Peter Guralnick


Peter Guralnick is an American music critic, author, and screenwriter. He specializes in the history of early rock and roll and has written on Elvis Presley, Sam Phillips, and Sam Cooke.

Career

Guralnick graduated from Boston University in 1971 with a master's degree in creative writing. He then began writing books about the history of rock'n'roll, blues, country music, and soul music.
Guralnick's first two books, Almost Grown and Mister Downchild, were collections of short stories published by the Larry Stark Press, a small press in Cambridge, Massachusetts, devoted to stories and poems. Mona Dickson, writing in MIT's The Tech gave Almost Grown a favorable review.
His two-volume biography of Elvis Presley, ' in 1994, followed by ' in 1999, placed the story of Presley's career into a rise and fall arc. Encompassing more than 1,300 pages, the work was an in-depth, scholarly examination of Presley's life and music. Guralnick previously wrote about Presley in The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll, in its first edition, in 1976; his article has been reprinted in each subsequent edition. He also contributed the complete text for the 240-page hardcover book accompanying the 2010 30-disc CD boxed set, The Complete Elvis Presley Masters.
In contrast to contemporaries such as Lester Bangs, Ian Penman and Nick Tosches, whose music writings are marked by idiosyncratic, self-referential and highly personal styles, Guralnick's writing is characterized by a colloquial approach that is clean and understated by comparison. He has been called "the dean of rock 'n' roll storytellers".
Guralnick wrote the 727-page biography of influential record producer Sam Phillips entitled Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll. He also penned the script for A&E's documentary of the same name, narrated by Billy Bob Thornton. On October 21, 2016, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio will portray Sam Phillips in the forthcoming film based on Guralnick's book. Guralnick scripted Sam Cooke – Legend, narrated by Jeffrey Wright.
He has written liner notes for albums including Charlie Rich's last album Pictures and Paintings and the last three Jerry Lee Lewis albums Last Man Standing, Mean Old Man and Rock and Roll Time.
The Peter Guralnick Collection is located in the Southern Folklife Collection of the Wilson Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Personal life

Peter Guralnick's parents were Walter Guralnick, DMD, who helped to establish dental insurance in Massachusetts through Delta Dental, and Betty Marson Guralnick. In 1971, he succeeded his grandfather as director of an athletic camp for boys, . It was located on Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. The camp closed in 1992.
He has been married for over 45 years to Alexandra. They have a son and daughter, Jacob and Nina.

Books