Alfred Wertheimer: Elvis and the Birth of Rock and Roll

by Chris Murray

The King of Rock n Roll is born: The making of Elvis, behind the scenes Elvis who? was photographerAlfred Wertheimer s response when, in early1956, an RCA Victor publicist asked him to photograph an up-and-coming crooner from Memphis. Little did Wertheimer know that this would be the job of his life: just 21 years old, Elvis Presleywas as we now know about to become a legend. Trailing Presley like a shadow, Wertheimer took nearly 3,000 photographs of Presleythat year, creating a penetrating portrait of a man poised on the brink of superstardom. Extraordinary in its intimacy and unparalleled in its scope, Wertheimer's Elvis projectimmortalized a young man in the very process of making history. Now available as a TASCHEN standard edition, Elvis and the Birth of Rock and Rollcollects Wertheimer s most remarkable Elvis shots from that magical year, along with a selection of his historic 1958 pictures of the star being shipped off to an army base in Germany. Each chapter is illustrated with a poster by Hatch Show Print, one of the oldest letterpress print shops in America, which created many early Elvis posters in the 1950s. Text in English, French, and German

336 pages, Hardcover

Published February 7, 2022

Reviews

[Madelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

i got the multi-lingual version, making this a little confusing to navigate. but the photographs are irreplaceable. makes me sad that we were never permitted this level of intimacy and closeness to e in terms of the photographs taken of him after this.

[Kristen R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will cherish this forever!!!!!!

[Artiom Karsiuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, this little thing? Just a hefty 3-kilo XL photo album of a young 21 year old Elvis, right on the cusp of superstardom. The young King of Rock and Roll~!
Sober, drug free, happy, naive and full of hope. Well before he lost himself in fame and all of its sweet vices, as these photos cover only 1956-58.
Just beautiful photos of a handsome son of a gun.
In the immortal words of Alannah Myles, "The boy could sing, knew how to move, everything".

[Katiemiao · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the quotation from Robert Caga,"If your pictures are boring,it means you're not close enough."Alfred Wertheimer did so.For fans of Elvis, this book is worth buying. For me, I just finished reading in our bookstore. The cover is not as good as its content. Except that,well, it was a visual journey.