Joseph A Tunzi

Early career

Tunzi worked at several radio stations in the Chicago area between 1972 and 1982 as an account executive in charge of selling radio advertisements. He also owned Records For A Song, a Chicago area record shop in the late seventies. In 1982, he formed his own publishing company, which up until 1987 strictly dealt with direct mail advertising. By 1985, Tunzi had stopped working for radio stations and began focusing his efforts towards becoming an entrepreneur in direct mail advertising.

First Book

By 1988 his company, JAT Publishing (name derived from his initials), diverted its efforts towards self-publishing books that eventually evolved to primarily featuring rare photographs of Elvis Presley throughout his life and career. His first self-published book, though, The First Elvis Video Price And Reference Guide, was a parody of the various price guides that were coming into the collectibles market at the time. As Mike Eder noted in his article, A Look At Joseph A. Tunzi in AMICI Journal (National Italian American Celebrity Magazine), "Feeling many of the values to be arbitrary, and also amused by the huge amount of publications, Joseph decided to do a parody price guide on Elvis Presley's videos." As Eder further elaborated, "Tunzi deliberately used subtle humor to test out his theory that these guides were being given too much relevance in collectors' circles." Steven Opdyke wrote in 1999 that "Tunzi had another claim to fame. In 1988, he compiled the first Elvis Presley video guide. It contained listings of movie prints, promotional tapes and foreign releases as part of its lengthy presentations. It also had pricing information, which was especially useful for obtaining items with limited distribution."

Photo Journals

Beginning with Elvis, Encore Performance (Chicago 1972) and continuing to this day, Tunzi has written and self-published numerous photo journals on Presley. As Opdyke elaborated in his book, The Printed Elvis: The Complete Guide To Books About The King, "one can only say that Joseph Tunzi (like Elvis biographer Bill E. Burk) has done a ton of work on Elvis. Each book (all from a nineties perspective) has been limited to a specific time period in Elvis' career, concentrating on the music and performances. Taken together, they formed one of the most in-depth chronicles of the King's career from the late sixties forward."

Tunzi was also a forerunner in using newspaper photography from many award winning photographers in his publications. Some of these photographers included Jack Lenahan of the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper, Bob Fila of the Chicago Tribune, Dean T. Musser of the Fort Wayne, Indiana's The Journal-Gazette, Hank de Lespinasse, whose photos have appeared in publications such as Newsweek, Time (magazine), Fortune (magazine) and Sports Illustrated, Ken Ross of the Memphis Press-Scimitar and George Wilson of the Oklahoma Journal.

Beginning with his twentieth year, 2008, Tunzi began publishing all of his latest books in hardback format. That same year, he also published television producer Steve Binder's memoir, '68 At 40: Retrospective, of producing the Singer Presents Elvis television special. This television special is commonly referred to as the '68 Comeback Special. Later, '68 At 40: Retrospective was reprinted in soft-cover format as well.

Elvis Sessions: The Recorded Music of Elvis Aron Presley 1953-1977

In 1993, Tunzi self-published the first edition in a series of books titled Elvis Sessions: The Recorded Music of Elvis Aron Presley 1953-1977 based on Elvis Presley's recording sessions / live recordings. Two further volumes followed in 1996 and 2004. These books have documented the musicians and backup vocalists who performed with Presley as well as some unreleased recordings. Booklist wrote of Tunzi's first Elvis Sessions book, "Elvis Sessions encompasses the King's musical career from his first commercial sides for Sun Records in 1954 through his final concert recordings in June, 1977, two months before his death. This terrain is traversed in Reconsider Baby: The Definitive Elvis Sessionography (rev. ed. 1986) but Tunzi also includes material that surfaced recently." American Libraries wrote of Tunzi's first edition of Elvis Sessions, "The genuine musical genius of Elvis Presley, has, to a large degree, been obscured by the tragic excesses of his last years and the seemingly inexhaustible supply of tabloid drivel about him. Elvis Sessions: The Recorded Music of Elvis Aron Presley 1953-1977 eschews such nonsense and sticks with the facts about Elvis's recording career, resulting in a solid bit of American pop music history."

