, the award-winning author recently sat down with The New York Times for an Arts section cover story - in which journalist Ben Sisario noted “if anyone could…put the story of Parker into proper context, it is the music historian Peter Guralnick.” He also joined Fresh Air for an in-depth conversation with Terry Gross last week - diving into the complex, misunderstood and - ultimately - transcendent partnership between Presley and Parker. Read an excerpt from ‘The Colonel and the King’ via Variety, who note that this new work from Guralnick “dramatically humanizes Parker from the one-dimensional Svengali depicted for decades”: https://variety.com/2025/music/news/how-elvis-presley-was-discovered-by-manager-colonel-tom-parker-1236477762/
Order ‘The Colonel and the King’ here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/peter-guralnick/the-colonel-and-the-king/9780316399449
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Widely regarded as America’s preeminent music biographer and a lauded expert on Presley - including work that "revolutionized Presley scholarship" (New York Times) in 'Last Train to Memphis' and 'Careless Love' - 'The Colonel and the King' finds Guralnick revisiting Graceland (via The Netherlands) through meticulous research and thousands of never-before-seen letters culled from Colonel Tom Parker’s personal archives. The result is the most three-dimensional portrait yet of Presley and Parker’s bond, presenting the pair as they’ve never been seen before: with all of their brilliance, humor, and flaws on full display. Guralnick will travel the country discussing ‘The Colonel and the King’ this year, beginning with a sold-out hometown event at the Cambridge Public Library - in conversation with Peter Wolf - on August 6. Upcoming events will also include a trip to Memphis for Elvis Week 2025, where he’ll discuss ‘The Colonel and the King’ at Graceland, as well as a Nashville event at Parnassus Books alongside legendary music journalist Ann Powers (August 20), a New York event at the Brooklyn Public Library on September 9 with Elvis Costello and an Oxford, MS stop at Square Books with Ace Atkins (August 18). Additionally he'll appear at AmericanaFest in Nashville, the Texas Festival Of Books in Austin and Massachusetts events this fall in Newburyport (September 20) and Brookline (September 24). A full list of currently-announced 'The Colonel and the King' events is below.
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Peter Guralnick - 'The Colonel and the King' Events
August 6 - Cambridge Public Library - Cambridge, MA (with Peter Wolf)
August 15 - Graceland - Memphis, TN (Elvis Week 2025, in conversation with Tom Brown)
August 18 - Square Books - Oxford, MS (with Ace Atkins)
August 20 - Parnassus Books - Nashville, TN (with Ann Powers)
September 9 - Brooklyn Public Library - New York, NY (with Elvis Costello)
September 11-12 - AmericanaFest - Nashville, TN
September 20 - Jabberwocky Books - Newburyport, MA (with Scott Billington)
September 26 - Brookline Booksmith - Brookline, MA (with Paul Burch)
November 9 - Texas Festival Of Books - Austin, TX (with Michael Hall)