JAT
Publishing has been quite productive during the last three years with a third
version of his Sessions book, smackers on Elvis’ documentaries from 1970 and
1972, Elvis As The One Called Charro and Hawaii 61. JAT Publishing’s latest
publication Elvis Starring in Oklahoma is a book featuring ninety-five (
95 ) photographs from the opening show of the July 1975 tour.
All
the photography work features in Elvis Starring in Oklahoma is from
George Wilson. This is possible the name of George Wilson won’t mean anything
to several fans or perhaps you
simply don’t remember as some of his photographs from the Oklahoma City
concert of November 16, 1970 were presented in JAT Publishing’s Bringing
Him Back . Mr. Wilson was working for Oklahoma Journal at the time
and was later inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall Of Fame .
The
year 1975 was overall a good one for Elvis when compared to the last quarter of
the previous year. He was in good spirit and sounded like he enjoyed himself on
stage, and indeed many of the soundboard recordings available to us just proved
that. The July 1975 tour was certainly an excellent one with great performances
in Richfield, OH, Greensboro, NC, both Uniondale, NY concerts and the three
famous gigs in Asheville, NC. The latter performances were definitely above
average although the whole tour is known to be very good, and most definitely a
notch over the previous tours in the Southern States.
You
can see throughout the book Elvis looked quite good when he kicked off the July
1975 tour in Oklahoma City although he gained a little bit of weight around the
waist when compared to June. Indeed his face looked a bit younger, and certainly
due to a minor plastic surgery around the eyes done in-between both tours.
The
book Elvis Starring in Oklahoma is basically a pictorial experience as
there is no text as such. On some pages you have some quotes from the original
review published in the Oklahoma Journal in 1975, and the said review
being reproduced on page 94 in the book. On page 95 you have a listing of Elvis
tour dates for 1975, and the set list for this concert at Myriad Convention
Center on July 8, 1975 on page 4.
Elvis
Starring in Oklahoma was nicely designed by Jimmy Carpenter as he put in evidence the
beautiful photography of Mr. Wilson. This work does not feature any colour
photographs since all were taken in black and white, yet their quality makes it
up for the lack of dish. All the photos are somewhat spread inside the book for
simulating the whole show in illustration. It worked as this is the impression
you get when going through the pages. All the photographs were new to my eyes
excepted for the one on page 34, which was reproduced in a Strictly Elvis
magazine of the time, yet probably reproduced from the newspaper since the
quality was below par from the ones found in this work.
If
you are someone who gets bored easily with loads of pictures from the same show,
or simply not a big fans of concert shots, then Elvis Starring in Oklahoma won’t
be your cup of tea. On the other hand, if you like to collect concert
photographs and fans of concert photo books then this new quid is for you.
Sergio Luiz from the Brazilian site Elvis Collectors Brasil put up recently an interview with Joe Tunzi on their website at http://www.elvisbrasil.com/epbrasil/jtinterview.htm .
You can also find our most recent interviews with Joe Tunzi in our Interview Section .
[The Crazy Canuck]