Editing Peter Guralnick

{{short description|American screenwriter (born 1943)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox writer
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| birth_date       ={{birth date and age|1943|12|15}}
| birth_place      =[[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], U.S.
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| nationality      =American 
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| alma_mater       =Boston University College of Arts and Sciences
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'''Peter Guralnick''' (born December 15, 1943, in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]]) is an American  [[Music critics|music critic]], author, and screenwriter.  He specializes in the history of early [[rock and roll]] and has written books on [[Elvis Presley]], [[Sam Phillips]], and [[Sam Cooke]].

==Career==
Guralnick graduated from [[Boston University]] in 1971 with a [[master's degree]] in creative writing.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Acclaimed rock music author to speak at U of O April 7 |url=https://ozarks.edu/news/acclaimed-rock-music-author-to-speak-at-u-of-o-april-7/ |website=Ozarks.edu |publisher=[[University of the Ozarks]] |date=7 March 2016}}</ref> He then began writing books about the history of rock'n'roll, [[blues music|blues]], [[country music]], and [[soul music]]. Music critic [[Nat Hentoff]] called Guralnick a “…national treasure;” [[Bob Dylan]] said Guralnick's book, ''Last Train to Memphis'' “…cancels out all others.”<ref>{{cite news |last=Miller |first=Katherine |title=A conversation with Peter Guralnick |url=https://as.vanderbilt.edu/nashvillereview/archives/13296 |work=[[Nashville Review]] |date=15 December 2016}}</ref>

Guralnick's first two books, ''Almost Grown'' (1964) and ''Mister Downchild'' (1967), were collections of short stories published by the [[Larry Stark|Larry Stark Press]], a small press in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], devoted to stories and poems. Mona Dickson, writing in MIT's ''[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]]'' (May 13, 1964) gave ''Almost Grown'' a favorable review.<ref>{{cite news |first=Mona |last=Dickson |url=http://tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_084/TECH_V084_S0180_P009.pdf |title=Stark second edition out |date=2024-05-13 |work=[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]] |page=9 |access-date=2012-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227150718/http://tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_084/TECH_V084_S0180_P009.pdf |archive-date=2023-02-27 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

His two-volume biography of [[Elvis Presley]], ''Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley'' in 1994, followed by ''Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley'' in 1999, placed the story of Presley's career into a rise and fall arc. Encompassing more than 1,300 pages (including 1,150 pages of text), the work was an in-depth, scholarly examination of Presley's life and music. Guralnick previously wrote about Presley in the 1976 first edition of ''The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll''; 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.<ref>{{Cite book |entry=Guralnick, Peter |title=Encyclopedia of the blues |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediablue00koma |url-access=limited |editor-last=Komara |editor-first=Edward M. |date=2006 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9780415926997 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediablue00koma/page/n457 393] |oclc=60590117}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.salon.com/2000/06/16/guralnick_2/ |title=The blues according to Peter Guralnick |last=Halberstadt |first=Alex |date=16 June 2000 |website=[[Salon.com]] |access-date=3 Feb 2018}}</ref> He has been called "the dean of rock 'n' roll storytellers".<ref name="Greenblatt">{{Cite news |last=Greenblatt |first=Mike |date=January 27, 2016 |title=Rant'n'Roll: One Great Read |work=[[The Aquarian Weekly]] |url=http://www.theaquarian.com/2016/01/27/rant-n-roll-one-great-read/ |access-date=February 21, 2016}}</ref>

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 Network|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.<ref>{{cite web |first=Mike |last=Flemming, Jr |title=Leonardo DiCaprio To Play Music Pioneer Sam Phillips; Launched Elvis, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Cash & Jerry Lee Lewis |url=https://deadline.com/2016/10/leonardo-dicaprio-sam-phillips-sun-studio-movie-1201840489/ |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=21 October 2016}}</ref> Guralnick scripted the Grammy Award-winning ''[[Sam Cooke]] – Legend'',<ref>{{cite web |title=Sam Cooke – Portrait of a Legend 1951–1984 |url=http://www.samcooke.com/products.php?id=43 |website=samcooke.com |date=February 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224121200/http://www.samcooke.com/products.php?id=43 |archive-date=February 24, 2016}}</ref> 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''.

