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Portraits

By ElvisNews.com / Kees, April 29, 2008 | Book

Joe Tunzi celebrates twenty years of JAT Publishing with the book "Portraits"; a treat for us fans?

Design


The book is hard-cover and full color on glossy paper which make the pictures really "shine". A real step up from previous releases from JAT Publishing which are usually ninety percent black and white with a floppy cover. This time no calendar of bonus CD but a postcard announcing Joe's next project "Elvis Concerts".

Content


The title of the book - "Portraits" - perfectly covers the content; portraits of Elvis Presley. Contrary to a lot of Joe Tunzi's books this book is full color and that adds to the enjoyment of browsing through the pages.

Most images are from the mid-sixties with some older and less than a hand full from the seventies. The latter are shots of Elvis posing in jumpsuits, not for a portrait shot so they don't really fit in the theme of the book. The lack of portraits from the seventies was not something I actively had in mind, but most album covers from that era feature live shots from our man, so a few of those could have fitted the theme. Most pictures are well known, but there are some "out-takes" or variations of famous shots.

The book itself- hard cover and full color - looks very glossy and is a true celebration (of 20 years of JAT Publishing, congrats Joe!). This is the format I prefer my books in, not the floppy covers, it doesn't give a book a touch off class and longevity.

A minor is the lack of text. The introduction by Mike Eder on discovering Elvis and Joe's book is probably recognizable for a lot of fans. I guess we all have a story like this, but besides a list of months and years no other information is given. A few lines to place the picture of portrait shoot in it's historic perspective would have been nice to complete the picture.

Joe hid one funny joke in the book, just get and try to find it. And no finding the answer will not win you a copy, but you can win a copy by entering the quiz through our portal.

Conclusion


A good looking celebration of Elvis Presley and JAT Publishing, I hope the next book will be as classy as this one.

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Jerome wrote on April 29, 2008
You know that song, "never, never, never" will I buy a book for that price..
Steve V wrote on April 29, 2008
I know everything is going up but why do these books have to be so much money? For many years they were 39.99, then went up to 59.99. Now they are 69.99 plus 20.00 postage. No thanks. Cant believe they sell out so fast!
Harvey Alexander wrote on May 03, 2008
That's the thing - they don't sell out so fast. That's just Tunzi hype. He's been doing it for years. The gullible believe him, and by that you know who I mean - those fans who think Elvis recorded the original of 'Proud Mary' and sit drinking their coffee from Elvis mugs (how appropriate...) as their Elvis callendars hang above their Elvis magnet-covered fridges as they read the latest issue of 'Impersonator Times' while listening to Orion wearing their Elvis sunglasses.
Lex wrote on May 03, 2008
Harvey, you must be crazy! Coffee in my Elvis mug? No way! It must be Hot Chocolat, Elvis flavour of course!
GeertFromNl wrote on May 03, 2008
'Most pictures are well known' - thanks Lex,this is all what i wanted to know...
the colonel wrote on May 15, 2008
since he stared publishing in colour and hardback he now wants almost double what he used to charge and he now has to post and take orders 3-5 months in advance to make sure he doesn't end up with a pile of books to sell.
Harvey Alexander wrote on May 16, 2008
I've heard that his next book, the one on the 68 Special, has sold out already before it's gone to the printers. Next year he's doing a special with the covers of all the Christmas albums in one book, but it sold out before he could tell anyone about it. Titles he has planned for 2010 and 2011 are "awesome" but will be sold out by this weekend.