What's The Best Elvis Concert Photo Book?

[U.S. Male]

With the many different photo books floating around, can someone please tell me which one they think has the best 1970's concert photographs of Elvis? I have the Life of Elvis by Sean Shaver, and I love it! However, i'd like to know what other good books of this nature are out there.

[Captain Elwood David]

Unfortunately, there is nothing better than Shaver's "The Life of..." It is THE BEST - period.

The only others that come close are some of Shaver's other books, like "The Elvis Book" series.

"The Life of ..." is Shaver's best work; he never surpassed it. Neither has anyone else.


- Capt "EL."

[Lonniebealestreet]

I don't have any of Shaver's books and understand I need to do something about that, but I think Keith Alverson's ELVIS ON STAGE is really nice. Granted I don't have a lot to compare it to, but I have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of that one. Actually I have paged through a bunch of others, and I do think it is one of the better ones out there.

[Sonny]

I agree with Bobby on that: the Elvis On Stage book by Keith Alverson has some beautiful pictures!

I also like The Concert Years 1969-1977 by Stein Erik Skar. Besides some very nice pictures it has a lot of info on the shows, like newspaper reviews. It also has listings of jumpsuits, where he wore them, crowd capacity and even song listings of the concerts! A fantastic book!

Sonny

[Albert]

Originally posted by Sonny@Apr 21 2004, 05:19 PM
I agree with Bobby on that: the Elvis On Stage book by Keith Alverson has some beautiful pictures!

I also like The Concert Years 1969-1977 by Stein Erik Skar. Besides some very nice pictures it has a lot of info on the shows, like newspaper reviews. It also has listings of jumpsuits, where he wore them, crowd capacity and even song listings of the concerts! A fantastic book!

Sonny

Man, I just LOVE that book. That one is really essential for every Elvis fan who likes the concert years. You can clearly see that love for Elvis was the power behind that book (contrary to the money as power behind many quick-buck books).


Can anyone tell me more about these books:

All Elvis



Elvis Shot By Ed Bonja



Softly As I Leave You



Behind The Image (no, not Disney )



Rock'n Nassau (by Tunzi)




It's a shame that websites that are selling these books aren't giving more information than only price and picture of the cover (especially when you see what the prices are )

[NightRider]

Apart from Shavers 'Life Of Elvis Presley', which is the picture book in my opinion I don't think its ever been beaten - not even close.

That aside and The Concert Years 1969-1977 by Stein Erik Skar, which has terrific info as well as some great shots

The best 'others' that i have, must be the Tunzi's books.

A few to name -

The First Time ever
Bringing him back
Aloha via Hawaii excellent
Highway 51
Photographs and moments.......

Not sure how many he's done, at least another five or six from memory. I have more in the bookcase...these are by the pc

[P.S. Annie]

mmmmmmm, still so much to wish for

[kennyelvis]

"Softly i must leave you" is only a picture magazin, 8-10 pages, some great Shaver shots, it was good when it first come out, but almost all the pictures are not that rare anymore, so i would not pay much it today

[rod]

Shavers 'Life Of Elvis Presley',

do you know where i can get this book and how much it will cost me. :help:

[P.S. Annie]

Originally posted by rod@Apr 21 2004, 09:04 PM
Shavers 'Life Of Elvis Presley',

do you know where i can get this book and how much it will cost me. :help:

http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookSear...=hp-search-form

Hi, Rod I have found on Abebooks, the cheapest is 130 pounds

[NightRider]

Originally posted by P.S. Annie+Apr 21 2004, 11:04 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (P.S. Annie @ Apr 21 2004, 11:04 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-rod@Apr 21 2004, 09:04 PM
Shavers &#39;Life Of Elvis Presley&#39;,

do you know where i can get this book and how much it will cost me. :help:

http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookSear...=hp-search-form

Hi, Rod I have found on Abebooks, the cheapest is 130 pounds [/b][/quote]
Yes.....thats about right for a decent copy

It is not something you will pick up everyday, but if you do decide to invest you will not be dissapointed...apart from the BIG hole in your wallet

[Captain Elwood David]

Originally posted by Albert@Apr 21 2004, 08:04 PM
Can anyone tell me more about these books:

All Elvis


The vast majority of images were taken (with no credit given) from Shaver&#39;s works.