He began teaching at [[Vanderbilt University]] in Nashville in 2005 in the Masters in Fine Arts program, ranked by ''[[Poets & Writers]]'' Magazine as one of the top 15 such programs in the US. He was inducted into the [[Blues Hall of Fame]] in 2010; his works –  ''Feel Like Going Home: Portraits in Blues, Country and Rock 'n' Roll, Lost Highway: Journeys & Arrivals of American Musicians, Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm & Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom'' were designated as blues literature classics.<ref>{{cite press release |last=Patterson |first=Jim |title=Biography of Sam Cooke is Guralnick's fourth Blues Hall of Fame book |url=https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2014/02/19/peter-guralnick-blues-hall-of-fame/ |publisher=[[Vanderbilt University]] |date=19 June 2014}}</ref>

He won a [[Grammy]] for his liner notes for ''Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Square Club'' in 1994, one of his six nominations for the award. He wrote and co-produced a documentary film: ''Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll''. He also wrote the script for the blues documentary, ''Feel like Going Home'', directed by [[Martin Scorsese]].<ref>{{cite press release |last=Eubanks |first=Michelle |title=Peter Guralnick - December 2017 Commencement Speaker |url=https://www.una.edu/university-communications/press/peter-guralnick----december-2017-commencement-speaker.html |publisher=[[University of North Alabama]]}}</ref>

In 2020, he released ''Looking to Get Lost'', a “book about creativity,” featuring subjects like songwriters Doc Pomus and Leiber & Stoller, musicians Johnny Cash, Solomon Burke and Tammy Wynette, among others, and of writers Lee Smith and Henry Green, as well as Elvis Presley's infamous manager, [[Colonel Tom Parker]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Lauterbach |first=Preston |title='Looking to Get Lost' Review: The Heart of Rock 'n' Roll |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=16 October 2020 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/looking-to-get-lost-review-the-heart-of-rock-n-roll-11602888279?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1 |access-date=}}</ref>

The Peter Guralnick Collection is located in the [[Southern Folklife Collection]] of the Wilson Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/20453/ |title=Peter Guralnick Collection, 1948-2010, 2013 |website=finding-aids.lib.unc.edu |access-date=2017-11-06}}</ref>

In August 2025, Guralnick will publish a new biography of [[Colonel Tom Parker]], ''The Colonel and the King'', based on previously unpublished correspondence from the Colonel's archives.<ref name="aswad"/>

==Personal life==
Peter Guralnick's parents were oral surgeon [[Walter Guralnick]], DMD, who helped to establish dental insurance in Massachusetts through [[Delta Dental]], and Betty Marson Guralnick. Peter also has a sister, Susan and brother, Thomas.<ref>{{cite news |last=Marquard |first=Bryan |title=Dr. Walter Guralnick, 100; helped launch dental insurance in Mass |work=[[Boston Globe ]] |date=7 September 2017 |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2017/09/07/walter-guralnick-who-helped-launch-dental-insurance-massachusetts-dies/07SEhMR1VAXMFFi5yLGPyI/story.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-10-17}}</ref> In 1971, he succeeded his grandfather as director of an athletic camp for boys, Camp Alton on [[Lake Winnipesaukee]] in [[Wolfeboro, New Hampshire]]. The camp closed in 1992.<ref>{{cite web |last=Guralnick |first=Peter |title=Letter Announcing Closing Camp Alton |url=http://campalton.com/images/stories/alton/1992/letter_closing_camp.pdf |website=campalton.com |access-date=8 September 2018}}</ref>
He has been married for over 45 years to Alexandra.  They have a son and daughter, Jacob and Nina.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Guralnick, Peter |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/guralnick-peter-1943 |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia.com]] |access-date=}}</ref>

