Last Train to Memphis

Peter Guralnick · first published 1994 · ISBN 9780316332255

This is the first volume of Guralnick's two-part Elvis biography, covering the singer's rise from poor Memphis boy to international star. It traces Elvis from his gospel-soaked childhood through his early Sun Records sessions to his 1958 induction into the Army, when he was still at the height of his cultural power. Guralnick moves between sessions, concerts, and backstage moments with a narrative control that feels like fiction but reads as total truth.