Nothing "rare" for those that are familiar with The Works of Shaver.

IMO, poor quality. A disappointment.


Elvis Shot By Ed Bonja


OK, but too many blurred images.

Below average publication. I expected more from the source.


Softly As I Leave You


Shaver&#39;s best "Tour Booklet". A favorite of mine.

Very thin, not much to it, but fantastic for the 1977 fans (most pics from "The Last Tour"). Great shot of The Lisa Marie departing for Rapid City, SD for the filming of EIC.

IMO, an historical documentation.

100% in color. Recommended, but agree with another point already made on this thread ---&#62; these sometimes go for way too much money. &#036;10 - &#036;15 - &#036;20 USD, tops. Have seen them go for much higher.


Behind The Image


Recommended. Great footage on the DVD. A bit pricey, but hey ........ the footage is UNSEEN.


Rock&#39;n Nassau (by Tunzi)


A rip-off. Poor quality, distorted images, ...... and 100% in B&W (with the exception of the cover). Way overpriced for what you get.

To be blunt, a hack job.

[spinout-designs]

If the Sean Shaver book &#39;Portrait Portfolio&#39; were in colour it would perhaps get the same kind of praise often given (and rightly so) to &#39;The Life Of Elvis Presley&#39;.

I have those and several other Sean Shaver publications and whilst &#39;The Life Of&#39; is a superb collection, Portrait Portfolio also offers a vast array of fantastic (full page) on stage shots mostly from the 70&#39;s (though all are in b/w).

Photo books from J.Tunzi, K. Alverson, E. Bonja and the photo book publications of P.Lichter also offer many fantastic photos from the 70&#39;s.

[Albert]

Since I don&#39;t own any photobook (they are so extremely expensive) I don&#39;t have any knowledge about them. I&#39;ve came across the names Tunzi, Alverson and Bonja often. Can someone tell me more about these persons and why they have so many pictures?

[Captain Elwood David]

Originally posted by Albert@Apr 22 2004, 07:34 AM
Since I don&#39;t own any photobook (they are so extremely expensive) I don&#39;t have any knowledge about them. I&#39;ve came across the names Tunzi, Alverson and Bonja often. Can someone tell me more about these persons and why they have so many pictures?

Alverson, Shaver, and others (Hill, Heis) ..... all followed EP around on the tours and took the shots themselves.

Alverson&#39;s book "On Stage" is pretty good. As already stated, Shaver&#39;s are, hands-down, the best & most sought after (& most expensive). Hill / Heis haven&#39;t put out any books that I know of.

I personally have dealt with Shaver & Heis and can recommend both.

Have no knowledge on Tunzi, but he has some great books out, too (all are worthwhile, but often just have too many B&W pics.).

Bonja was the "Official" RCA EP Photographer, appointed by The Col.. His shots grace many of the 70&#39;s vinyl artwork. I have my own opinions on Bonja (not all good).

Shaver, however, was the "Unofficial Official" EP photographer.

---------------------------------------------

Regarding "other" photobooks in general (like Rockin&#39; Nassau):

I probably would have been more than satisfied with such works had I never experienced any of Shaver&#39;s. Shaver definitely shows us what is possible if done right.

Shaver definitely spoils one and raises the bar on what is a good quality photobook. I am simply not satisfied by most others.

----------------------------------------------

All of Shaver&#39;s works are recommended and I do agree that some would have been even better had they been in color (Portfolio, etc..).

Must-owns for hardcore fans of the 70&#39;s Elvis. I say spend the dough and obtain ---------&#62; you won&#39;t regret it.


- Capt. "EL."

[rod]

thanks guys ?130. geez thats a lot must be a great book :cry:

[jbgude]

I got that SS book when it first came out - spent I think &#036;25 for it and another &#036;20 for postage -if I remember right -a whole lotta big money in those days for me - and spent a sleepless 3 months before the book finally arrived- am tempted at times to sell it ....but I guess I will hang on to it&#33;

Had a few other SS books which I passed on to a friend in the Netherlands - did not really care for "Portrait" "Photographing the King" and "Softly ..." - I have given up on Books and Magazines -just did not have the money or space so stuck to collecting LPs and then CDs......

Never really bothered to check out the other books


jb

[Captain Elwood David]

Originally posted by jbgude+Apr 25 2004, 07:35 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (jbgude &#064; Apr 25 2004, 07:35 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>I got that SS book when it first came out - spent I think &#036;25 for it and another &#036;20 for postage -if I remember right -a whole lotta big money in those days for me - and spent a sleepless 3 months before the book finally arrived.[/b]

Also got mine when it was first released. Agreed, &#036;25 was a lot back then.

As was usually the case with Shaver, the book took forever to arrive / be released (I had it pre-ordered).

Almost didn&#39;t order from him anymore because of the delay; had him pegged as a flake.

Have long since learned, ......... the delays are just typical Shaver, but he always comes thru in the end.

Originally posted by jbgude@Apr 25 2004, 07:35 PM
.... did not really care for "Portrait" "Photographing the King" and "Softly ..."

"Our Memories" & "Portrait" are my least favorites of all of his works, due to the B&W images.

Still wouldn&#39;t be without them, though.

Love "Photographing The King" & the "Softly" (the only color tour booklet).

The least essential are most of the other tour booklets / fan material he put out over the years. Not much to them, really.

Originally posted by jbgude@Apr 25 2004, 07:35 PM
Never really bothered to check out the other books....

The "Elvis Book" series is ESSENTIAL, second-in-line following "The Life of ...".

Unfortunately, this series is also the most expensive (because they are the largest, heaviest, highest quality books he ever produced).

If I didn&#39;t already own them, I would comb Heavan & Earth to find my own copies.

------------------------------------------------

<!--QuoteBegin-jbgude@Apr 25 2004, 07:35 PM
I have given up on Books and Magazines -just did not have the money or space so stuck to collecting LPs and then CDs....[/quote]

On a similar note: I almost gave up on CD&#39;s / boots back when nothing "unreleased" & horrible quality imports were the rule.

Never cared for magazines either.

Could be good or bad, depending upon how you look at it, ........ but there aren&#39;t many truly "Essential" photo-books out there, besides Shaver&#39;s.


- Capt. "EL."

[Jungleroom76]

Basically I can only expound on what others have been saying thus far on the many concert books out there...

I agree with Bobby that ON STAGE by Keith Alverson is an OUTSTANDING book&#33;&#33; Lots of great photos, and the best part about Keith&#39;s book is that none of the photos have been resized to fit the pages....each page contains only 1 photo, so each photo is shown as it was taken with no resizing at all, which eliminates the distortion that so many other concert photo books suffer from when they try to cram a bunch of pictures on one page. I would DEFINITELY recommend picking this one up if you can find it&#33;

ROCKIN&#39; NASSAU and ELVIS SHOT BY ED BONJA were both disappointments to me. As mentioned before, aside from the cover, all of the photos in the NASSAU book are in black and white and some have been poorly resized for some reason. Ed Bonja&#39;s book is better, but some of the shots are blurry, which detracts from my enjoyment of the book.

I also have to agree with NightRider on Stein Erik Skar&#39;s book THE CONCERT YEARS&#33; While it does not contain as many photos as other concert books out there, the information on each tour and the reprints from the various newspaper reviews on Elvis&#39; shows are quite informative and enjoyable to read&#33; Another great book to pick up if you can find a copy&#33;

Hope this helps you out&#33;
TCB&#33;
Mike

[MIElvis]

Wow the value of those Sean Shaver books is incredible! Glad I got em all......Should I let em go?