Co-writers and friends, John Townson and Gordon Minto, have been collaborating on Elvis writing projects since 1980. Each of their Elvis UK series of books have been greeted with critical acclaim by fans and collectors, principally for their comprehensive, exacting and exhaustive detail.
About Us
The authors’ first collaboration was Elvis UK (which also featured contributions by George Richardson) which was several years in the making and was published by Blandford Press in 1987. It was greeted with great enthusiasm by fans and reviewers alike and quickly went on to become extremely collectible and highly sought after, despite its high retail price tag (£45).
The reviews were universally favourable and, among other things, it has often been referred as ‘… the bible’ regarding Elvis’s UK record releases as it dealt with every release individually: each single, EP, LP – and other miscellaneous releases – in great detail. Indeed, the highly influential Record Collector magazine chose it as its third best music book release of 1987. Copies now exchange hands for multiples of its original selling price. But by the end of the 1980s, the book was out of print.
In the intervening years, the authors were repeatedly asked if and when the book would be re-issued though this was never a financially viable proposition for the original publisher or the authors.
However, more recently, in mid-2021, in recognition of its significance to collectors of Elvis UK vinyl – and the fact that second-hand copies were increasingly hard to find – a decision was made to transfer the original book into a digital flip book format, but with the addition of 60 newly written bonus pages which complemented and elaborated on parts of the original manuscript. In order to address the issue of cost, the digital version (now well over 600 pages long) was launched, priced at a very modest £20.
Meanwhile, when first issued in 2002, the self-published Elvis UK2 The Ultimate Guide To Elvis Presley’s British Record Releases 1986-2002 more or less picked up where the first volume left off. It too was hailed as being an invaluable guide to Elvis’s UK record releases, especially during a period when vinyl sales were declining and losing out to compact discs.
This fully illustrated volume, comprising 372 pages, only exists as a physical product, though very few copies are left. For ordering details, please view Elvis UK2 .
But then, after a long break, in early 2021, the authors announced the publication of their third major book in the Elvis UK series – Elvis UK3 The Ultimate Guide To Elvis Presley’s British CD Releases 1983-2005 – a project which far exceeded the scope of their previous two volumes. After six years’ intensive work, the result was a book in excess of 1400 pages, comprising over one million words and more than 4,000 illustrations and characterised by extreme care, incredible detail and accuracy.
A combination of prohibitive initial production costs, complicated distribution issues (and their impact on the retail price), not to mention exorbitant postage costs – meant that producing physical copies was not a practical or affordable option. Hence the decision to produce a digital-only book. The glowing reviews unanimously testify to the incredible detail but, almost as importantly, also praise how accessible and easy it is to use the digital flip book technology – which allowed this major work to be seen by fellow collectors throughout the world at a reasonable and affordable price. Those who love detail have raved about this book.
In the wake of this major publication – and encouraged by the great reception given to Elvis UK3 – the authors re-issued Elvis UK with its 60 bonus pages using the same flip book technology, thus making a long out-of-print work available to generations of new fans and collectors at a very affordable price which they could download to their own device and print off, if they so wished.
However, in early 2022, the authors then published another newly written fourth volume of Elvis UK entitled Elvis UK – Cover Story The Ultimate Guide To Elvis Presley’s EP & LP Sleeves 1956-1977 as another downloadable digital flip book, priced at £15. This 286 page work looked at Elvis’s British EP and LP sleeves in forensic detail, and featured information and illustrations rarely seen before. Although the book focused primarily on UK releases, there was inevitable overlap with US releases – and they too were closely referenced in this work. It too was met with great enthusiasm.
In early 2023, another volume of Elvis UK was launched. Entitled Elvis UK – Beyond RCA The Ultimate Guide To Elvis Presley’s British Non-RCA LP Releases 1974-1997, the research and focus for this book was on providing as much information as possible with respect to non-RCA label LP record releases in the UK. Although issued initially as a digital download, by September 2023 a soft-backed print copy was published (in response to many requests) and subsequently earned great reviews.
Comprising 377 full colour pages, this volume can be ordered directly from elvisukbooks.co.uk priced at £45 – which includes p&p packing for UK buyers. Overseas customers have to pay additional postage costs.
Following the success of the soft-backed print copy of Elvis UK – Beyond RCA, the authors issued their next project, entitled Elvis UK – Extended The Ultimate Guide To Elvis Presley’s British EP Releases 1957-2001 – again as a print-only version – in response to the demand from fellow collectors for a physical copy of the book – in late February, early March 2024. It too was greeted with great praise.
This 502 page, full colour, soft-backed book – like Elvis UK – Beyond RCA – can be ordered directly from elvisukbooks.co.uk priced at £58 (which includes p&p costs in the UK – though overseas buyers have to pay extra for p&p).
Continuing their task of systematically (and thoroughly) updating the original Elvis UK book, the authors then turned their attention to a full and exhaustive examination of 78rpm records in their next venture – Elvis UK – 78 r.p.m. The Ultimate Guide to Elvis Presley’s British 78s 1956-1960.
This 228 page, full-colour, soft-backed book, was completed and ready to be printed in mid-August 2024 and available to order directly from elvisukbooks.co.uk priced at £30 – which includes p&p costs for UK customers – though overseas buyers have to pay extra for p&p.
