Peter Guralnick's Definitive Biography 'Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock N' Roll' Out November 10 (Little, Brown And Company)

 

Author's First Book In A Decade Chronicles Life Of American Icon

Fall Book Tour + Live Events Confirmed; Country Music Hall Of Fame And Museum Exibit On Sam Phillips Co-Curated By Guralnick Runs Through next Summer In Nashville

In ‘Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘N’ Roll,’ Peter Guralnick (author of the Elvis biographies ‘Last Train to Memphis’ and ‘Careless Love’) calls upon his 25-year-long acquaintance with Sam Phillips and extensive interviews with artists including Ike Turner, Howlin’ Wolf, Rufus Thomas, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis to present the definitive biography of Sam Phillips. Guralnick illustrates how Phillips’s Alabama childhood, his struggles with depression, and his complex and highly individualistic personal life all contributed to making him the visionary genius who singlehandedly steered the revolutionary path of Sun Records and American music. 

Sam Phillips was an American original, as compelling in his own right as Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, and William Faulkner.   He discovered some of the greatest talents music has ever seen: Howlin’ Wolf, Ike Turner, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley.  He owned Sun Records and produced and/or recorded some of the most iconic songs of all time, songs that served as the foundation for rock n’ roll. 

In Guralnick’s highly anticipated new book, his first in a decade, Phillip’s determination and conviction bursts from the pages – an intimacy that only a close friend could capture.  "A wonderful story that brings us deep into that moment when America made race music its own and gave rise to the rock sound now heard around the world,” says Kirkus Reviews.

Peter Guralnick has been called “a national resource” by critic Nat Hentoff.  Of his prize-winning biography of Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan wrote, “Elvis steps from the pages.  You can feel him breathe.  This book cancels out all others.”  Guralnick, is a GRAMMY-winner, and Ralph J Gleason award winner and wrote the scripts for the documentary ‘Sam Cooke/Legend’ and Martin Scorsese’s blues documentary ‘Feel Like Going Home.’ 

Peter’s fall book tour includes the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Library of Congress in Washington, the Strand in NY and more, with an LA event to be announced.

Book tour/events:

9/18 - Raleigh, NC - 7:00 PM - Southern Independent Bookseller's Alliance - SIBA Supper

11/11 - Memphis, TN - 7:00 PM - Brooks Museum - Talk/Q&A/Signing

11/12 - Atlanta, GA - 7:00 PM - Margaret Mitchell House - On-stage interview event w/ Hank Klibanoff

11/13 - Oxford, MS - 5:00 PM - Square Books

11/14 - Nashville, TN - Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

11/17 - Portland, OR - 7:30 PM Powell's - Talk/Q&A/Signing

11/18 - Seattle, WA - 7:00 PM - Elliott Bay Bookstore

11/19 - Los Angeles, CA - 8:00PM - GRAMMY Museum - A conversation w/ Conan O'Brien

11/23 – New York, NY – 7:00PM – The Strand

12/2 - Washington, DC - 7:00 PM - Library of Congress

12/3 - Cambridge, MA - 7:00 PM - MIT with Pen New England

1/14 - Florence, AL - Florence Public Library

 

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