American writer and Elvis Presley fan. The first record he owned, at 15, was Elvis. A decade later, in 1967, he first wrote about Elvis. A decade after that he supplied the Elvis story for “The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll.” Then in 1994, he published his book “Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley.”
Guralnick has published books about blues, country, rockabilly, soul music, and blues great Robert Johnson, as well as Elvis. His knowledge about his subjects is encyclopedic. Without any loss of critical intelligence, his work is about appreciation.
Born in Boston, raised in Brookline and educated at Roxbury Latin and Boston Universities, he worked for several years at Paperback Booksmith in the mid-’60s, at a record store and for several publications. He published his first book in 1971, “Feel Like Going Home: Portraits in Blues and Rock ‘n Roll” before going back to school for his Masters in writing. Preparing to teach English at a prep school, one night at a jazz and blues house he had his epiphany: that he’d rather hang out around the music scene than teach. That was the end of his ambition for the academic life.
Writing about music was a happy conjunction of missionary fervor and institution opportunity. He published “Night-hawk Blues” in 1980, and he devoted 11 years and two books to Elvis’ life.
By 1998 he and his wife, Alexandra, have been married 35 years, and live in a 200-year-old house near the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border. Their kids, Jacob and Nina, are grown. Guralnick at 55 looks younger than his years with an elfin, wiry frame and fin-boned features.
Link to Wikipedia biography