==Books==
*{{cite book |author=Peter Guralnick |date=1964 |title=Almost Grown |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Larry Stark Press}}
*{{cite book |author=Peter Guralnick |author-mask=2 |date=1967 |title=Mister Downchild |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Larry Stark Press}}
*{{cite book |author=Peter Guralnick |author-mask=2 | title=Feel Like Going Home: Portraits in Blues, Country, and Rock 'n' Roll| url=https://archive.org/details/feellikegoinghom00gura| url-access=registration| year=1971 |publisher=Outerbridge & Dienstfrey | isbn=0-87690-046-5 }} Reprinted 1999. {{ISBN|0-316-33272-0}} 
*{{cite book | author=Peter Guralnick |author-mask=2 | title=Lost Highway: Journeys & Arrivals of American Musicians| year=1979 |publisher=[[Little, Brown]] | isbn=0-316-33274-7 }}
*{{cite book | author=Peter Guralnick |author-mask=2 | title=Nighthawk Blues: A Novel | publisher=[[Thunder's Mouth Press]] | year=1980 | isbn=0-938410-64-4 | url=https://archive.org/details/nighthawkbluesno00gura |url-access=registration}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Frist |first1=Simon |title=Sweet Bird of R&B |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_boston-phoenix_1981-03-17_10_11/page/n77/mode/1up |access-date=29 February 2024 |work=The Boston Phoenix |date=15 March 1981}}</ref>
*{{cite book |author=Peter Guralnick |author-mask=2 |date=1982 |title=The Listener's Guide to The Blues |location=New York |publisher=[[Facts on File]]}}
*{{cite book | author=Peter Guralnick |author-mask=2 | title=Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom| url=https://archive.org/details/sweetsoulmusicrh0000gura_g0m5| url-access=registration| year=1986 |publisher=Little, Brown | isbn=0-316-33273-9 }}
*{{cite book | author=Peter Guralnick |author-mask=2 | title=Searching for Robert Johnson| url=https://archive.org/details/searchingforrobert00gura |url-access=registration| year=1989 |publisher=[[Penguin Books|Penguin]] | isbn=0-452-27949-6 }}
*{{cite book | author=Peter Guralnick |author-mask=2 | title=Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley| year=1994 |publisher=[[Back Bay Books|Back Bay]] | isbn=0-316-33225-9 }}
*{{cite book| author=Peter Guralnick |author-mask=2 | title=Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley| year=1999|publisher=Little, Brown | isbn=0-316-33297-6| url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780316332972 |url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book | author=Peter Guralnick |author-mask=2 |author2=Ernst Jorgensen |title=Elvis Day by Day: The Definitive Record of His Life and Music | year=1999 |publisher=[[Ballantine Books]] | isbn=0-345-42089-6}}
*{{cite book| author=Peter Guralnick |author-mask=2 | title=Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke| publisher=Little, Brown| year=2005| isbn=0-316-37794-5| url=https://archive.org/details/dreamboogietrium00gura| url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book | author=Peter Guralnick |author-mask=2 | title=Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock'n'Roll | publisher=Little, Brown| year=2015 }}
*{{cite book | author=Peter Guralnick |author-mask=2 | title=Looking to Get Lost | publisher=Little, Brown| year=2020 }}
*{{cite book | author=Peter Guralnick |author-mask=2 | title=The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley and the Partnership that Rocked the World | publisher=Little, Brown| year=2025 | isbn=978-0-316-39944-9}}<ref name="aswad">{{cite news |last1=Aswad |first1=Jem |title=The Cover of 'The Colonel and the King,' the History of Elvis Presley and Manager Tom Parker, Says It All… Or Does It? |url=https://variety.com/2025/music/news/tcolonel-and-the-king-cover-elvis-presley-1236269394/ |access-date=24 January 2025 |work=Variety |date=8 January 2025}}</ref>

==Interviews==
*"An Interview with Peter Guralnick" by Griffin Ondaatje and Craig Proctor, ''[[Brick (magazine)|Brick: A Literary Journal]]'', Issue 62, Spring 1999. 
*{{Cite news |first=Peter S. |last=Sholtes |title="Caught in a Trap": Interview with Peter Guralnick |work=[[City Pages]] |date=1999-01-13 |url=http://citypages.com/databank/20/945/article6981.asp |access-date=2001-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010528143757/http://www.citypages.com/databank/20/945/article6981.asp |archive-date=2001-05-28 |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite AV media |title=Music Historian Peter Guralnick — Serious Jibber Jabber with Conan O'Brien |format=[[YouTube]] |date=2013-06-04 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvIz5iJbJgY}}

==Grammy Awards==
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Category
!Nominated work
!Result
|-
| 1984
|[[Grammy Award for Best Album Notes|Best Album Notes]]
|''Big Maybelle: The Okeh Sessions''
|{{Nom}}
|-
| 1986
|Best Album Notes
|''Sam Cooke: [[Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963]]''
|{{Won}}
|-
|1988
|Best Album Notes
|''Elvis Presley: The Complete Sun Sessions''
|{{Nom}}
|-
|1993
|Best Album Notes
|''Elvis: The King of Rock 'N' Roll - The Complete 50's Masters''
|{{Nom}}
|-
|1994
|Best Album Notes
|''Elvis: From Nashville to Memphis, The Essential 60's Masters I''
|{{Nom}}
|-
|1995
|Best Album Notes
|''Sam Cooke's SAR Records Story''
|{{Nom}}
|-
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name}}
*[http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/article.asp?fn=peterguralnicksxsw.asp For Guralnick, birthday bash starts the Elvis bandwagon rolling] By Clarissa Sansone, March 2002. [[Country Standard Time]]. ''Guralnick at SXSW.''
*[http://stereophile.com/features/750/index.html "Elvis Presley: Baby What You Want Me To Do"]. By Robert Baird, May 2000. [[Stereophile]] (magazine).
*[http://www.campalton.com/ Camp Alton - Official website]
*[http://www2.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/g/Guralnick,Peter.html Peter Guralnick Collection], Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

{{American Book Awards}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guralnick, Peter}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American music critics]]
[[Category:American music journalists]]
[[Category:American biographers]]
[[Category:American male biographers]]
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
[[Category:American short story writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Boston]]
[[Category:Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:American male short story writers]]
[[Category:American Book Award winners]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from Massachusetts]]