One of the unreleased recordings by Presley that Tunzi documented in Elvis Sessions II: The Recorded Music of Elvis Aron Presley 1953-1977 was an acetate recording he personally owned of A Little Less Conversation originally thought to have been made in June, 1968 during the production of the "Singer Presents Elvis" television special. However, it has since been determined that this acetate recording was actually an alternate take made in March, 1968 during the soundtrack recording sessions for the 1968 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture, Live a Little, Love a Little. A backing track of A Little Less Conversation from the Live a Little, Love a Little recording sessions was submitted for the 1968 "Singer Presents Elvis" television special. In the mid-nineties, Tunzi sold to Bertelsmann Music Group (now owned by Sony Music) the unreleased recording that first appeared on the 1998 double album Memories: The '68 Comeback Special and was later used in the 2001 Warner Brothers motion picture Ocean's Eleven (2001 film) and ultimately remixed by DJ Junkie XL. This remix became a worldwide number one hit, part of a marketing campaign for Nike, Inc.'s "Secret Tournament" Scorpion KO during the 2002 World Cup and a bonus track on the chart-topping compilation ELV1S 30 #1 Hits.

Opdyke also wrote of Tunzi's first two volumes, "Tunzi's 1993 "sessions" book first came out through mail order only. Recently it appeared in a revised edition (412 pages) that quickly became even more useful than the first. There were many great photos along with endless appendices covering gold and platinum records, concert lists, and even a limited bootleg section."

In November, 2016 Jeremy Roberts wrote an article detailing Elvis' connection to guitarist and entertainer Glen Campbell and the fact that Campbell has been erroneously cited for several years as having played guitar on the recording sessions that produced the title song, "Viva Las Vegas (song)" of Presley's 1964 film. However, the article points out that after contacting Tunzi, it is clear that Campbell played on Elvis' cover recording of Ray Charles' What'd I Say which was also featured in the film.

Tunzi has also written and published Elvis No. 1 - The Complete Chart History Of Elvis Presley, which details Elvis Presley's chart numbers on the various charts in both Billboard (magazine) and Cashbox (magazine).

A fourth volume of Elvis Sessions is currently planned for release in 2017.

Television, Compact Disc and DVD releases

In 1997, Tunzi was part of an Elvis Presley twentieth anniversary Blockbuster Video television commercial which featured photographs from his own photo agency. In one of the rare occasions, Tunzi was physically credited for photo usage in the television commercial. This commercial promoted an exclusive Elvis Presley compact disc being sold at Blockbuster Video.

Over the years, his company, JAT Publishing, has expanded to produce several compact disc and DVD titles. He has also written and published two projects on the Beatles. These projects included a book titled Beatles '65 which featured the only four known candid color paparazzi photographs taken of Elvis Presley and the members of the Beatles on August 27, 1965. Ken Sharp wrote a column piece titled Rock Report in Friday Morning Quarterback of Tunzi's Beatles '65 that "the 96-page book draws together exciting and dramatic photographs of the Beatles in concert and at press conferences. Photographs of fans at shows, experiencing the complete electrical shock of "Beatlemania" is also included." Included with this project was Elvis Sings Beatles Songs, the very first officially sanctioned compact disc release to feature all of Elvis Presley's cover recordings of songs written and originally recorded by the Beatles. Derek Page wrote a review of Tunzi's Beatles '65 in Beatlefan magazine in which he ended his review by saying that Beatles '65 was "all in all, a marvelous look at The Beatles in their touring prime."

The second project Tunzi did on the Beatles was Beatles '64: Goin' To Kansas City which was simply a smaller photo booklet accompanying a CD featuring the audio of a previously unreleased Beatles press conference from September, 1964.

In 1999, Eclipse Music Group released the very first Elvis shaped compact disc, titled Elvis Presley Limited Edition Shaped CD. Tunzi provided the liner notes for this release.

Tunzi produced a DVD starring Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra in 2000, titled Welcome Home Elvis and in 2001 started a series of DVD videos titled Hot Shots & Cool Clips, which is presently at eight volumes. The Welcome Home Elvis release was one of the very first independent Elvis Presley video releases on the DVD format. The Hot Shots & Cool Clips series has featured newsreel, press conference, concert and candid footage of Elvis Presley throughout his career. The website elvisondvdcd.de stated when discussing the third volume in the Hot Shots & Cool Clips series that "Joe Tunzi today is one of a very select group of people who go through obscure archives, searching high and low for undiscovered, rare footage. What he turns up with simply is breathtaking each and every time. On this volume he has collected some of the most rarest footage ever."

Tunzi also produced a DVD titled Young Man of The Nation on Elvis Presley being bestowed as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men In America in 1970 by the United States Junior Chamber of Congress (Jaycees). The name of the award was later changed to the Ten Outstanding Young Americans.

In 2001, Tunzi released a compact disc titled Elvis, America The Beautiful, as part of a book package featuring a book of the same name. This set was also sold through Time-Life. Although the set was conceived prior to the September 11 attacks in the United States, the sales of this book / CD combination spiked in the aftermath of that tragic event as several thousand sets were sold.

In 2007, Tunzi collaborated with Sony / BMG on the budget CD title Country's Golden Hits, a ten track title featuring musical selections from the likes of Mac Davis, Sonny James, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, The Oak Ridge Boys, Floyd Cramer, Tammy Wynette, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton and Charlie Rich. Initially Tunzi sold this compact disc through his own website but later on it was sold through other outlets including Tuesday Morning. Most of the songs featured on this compact disc were songs that Elvis Presley had considered recording at some point.

Research

In August, 2002, Tunzi was one of the first to properly document and correct the erroneous photo credits attributed to the cover of Elvis Presley's first self-titled RCA Records vinyl album. The album, Elvis Presley (album) only originally credited the photographs used to photographer William Popsie Randolph. However, this credit line actually only applied to the photographs used on the back cover. The front cover, an iconic picture of Elvis Presley performing in concert at the Fort Homer W. Hesterly Armory in Tampa, Florida on July 31, 1955 was actually photographed by William V. "Red" Robertson of Robertson & Fresch.

Photograph Archives and Licensing

Photographs from Tunzi's archives have appeared in numerous compact disc and vinyl reissues of Presley's music beginning with the 1994 compact disc reissues of Elvis (1973 album) and Raised on Rock. Other notable domestic releases to feature his photographs include Walk a Mile in My Shoes: The Essential '70s Masters, An Afternoon in the Garden, Platinum: A Life In Music, Today, Tomorrow, and Forever (Elvis Presley album) and The Complete Elvis Presley Masters. From an international standpoint, Tunzi has also supplied photographs for a number of releases outside the United States, including the Denmark-based Follow That Dream Collectors' Label and the 1999 Japanese Bertelsmann Music Group Funhouse ten compact disc release Elvis Presley - Complete Singles Collection. (BMG DRF 7101/10) In virtually every domestic and international Elvis Presley release in which Tunzi licensed photographs, he was acknowledged in print somewhere throughout the packaging of the release. Of course, there are some exceptions, such as the 1999 budget compact disc release, Elvis Presley - It's Christmas Time, which was simply a reissue of the 1970 RCA Camden album Elvis' Christmas Album with a new title and different photo artwork. Additionally, photographs from his archives have appeared in Time (magazine), People (magazine) and TV Guide.

Tunzi is acknowledged for supplying images, including the album cover of Elvis Presley's 1973 Billboard (magazine) number one album, Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite (album) for the 2004 book by Hamish Champ titled 100 Best Selling Albums of the 70s.

A photograph from Tunzi's photo agency has been featured inside the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California. In fact, Joseph A. Tunzi's name is also represented on the wall of The Valley View Casino Center below the photograph. The Valley View Casino Center was formerly named the San Diego Sports Arena. Elvis performed at the San Diego Sports Arena on three occasions. These were on November 15, 1970, April 26, 1973 and April 24, 1976.

Joseph A. Tunzi supplied photographs for the 2012 film documentary about songwriter Doc Pomus, titled AKA Doc Pomus. Pomus had co-written several notable songs recorded by Elvis Presley, including Viva Las Vegas (song), A Mess of Blues, Surrender (Elvis Presley song), Little Sister (Elvis Presley song), and (Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame.

Tunzi also supplied photographs of The Beatles for Chuck Gunderson's 2013 publication, Some Fun Tonight! The Backstage Story of How The Beatles Rocked America: The Historic Tours of 1964-1966, a two-volume tome detailing The Beatles' North American tours over the course of three years.

In 2014, Tunzi was acknowledged for supplying photographs of Elvis Presley for the Helen Maxwell book, Inside Beverly Hills PD. Elvis is known to have befriended many police officers across the United States during his lifetime.

For the 2014 publication, Elvis Presley, A Southern Life by Joel Williamson, Tunzi again licensed photos of Elvis throughout his career.

A photograph from Tunzi's archives was used initially uncredited twice in the Denny Tedesco directed film, The Wrecking Crew (2008 film). The photograph was taken in June, 1968 at United Western Recorders and featured Elvis Presley along with session musicians Tommy Tedesco and Mike Deasy during sessions for Elvis (1968 TV program). Additionally, that same photo along with two other photographs of Elvis from the same recording sessions were used initially uncredited in the Ken Sharp book Sound Explosion! Inside L.A.'s Studio Factory With The Wrecking Crew. One of these photos was initially used by Tunzi as the cover photo for his 1993 publication, Elvis Sessions, The Recorded Music of Elvis Aron Presley 1953-1977.

Tunzi supplied photographs for the 2015 Follow That Dream Collectors' Label publication, "Elvis Presley - Change Of Habit."

One of Tunzi's photos was used for the U.S. cover of the 2015 compact disc and vinyl album release of "If I Can Dream (album)- Elvis Presley With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra." This album topped the charts in a number of countries, including the United Kingdom and Australia. Both Tunzi and Daryl Restly were credited with supplying this photograph. Additionally, Tunzi and Restly supplied all of the photographs used in the U.S. pressing of the album, including the back cover, the compact disc jewel case inlay and the photos interspersed throughout the liner notes. A different album cover was used in the United Kingdom release of the album, although the aforementioned photos supplied by Tunzi and Restly were used in the United Kingdom pressing's liner notes. Tunzi and Restly's photos were also used on pressings outside the U.S., including the Australian, Japanese and Danish pressings of the album. Tunzi and Restly also supplied the photo that was used as a poster included in a deluxe box set released in the United Kingdom. A larger sized version of this poster was also sold in the United States with the vinyl album and compact disc as well as individually through a select retailer. An alternate photo was supplied by Tunzi and Restly for the November 27, 2015 Black Friday (shopping) Record Store Day exclusive vinyl 45 RPM single "If I Can Dream" / "Anything That's Part Of You." Tunzi and Restly also supplied the cover photo that was used for a radio program compact disc distributed by Joyride Media to various radio outlets to promote "If I Can Dream - Elvis Presley With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra" which was narrated by Anthony DeCurtis and featured interviews with Priscilla Presley. Lastly, Tunzi and Restly were credited in a book of sheet music published by Hal Leonard featuring the songs found on the album "If I Can Dream - Elvis Presley With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra."

Tunzi and Restly were credited in the 2016 Sony Legacy sixty compact disc set titled Elvis Presley - The Album Collection for supplying photographs in the book that accompanied the set. This set featured compact disc replicas of fifty-seven albums issued during Elvis Presley's lifetime as well as three additional discs featuring rarities that have since been issued posthumously.

In the 2016 Grove Press publication written by Marc Myers, Anatomy Of A Song: The Oral History of 45 Hits That Changed Rock, R&B And Pop, both Tunzi and Restly are credited for supplying photographs.

Cited Works And Additional Contributions

Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jørgensen acknowledged Tunzi's work in the introduction to their 1999 publication Elvis Day By Day: The Definitive Record of His Life and Music by lauding "Joe Tunzi's indefatigable photographic and discographical research Elvis Sessions II among others." Julie Mundy, in her book, Elvis Fashion praised Tunzi's work by writing, "with the visually stunning publications from Joe Tunzi, which are certainly the best source for concert images." In Mike Eder's book Elvis Music FAQ: All That's Left To Know About The King's Recorded Works, Eder acknowledged Tunzi with special thanks "for my start" as a writer.

Ernst Jørgensens' book, Elvis Presley: A Life In Music - The Complete Recording Sessions, gratefully acknowledged Tunzi, among others, "for the use of illustrations in this book." Several of Tunzi's works, including Elvis Sessions: The Recorded Music of Elvis Aron Presley, 1953-1977, Elvis '69: The Return and Elvis '73: Hawaiian Spirit were cited in the bibliography to Last Train To Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley, volume one of Peter Guralnick's two part biography on Presley. In Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley, the second volume of Guralnick's tome on Elvis Presley, several more works by Tunzi were cited in his bibliography, including Elvis Sessions II: The Recorded Music of Elvis Aron Presley, 1953-1977, Elvis: Highway 51 South, Memphis, Tennessee, Elvis: Standing Room Only, 1970-1975, Elvis '69: The Return, Elvis '73: Hawaiian Spirit, Photographs and Memories, Tiger Man: Elvis '68, and Elvis, The Lost Photographs, 1948-1969. Additionally, Tunzi also supplied several photos for Careless Love: The Unmaking Of Elvis Presley.

Two of Tunzi's books were cited in the Gillian G. Gaar book, 100 Things Elvis Fans Should Know And Do Before They Die. These two books were Elvis No. 1 The Complete Chart History Of Elvis Presley and Elvis Sessions III The Recorded Music of Elvis Aron Presley 1953-1977.

In 2008, Tunzi provided audio clips of music and interviews to Joyride Media for use in their radio special on Elvis' 1968 NBC television special, "Singer Presents Elvis." Likewise, in 2009, Tunzi again provided audio clips of music and interviews to Joyride Media for usage in their radio special celebrating the 40th anniversary of Elvis' 1969 album, From Elvis in Memphis.

In 2011, Tunzi contributed the introduction to the Overlook Books publication, Elvis In Vegas.

In Trevor Simpson's 2015 Follow That Dream Collectors' Label publication, Elvis, The Best Of British - The RCA Years 1959-1960, Simpson noted that "whilst there are too many to mention extensively, the various books in my collection written by Adam Victor, Colin Escott, Joe Tunzi, Jerry Osborne, Greil Marcus, Ger Rijff and Nick Tosches have all been research tools of the highest order."

Tunzi supplied photographs and documents for the 2016 Sara Schmidt book, Happiness Is Seeing The Beatles - Beatlemania In St. Louis and was acknowledged by Schmidt in her book for doing so.

Tunzi served as the associate producer for the 2016 Boxcar Enterprises publication, Elvis On Television 1956-1960.

Awards And Accolades

Tunzi has received numerous accolades for his embodiment of work from the arts and entertainment field.

Tunzi has won a gold publishing award from the IAPHC - The Graphic Professional Resource Network (www.iaphc.org) for his work. He also has been presented with three letters from former presidents. These include letters from George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush acknowledging his work.

In 2015, Tunzi was nominated for the first time and elected to the William Howard Taft High School Hall of Fame. Tunzi was a 1971 graduate of William Howard Taft High School.

Tunzi has been included in several noteworthy lists, one of which is notable people from Chicago, Illinois.