Counting Down Elvis: His 100 Finest Songs

by Mark Duffett

Over the course of the last six decades, Elvis Presley has sold more than a billion records; his music has touched nearly every modern listener. Despite an avalanche of books on his life, there are, surprisingly, few about his musical creativity. In Counting Down His 100 Finest Songs, Mark Duffett urges readers to put aside the misleading stereotypes and rumor-filled debates about Elvis and listen once again to the legend who emerged from Memphis.

Elvis had a unique approach to music—one that was both powerful and versatile. In a career stretching across more than twenty years, Presley changed the face of popular music, drawing together genres—from country and blues to contemporary folk—and placing a unique stamp on all of them. Counting Down His 100 Finest Songs explores the full range of Presley recordings, from his earliest numbers to posthumous hits, combing through gold records and unpolished gems to distill the best that Presley has to offer.

Genres: Music

270 pages, Hardcover

Published February 23, 2018

About the author

DR MARK DUFFETT is an Oxford-educated popular music researcher whose career has focused on understanding Elvis Presley and music fandom.

Dr Duffett's insights have been featured in media content from Rolling Stone, the New York Times, Discovery Channel and BBC World Service. He has been an invited speaker at conferences in Holland, Finland, London and Moscow.

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Reviews

[Carol Storm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely a ton of fun to read, this list of Elvis Presley's 100 greatest songs is guaranteed to introduce you to a whole bunch of lost Presley classics. My favorite one was "Faded Love," which sounds like it's meant to be sad but is a real fast-moving number with a groove. I do wish Mark Duffett had focused more on the hard rockers and less on the gospel songs, and dreck like "Memories." But still this is a valuable work for every Elvis fan.

[RetroHound · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good book with lots of background on the songs, the songwriters, the recording sessions, Elvis, and those around him. Well written and entertaining. Each song is listed with the album the song is from. Many of Elvis' songs are on several albums and I wish the author had explained why he chose certain versions of the song. Sometimes he did, but as I was looking songs up on Spotify to create a list (the list is public) the would have several versions, or not have the album he was suggesting, and I was trying to find the one he picked, even if it was on a different album (there are so many versions of greatest hits albums, it is ridiculous). However, it is a great read and I'd like to read it again sometime. I also very much appreciated that the author is a true Elvis fan, and isn't ashamed to brag on Elvis' qualities as a singer and as a man.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

not really this book. mine by James patterson and Brendan duBois. it doesn't seem to be listed for some reason. anyway book was good and wondering if there are others in this series.