Review by Nadine Steffens - Translation by Nadine Schwenk

Elvis on Tour '75 - Photos From The Heart
By Sandi H. Pichon
Author of "Raised on Elvis! Elvis! Elvis!"

I was looking with great expectations at this Elvis year, but as the anniversary of the death approached, I was increasingly disappointed in the abstinence of the official side. This year I was expecting a box set or Elvis on Tour SE. But what can the fans look forward to? To "Elvis at the movies".

The more delighting are the releases of the Memphis Recording Service. Or the latest release of Praytome Publishing. After "Paternity Suit", "Elvis in Tour '75" follows. An announcement I was looking forward to because I don't have a lot of the pictures in my collection and it is, besides 72, one of my favorite Elvis years.Let's get to the content of the book. After the forewords of Sonny West and Charles Stone and a short introduction of the author Sandi Pichon we directly go to the Tour summary of 1975. The summary is very felicitous, besides the sales of the concerts, other suits of 1975 are being shown, amongst others the Penguin Suit. The concerts included in this book are:

Jacksonville, FL - April 25, 1975
Atlanta, GA - April 30, 1975
Atlanta, GA - May 1, 1975
Atlanta, GA - May 2, 1975

It starts with the concert of April 25th in Jacksonville. Besides the basic data like the venue, the suit, the number of visitors ect. we get a picture of the arena as well as the track listing of that day. Sandi reports in an interesting and funny way, how she experienced the concert back then: the surroundings of the concerts, and how a city can go crazy when Elvis was there for several concerts. She mentions that Elvis tickets were to be raffled over a radio station. Jacksonville was - just as the other concerts of that tour - completely sold out in advance. So the rush on the radio station was so huge, that the lines of the telephone switchboard in the station failed. Not bad for someone the press called "fat and forty" at that time... The radio station then chose a different way, and informed that the first person to show up at the station with a Hound Dog or Blue Suede Shoes would get the tickets.

Parallel to that story you see pictures of Elvis on his way to the concert, entering the stage and starting the concert. All pictures are in chronological order, theoretically you could make a flip-book out of it. The pictures of Elvis you see on the first pages are "stunning". Elvis looked great and even though it is only pictures, it is easy to see that there is an artist on stage who has absolutely everything under control. Except a handful, I don' know any of the pictures in the book and they are in an unbelievably good quality. In addition you also get the information on which record the concert was "released". Elvis also talks in this book. The reports of Sandi are being followed by quotes of Elvis. When you read her stories and look at the pictures that are arranged matching the text, you get the feeling of attending the concert. One of the most beautiful pictures in this book for me is from the concert described in this book: the show from April 30th, 1975. Sandi gives Elvis a picture of him in 6th grade. The way Elvis looks at the picture makes you smile. You can see how much he likes it. It is really amazing how much effort the fans put into their gifts for Elvis and how much thought they must have given them.

After reading the book, I first listened to a show of Atlanta and looked at the pictures again. This book is related to the concept of "Born to Rock" (also released by Praytome Publishing), respectively a successor.
It is not a book that shows concert pictures of Elvis from different years with such informative subtitles as "Elvis laughing on stage" - where you see a picture from 1971 but the subtitle indicates 1975…You get details and facts with the matching pictures. The book covers one closed topic with 400 unreleased pictures. The layout and content fit together and you will find a new highlight on every single page whereas the design stays the same, which is very rare for an Elvis product nowadays. Persons are not being introduced in the beginning of the book - so that in the middle of the book you can't remember who is who - but within the story. Highlights are also the perspective shots of Elvis. You see from different angles, from the side or as a close-up, what Elvis is doing at a certain moment. That gives you an extensive insight of the concert and Elvis, where the design is really a big eye catcher because of the different angles you are about to see.On the website of Praytome Publishing you find video clips of the "Making Of" the book. They put great effort in showing the fan the process from the PC to the finished book. Praytome Publishing talks about the restoration of every single photograph of the 400 used pictures, details of the concerts were put together with a lot of effort, and you can literally see that in the book. The processing is - as usual for Praytome Publishing- really high quality: hardcover and especially the coated paper.I have to add one more thing.

At the end of the book you will find an advertisement for upcoming products, amongst others an ad for "the world's best kept secret": "Elvis Live at Sahara Tahoe"…
If that book is similar to this one and has the same quality, it will surely become a classic.