A few never seen pics from: 1950s Radio in Color: The Lost Photographs of Deejay Tommy Edwards, by Chris Kennedy

 

Look at this picture......I bet you've never seen it, in fact I know you haven't.  Bill at his prime, Elvis just starting his climb to the top.

Here's a few more you've never seen:

And there's a TON more......of everyone who was anyone in popular music and on radio in the '50s. Just simply amazing images....over 200 slides in crisp Kodak  Ektachrome glory from the new book: 

1950s Radio in Color: The Lost Photographs of Deejay Tommy Edwards

Here's a brief description from Amazon:

A remarkable collection of photographs by one of rock's early champions

Between 1955 and 1960, popular Cleveland deejay Tommy Edwards photographed the parade of performers who passed through the WERE-AM radio studio for on-air interviews, shooting more than 1,700 Ektachrome slides. Following his death in 1981, most of the collection vanished and was presumed lost. The few images that remained were often reprinted and rarely credited to Edwards, labeled photographer unknown. Until now.

Discovered by musician Chris Kennedy in 2006, Tommy Edwards's candid photographs capture the birth of rock 'n' roll at its flashpoint: Elvis Presley while he was still dangerous; a raw and incomplete Chuck Berry before his star ascended; and some beady-eyed, high-voiced kid named Roy Orbison. It wasn't just the architects of rock music whom Edwards had in his viewfinder. There were also pop and country music s biggest stars, mysterious, unknown hopefuls, and vulnerable, deglamourized Hollywood celebrities. Edwards's passion for photography immortalized hundreds of pioneers of rock 'n' roll and pop culture in the radio studio, a setting that was often unseen. His photos offer a rare look behind a closed door.

In 2009, Kennedy located the only surviving copy of the T.E. Newsletter collection, Tommy Edwards's self-published weekly two-page recap of Cleveland radio and record news for music business insiders, spanning from 1953 through 1960. The wealth of information and dates contained in the newsletters are the photo collection's indispensable companion piece, and Edwards's anecdotal quips are interspersed throughout the text of the book.

1950s Radio in Color gives Tommy Edwards his due recognition as the deejay responsible for perhaps the most important photographic and written documentation of twentieth-century music ever produced. Featuring over 200 color photographs, this book will transport readers back in time, allowing them to step into Edwards's shoes for a moment and to feel the wonder and excitement he must have felt every day while witnessing a cultural revolution.

Here's a few of the reviews thus far:

"Viewing these photographs delivers the same exquisite, intimate, irresistible thrill as looking through family albums and yearbooks.-- Anthony DeCurtis, Contributing Editor, Rolling Stone

"Tommy Edwards helped establish many a successful recording artist - including me!" - Pat Boone

"As producer and historian for Sony Music I sometimes run into kindred spirits--Chris Kennedy is such a person, and 1950s Radio in Color is a splendid example of Chris's dedication to his craft."  - Ernst Jørgensen

"1950's Radio in Color will be a treasure to many who remember those simpler times when we were much younger." Alfred Wertheimer, photographer

"What a great idea. Candid pictures from 1955-1960 in Technicolor, annotated by Chris Kennedy. Look and read!!!" - Richard Weize, Bear Family Records

The few photos that I've seen are QUITE the teaser.  Over 200 pictures, from a collection of over 1,800! I can only imagine what the rest of the collection is like....especially of artists in the country and pop fields, not just in early rock and roll.

Here is a link for Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/1950s-Radio-Color-Photographs-Edwards/dp/1606350722

If you have a copy, have heard of it, seen it, or do purchase a copy in the next few.....comment. I'd like to hear feedback, and am hoping to get a copy myself, soon. :) It looks great.