The Sonic Swagger of Elvis Presley

A Critical History of the Early Recordings


New from McFarland Publishing
Elvis Presley's clever manipulation of his numerous interests remains one of the music world's great marvels. His synthesis of country, rhythm & blues and gospel resulted in an inventive mixture of hair-raising rock & roll and balladry. This book focuses on the music of Presley's groundbreaking early years and includes a comprehensive analysis of every Presley recording session from the 1950s. Chapters show how Presley, with one foot in delta mud and the other in a country hoedown, teamed with Scotty Moore and Bill Black to fuse two distinctly American musical forms--country and blues--to form what would come to be known as "rockabilly." Also detailed is Presley's influence on music and how his contributions are still celebrated today.


Catch excerpts and reviews of Gary's new musical biography, "The Sonic Swagger of Elvis Presley" in many of today's most popular music publications including Vintage Rock issues # 55 and #57:


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Also by Gary Parker

From McFarland Publishing, "The Original Jethro Tull - The Glory Years" by Gary Parker. Fronted by Ian Anderson and populated by an idiosyncratic collection of brilliant musicians who at their peak resembled nothing less than a slightly pixilated troupe of wandering British minstrels, Tull was one of a handful of truly great rock bands to emerge from the late 1960's. With insider accounts based on exclusive interviews with key band members and rare photographs from Ian Anderson's personal collection, "The Original Jethro Tull" by Gary Parker assumes its rightful place as the definitive biography of this extraordinary group


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"Award for Exceptional Achievement"

- The Association of Recorded
Sound Collections

"A great read and a valuable contribution to the literature on this period in rock,"

- Matthew Barton, Sound Curator
U.S. Library of Congress

"Diligently researched and written"

- Prog Magazine

When tech nova Reid Temple and his partners announce they have developed a revolutionary energy source to reverse the ravages of global climate change, a stunned world rejoices. Privately, Temple battles to contain a malignant computer virus that has infected the new energy source and threatens the world with nuclear devastation. When Temple turns up missing, it falls to the woman he loves, Los Angeles news anchor Maddy Daniel, to piece together clues to the threat and the vile force behind it -- a murderous cult with a chilling ultimatum. Comply with our demands or three great cities will be destroyed. Your choice.


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Only eight times in the last 120 years have two teams tied for first place on the final day of the regular season and square off to determine a division or pennant winner in baseball. Supplemented by interviews with major leaguers, this text examines these sudden-death games.


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"Gary Parker takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride when Maddy Daniel is forced to track down the culprits in a viral plot that ultimately threatens three great cities with nuclear annihilation. Buckle-up, and hang on!"

-Richard Craig Anderson, author of the award-nominated thriller
Cobra Clearances

“The place is one long funeral song, a porridge of pitched tents and tumbledown shacks, reeking of rotting trash and human waste.” That opening line from Gary Parker's The Fourth Order was so sweet I knew I was in trouble—I desperately needed some sleep but this book said nope, keep reading, pal. So I did, and I don't regret a minute of the lost Z's. If you like novels that crackle like heat lightning, grab this book and devour it. Yeah, it's that good.”

- Best Selling Author Shane Gericke, The Fury

Gary Parker

Writer Gary Parker is the author of the new musical biography "The Sonic Swagger of Elvis Presley - A Critical History of the Early Recordings" from McFarland Publishing. Gary is also the author of "Jethro Tull - The Glory Years" which received an award for "Exceptional Achievement" from the Association of Recorded Sound Collections. Gary is also the author of the award-winning thriller from Pretorious Press, "The Fourth Order," which received the Southern California Writer's Conference Outstanding Fiction award. In addition to articles published by numerous California newspapers, Gary is the author of "Win or Go Home," a work of non-fiction that received laudatory reviews from the Los Angeles Times and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.


Contact Gary Parker: grparker@charter.net