Peter Guralnick and Elvis Costello Discuss The Colonel & The King

BPL Presents welcomes celebrated music historian Peter Guralnick, returning with his new biography The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World. He’ll be joined in-conversation by Elvis Costello—a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame—for an evening exploring one of the most complex, misunderstood and, ultimately, transcendent relationships in the history of music. 

Widely regarded as America’s preeminent music biographer and a lauded expert on Presley (including his award-winning work in Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love), Guralnick revisits Graceland (via The Netherlands) through meticulous research and thousands of never-before-seen letters culled from Colonel Tom Parker’s personal archives. The result is the most three-dimensional portrait yet of Presley and Parker’s bond, presenting the pair as they’ve never been seen before: with all of their brilliance, humor, and flaws on full display.

Participants
Peter Guralnick’s books include the prize-winning two-volume biography of Elvis Presley, Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love; an acclaimed trilogy on American roots music, Feel Like Going Home, Lost Highway, and Sweet Soul Music; the biographical inquiry Searching for Robert Johnson; and Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke. Guralnick won a Grammy for his liner notes for Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Square Club, wrote and co-produced the documentary Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll, and wrote the scripts for the Grammy-winning documentary Sam Cooke/Legend and Martin Scorsese’s blues documentary Feel Like Going Home. His 2015 book Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ’n’ Roll was a finalist for the Plutarch Award for Best Biography of the Year, awarded by the Biographers International Organization. His most recent book is Looking to Get Lost: Adventures in Music and Writing.

Elvis Costello has written and recorded over 600 songs, collaborating with musicians such as Paul McCartney, Burt Bacharach, Allen Toussaint, and Diana Krall. His diverse body of work includes over 35 albums spanning rock, pop, jazz, and classical, along with Grammy-winning releases like Look Now and acclaimed classics such as My Aim Is True, Imperial Bedroom, and The Boy Named If. Costello has composed for film, television, and the stage, with recent projects including The Boy Named If and the musical A Face in the Crowd. He is a member of both the Songwriters and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame.