Elvis: From Black And White To Technicolor

Arts & Photography

Belard, Paul F

Music

Linden Press

Paul Belard's publishing objective is to effectively do what has been done by other author's in a dominantly narrative form, by presenting the Elvis story (close to day by day) in a predominately visual format. Consistent with his intent to record the Elvis story chronologically in pictures, there is minimal text, Belard letting the hundreds of impressive images tell the story. What narrative there is includes a one-page Preface, each day being introduced by brief text describing the major events of that 24 hour period and some historic documents and fan recollections. The book also features a number of fascinating and rare "archival" media and industry news reports.about the period covered. The page design is very effective. The paper stock is of matte type with each page framed in black. The visuals are uniformly of a high standard and many are rare - there are a very small number of poor quality images which Belard has included due to their rarity and historical interest. As a group, the images are an eye-pleasing mix of many black and white and a smaller number of color photos. Many images are full page in size. Verdict: Elvis historian Paul Belard's Elvis December 1956 is another fine release in his series of Elvis photo-books aimed at presenting a full history of the Elvis story in visual form. Its strength is in bringing together all of the most important and rare photos relating to this month in Elvis' life. Nigel Patterson for the Elvis International Network.

Elvis, December 1956

Another day-by-day account of a month in Elvis' life. This time author-researcher Belard details (essentially in photos) what Elvis did in March 1956, a very busy and important month in his career. The month featured three appearances by Elvis on television, three performances on the Louisiana Hayride, and a mid-month tour of Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky and Washington D.C. Late in March 1956 Elvis also flew to Los Angeles for his first screen test and on his return home to Memphis he moved home from 1414 Getwell to 1034 Audoban Drive. The myriad of photos (a mix of candids and professionally captured) are mostly in b&w with a number of color images including the 'colorised' image of Elvis on motorcycle used for the May 1956 issue of The Enthusiast and color images of Elvis during his television appearances. The book also features a variety of interesting archival material/reproductions and each day is introduced with text setting the scene. Most of the images are of good quality, a few reflect their age and are included due to their historical importance/rarity.

Elvis, March 1956

Paul Belard's publishing objective is to effectively do what has been done by other author's in a dominantly narrative form, by presenting the Elvis story (close to day by day) in a predominately visual format. Consistent with his intent to record the Elvis story chronologically in pictures, there is minimal text in Elvis 1960 Seven Days in March, Belard letting the hundreds of impressive images tell the story. What narrative there is includes a one-page Preface and each day being introduced by brief text describing the major events of that 24 hour period. There are substantial sets of photos corresponding to each of the titular seven days, from Elvis' press conference at the enlisted men's club in Friedberg on Tuesday 1 March to his arrival back in Memphis on Monday 7 March. In-between, Belard offers: <ul> <li>nearly 40 pages of photos covering Elvis leaving his German home in Bad Nauheim;</li> <li>rare images from Elvis' plane ride back home via a short stopover in Scotland (Wednesday 2 March);</li> <li>60 pages showcasing Elvis' arrival back in America and being met by Nancy Sinatra (Thursday 3 March);</li> <li>Elvis' last Army breakfast and Army discharge (Friday 4 - Saturday 5 March); and</li> <li>the triumphant train ride (and stops) from Washington to Memphis (Sunday 6 March).</li> </ul> The book also features a number of fascinating and rare "archival" media and industry news reports about Elvis' discharge and return to America, including articles from The Scottish Daily Mail, The Daily Record (Scotland), Variety and Billboard. The article titles include "Teenagers Mob Presley," "Elvis rocks Scots fans for an hour" and "A bewildered Elvis pays a flying visit." Their inclusion is valuable as they provide the right amount of contextual atmosphere to reinfoce the impact of the story being told by the book's visual content.There is also a color image of the "Welcome Home" telegram Elvis received from the Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra. The page design is very effective. The paper stock is of matte type with each page framed in black. The visuals are uniformly of a high standard and many are rare - there are a very small number of poor quality images which Belard has included due to their rarity and historical interest. As a group, the images are an eye-pleasing mix of many black and white and a smaller number of color photos. Many images are full page in size. Verdict: Elvis historian Paul Belard's Elvis 1960 Seven Days in March is another fine release in his series of Elvis photo-books aimed at presenting a full history of the Elvis story in visual form. Its strength is in bringing together all of the most important and rare photos relating to Elvis' Army discharge and return to Memphis as well as historically important archival material. Nigel Patterson for the Elvis International Network.

Elvis 1960, Seven Days in March

Review After working for several engineering companies, Paul Belard, a mechanical engineer, was hired by New York Telephone in 1990. It was a complete change of culture, going from stressful sixty or more hour-weeks to not too taxing thirty-five hour weeks. However, it did not last. The overdue aftershock of the monopoly breakup of AT&T began to resonate, not in a good way. The easy pace of his first years became more frantic as the Company, now facing competition, had to adjust to thougher times. Endless reorganizations, offers to leave the company followed by nonstop layoffs and extended working hours became the norm. Meanwhile, several mergers reconstituded a giant known as Verizon. The author takes you through these tumultuous years, uncovering some of the inner workings of a corporation, its self-inflicted wounds and the trauma of September 11, 2001.Despite having been "volunteered" to retire, the author maintains an undisguised affection for this company and relates his experiences with humor and authenticity.

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