Peter Guralnick (born December 15, 1943, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
music critic, writer on music, and historian of US American popular music, who is also active as an author and screenwriter. He has been married for over 45 years to Alexandra. He has a son and daughter, Jacob and Nina.
Guralnick's first two books,
Almost Grown (1964) and
Mister Downchild (1967), were short story collections published by
Larry StarkLarry Stark is an American journalist and reviewer best known for his in-depth coverage of the Boston theater scene at his website, . In newspapers and online, Stark has written hundreds of reviews of local productions and Broadway tryouts from 1962 to the present...
, whose small press in Cambridge, Larry Stark Press, was devoted to stories and poems. Mona Dickson, writing in MIT's
The TechThe Tech, first published on November 16, 1881, is the oldest and largest campus newspaper at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Editions are published on Tuesday and Friday throughout the academic year, daily during freshman orientation period, once a week...
(May 13, 1964) gave
Almost Grown a favorable review.
Peter Guralnick (born December 15, 1943, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
music critic, writer on music, and historian of US American popular music, who is also active as an author and screenwriter. He has been married for over 45 years to Alexandra. He has a son and daughter, Jacob and Nina.
Guralnick's first two books,
Almost Grown (1964) and
Mister Downchild (1967), were short story collections published by
Larry StarkLarry Stark is an American journalist and reviewer best known for his in-depth coverage of the Boston theater scene at his website, . In newspapers and online, Stark has written hundreds of reviews of local productions and Broadway tryouts from 1962 to the present...
, whose small press in Cambridge, Larry Stark Press, was devoted to stories and poems. Mona Dickson, writing in MIT's
The TechThe Tech, first published on November 16, 1881, is the oldest and largest campus newspaper at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Editions are published on Tuesday and Friday throughout the academic year, daily during freshman orientation period, once a week...
(May 13, 1964) gave
Almost Grown a favorable review.
http://tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_084/TECH_V084_S0180_P009.pdf
After Guralnick graduated from
Boston UniversityBoston University is a private nonsectarian university located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Although chartered by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1869, Boston University traces its roots to the establishment of the Newbury Biblical Institute in Newbury, Vermont in 1839...
in 1971 with a
master's degreeA master's degree is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in creative writing, he began writing books chronicling the history of blues,
countryCountry music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains...
,
rock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States after World War II in the late 1940s, from a combination of the rhythms of the blues, from the African American culture, and from America's country music and gospel music scenes...
and
soulSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
.
His two-volume biography of
Elvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is also sometimes referred to as The King of Rock 'n' Roll or The King....
,
Last Train to Memphis in 1994, followed by
Careless Love 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 countered earlier biographies such as
Albert Goldman'sAlbert Harry Goldman was an American professor and author.Born in Dormont, Pennsylvania, Albert Goldman wrote about the culture and personalities of the American music industry both in books and as a contributor to magazines...
Elvis from 1981 with an in-depth, scholarly examination of Presley's life and music. Guralnick had previously written on Presley in the
The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll, starting with the first edition in 1976, said article having been reprinted for each subsequent edition.
In contrast to contemporaries such as
Lester BangsLeslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was an American music journalist, author and musician. Most famous for his work at Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, Bangs was and still is regarded as an extremely influential voice in rock criticism.-History:Bangs was born in Escondido, California, USA...
,
Ian PenmanIan Penman is a British writer and, latterly, blogger. He began writing for the NME in the autumn of 1977, later contributing to various publications including Uncut, Arena, The Wire, The Face, The Guardian, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent, Screen and German Vogue.Many of Penman's...
and
Nick ToschesNick Tosches is an American journalist, novelist, biographer, and poet of Albanian and Italian descent.- Life :After different odd-jobs, Tosches started writing with poetry and rock-'n'-roll magazines, including Creem, Fusion, and Rolling Stone.Tosches' second book, a biography of Jerry Lee Lewis...
, 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. In his best passages, he has an ability to simultaneously empathize and remain objective. Writing as a music fan, his enthusiasm powers his writing but doesn't overpower it.
Guralnick wrote the script for
A&EA&E is a cable and satellite television network with headquarters in Manhattan and offices in Stamford, Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, and London. A&E stands for Arts & Entertainment, which, for many years, was in the channel's full title...
's documentary,
Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll, narrated by
Billy Bob ThorntonBilly Bob Thornton is an American actor, director, musician, playwright and screenwriter. His rise to fame began in the mid-1990s, after writing, directing, and starring in the film Sling Blade, for which he won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.-Early life:Thornton was born in Hot Springs,...
, and he also scripted
Sam Cooke - Legend,
http://www.samcooke.com/products.php?id=43 narrated by Jeffrey Wright.
In 1971, he succeeded his grandfather as director of an athletic camp for boys, Camp Alton. It was located on Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfboro, NH. The camp closed in 1992.
Books
- Peter Guralnick (1964). Almost Grown. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Larry Stark Press.
- Peter Guralnick (1967). Mister Downchild. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Larry Stark Press. Reprinted 1999. ISBN 0316332720
- Peter Guralnick (1982). The Listener's Guide to The Blues. New York: Facts on File, Inc.
Interviews
External links