Are you aware of this book? It came out in 2013 as collaboration by famous celebrity photographer Christopher Ameruoso and Priscilla Presley. It’s a big coffee-table book priced at $110.95 at www.shadesofelvis.net. I looked for a used copy on Amazon and eBay today, but couldn’t find one.
Any way, back in 2013, the concept for Shades of Elvis appealed to me, so I posted a blog about it, and a week later added a follow-up post. After a little editing, here are both of them.
Priscilla had this to say about the book.
“The idea was to photograph (in classic black-and-white portraiture) artists, icons, and legends while they were wearing Elvis’ original sunglasses, which came from the Memphis archives.
Talent featured in Shades of Elvis include:
Adam Lambert, Alice Cooper, Billy Gibbons( ZZ-Top), Billy Ray Cyrus, Bo Derek, Buzz Aldrin, Carmen Electra, Celine Dion, Charlie Sheen, Cher, Chuck Garric, David Arquette, David Copperfield, Def Leppard, Eddie Van Halen, Elton John, Elvira, Fran Dresher, Frances Fisher, Gene Simmons, Helen Mirren, Henry Winkler, Holly Madison, Jaclyn Smith, James Tupper, Jillian Michaels, Joe Mantegna, John Corbet, John Stamos, Johnny Depp, Jose Feliciano, Juliette Lewis, Ken Howard, Katherine Ross, Kevin Sorbo, Larry Flynt, Lionel Richie, Lita Ford, Mac Davis Martin Sheen, Meat Loaf, Michael Bubble, Michael Des Barres, Michael Madsen, Mike Tyson, Orianthi, Ozzy Osbourne, Pamela Anderson, Peter Fonda, Rick Springfield, Rob Lowe, Robert Plant, Ron Pearlman, Ronn Moss, Peter Beckett, Rudy Sarzo, Sam Elliott, Sammy Hagar, Scotty McCreery, Shawnee Smith, Snoop Dogg, Stan Lee, Steven Tyler, Steve Perry, Steve Valentine, Taryn Manning, Ted Neeley, Thomas Gibson, Tim Burton, Tom Jones, Tony Hawk, Valerie Bertinelli, Virginia Madsen, Weird Al, Willie Nelson and more.
Out of all those folks in the book, the ones I would have been most interested in seeing were the photos of Steven Tyler, Elton John, and Elvira. Ultimately, I found Tyler’s photo on line, but not the other two.
Elton John has worn glasses and sunglasses of every conceivable style, but Elvis’ shades would be a completely new look.
Any picture of Elvira is striking, but one wearing Elvis’ shades would be a gas. Plus, she is probably the only celebrity in the book who had an up-close and personal experience with Elvis, so it would be interesting to see what she says in the quote accompanying her photo.
Here are two celebrities wearing their Elvis shades in an advertisement for the book.
Speaking of photographs, check out this one of photographer Christopher Ameruoso on the book’s From the Author /Acknowledgements page:
Notice he is holding the Elvis sunglasses in his hand and is staring intently at them. My first thought when I saw it was how similar it is to this:
Probably just a coincidence.
And here is a concept inspired by Shades of Elvis that I posted a week later.
Last week, the new book Shades of Elvis was discussed. The shades are of course, the iconic sunglasses Elvis preferred in the Seventies. However, before he settled on that classic design, Elvis wore several different styles of sunglasses in his younger years.
Most of the photos shown here came off the internet with no historical context, so we’ll just has to make our best guesses. This looks like circa 1956 to me.
Okay, he’s in the army here, so these sunglasses were part of Elvis’ look in 1958 and 1959.
This one is tougher to figure out. I’m thinking post-Army, but who knows.
Same thing on this one. Elvis looks like one of the Blues Brothers.
Once Elvis’ sunglasses became part of his persona, he seemed to have a little fun with it. Check out some of these oversized glasses he wore on stage.
This shot was taken on August 18, 1975.
Here’s a nice oversized pair with blue frames.
Uh, oh, they’re getting bigger.
Now this is getting ridiculous.
Finally, here’s Elvis wearing a few unusual sunglasses.
This photo was shot during Elvis’ vacation to Aspen, Colorado in 1976. Maybe he wore them snowboarding around.
Here is Elvis clowning around during the filming of Elvis: That’s The Way It Is in 1970.
This is an incredibly clever Photoshopped Elvis picture. I wish I could remember where I got it so I could give proper photo credit.
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