Customer Reviews

Essential Sun Collection

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
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If you're looking for one basic Carl collection, this may be your best bet. The sound is surprisingly OUTSTANDING ("warm, clear, punchy, vivid" are some words that come to my mind), better than the slightly "digital harsh"-sounding single disc that Rhino (which is usually one of the best for sonic quality) put out in the late '80s, and for the price of one disc you get 2 discs with 36 tracks total. And the booklet (with notes on every track here) is outstanding for a "budget" collection. Only the hardest of the hard-core fans will need more of Sun-era Carl, namely the expensive Bear Family box. This is the best collection (and value) for everyone else.

Here is a great collection of the Rockabilly-sound of Carl Perkins. This is a 2-CD set of one of the most influential guitarists ever. All of Carl's biigest hits are here, but more importantly, are the inclusion of his earliest releases which are much more country/honkytonk than those released by actual country/honkytonk stars of the same era! The sound is excellent although you do have to overlook the poorer recordings of those first few numbers included on the 2d disc. The liner notes are present, but not overly informative; really nothing to complain about, but they could be a bit more detailed. Still, I would have to say that this is probably the most basic, yet accurate, collection available.

Despite the fact that Carl Perkins kept recording until shortly before his death during the mid 90's, his golden legacy will always be comprised mainly by the material he recorded for Sun Records during the 50's. It was this set of performances, not his later music, that influenced The Beatles and many others throughout the years. Hence, it would be perfectly fair and fitting to call this collection "Carl Perkins' All-Time Greatest Hits".

"The Essential Sun Collection" renders his other two best-known compilations obsolete: all tracks from Rhino's "Carl Perkins - Original Sun Greatest Hits" and Varese's "The Complete Sun Singles" are included here. As a matter of fact, the first disc of this beautiful 2CD collection has the exact same material as the Varese set, complementing the story with Perkins' other period highlights on disc two. Also note this double album features every track from Carl's milestone debut LP "Dance Album."

Sound quality is excellent throughout, and considering that the other two 1CD compilations, as well as Carl's debut LP, all sell for roughly the same price as this title each (around $13-$14), this compilation offers the best value overall.

Please note that this product includes original Sun versions only. Most of the Carl Perkins products I have seen in stores include markedly inferior re-recordings Carl made of his old Sun sides and other Rock & Roll era hits. Do yourself a favor, and get the real McCoy. If you like early rock & roll and rockabilly, you will not regret it.

A great collection of Carl Perkins classic recordings, but what the other reviews fail to report is that several cuts on the second CD are re-recordings of the original songs, done in the 1970s and 1980s. Not necessarily better or worse, but different. For example, the recording of "You Can't Make Love To Somebody" is a fuller, revved up version compared to the original. If you've never heard the original it won't matter, but if you have, you'll miss the charm of the earlier take. By all means buy this collection, but if you think that by buying this you can throw away your old Sun LPs you will be mistaken.

It isn't often you sift through a bargain bin collection and come up with a Crown Jewel, but that's what happened when I found this Recall set made for Snapper Music Ltd. By Charly Schallplatten GmbH of the E.U. In terms of an artist's output with one label they don't get any better, and when that artist not only was there - and highly influential - at the birth of Rock `N' Roll, but was then honoured with induction into the R&R Hall of Fame in 1987, it becomes a truly essential collection.

If you look at Carl only in terms of commercial success he wasn't in the class of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash, each of whom also started out at Sam Phillips' Sun studios. Indeed, he only had 4 hit Pop singles from 1956 to 1959 (including one R&B crossover) to go along with 15 Country hits from 1956 to 1987, all for five different labels. But his influence on those to come was unsurpassed, including fellow Hall Of Famers Ricky Nelson ("I just wanted to be Carl Perkins") and The Beatles, among many more.

This covers his Sun output, with six pages of liner notes by Rojan d'Orlando that read like a mini biography from his birth on April 9, 1932 in Ridgely, Tennessee to his untimely death from throat cancer on January 19, 1998 at age 65 - and all the family tragedy in between. If there's a fault it's the lack of discography, and so I have provided what details I can for added information.

Disc 1 provides his singles output in order: Movie Magg/Turn Around came out first on Phillip's small subsidiary Flip 501 in 1955, followed that same year by Let The Jukebox Keep On Playing/Gone, Gone, Gone on Sun 224, both popular on a local basis only. In the spring of 1956, however, he exploded onto the national charts when the seminal Blue Suede Shoes on Sun 234 shot to # 1 C&W as well as # 2 on each of the Pop and R&B charts b/w Honey Don't, a great tune on its own that simply got lost in the shuffle. Unfortunately for Carl and his brothers Jay and Clayton - both members of his band - while setting out on tour to promote the hit, they were all seriously injured in a vehicle accident and that, more than anything, served to hamper his chances at commercial success as the recovery period was lengthy.

Consequently, the follow-up Sure To Fall/Tennessee on Sun 235 failed nationally, while Boppin' The Blues reached a modest # 9 C&W/# 70 Pop that summer b/w All Mama's Children on Sun 243. That fall neither side of Dixie Fried/I'm Sorry I'm Not Sorry on Sun 249 managed to make any national charts. In March 1957, Sam tweaked the recording of (Your) True Love by speeding up the tape, which served to make Carl's voice virtually unrecognizable, although it did reach # 13 C&W/# 67 Pop on Sun 261. The flip, Matchbox, although not charting, has become the most memorable of the two sides. It also included a young Jerry Lee Lewis on piano.

Late in 1957, That's Right/Forever Young on Sun 274 did not chart, nor did the early 1958 release - and his last Sun single - Glad All Over/Lend Me Your Comb on Sun 287, billed as Carl Perkins, The Rockin' Guitar Man. Phillips also released one L.P. in October 1957, "The Dance Album Of Carl Perkins" (Sun 1220) containing Movie Magg, Gone Gone Gone, Blue Suede Shoes, Sure To Fall, Tennessee, Boppin' The Blues, (Your) True Love, Matchbox, Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby, Only You and Right String Baby But The Wrong Yo Yo, as well as one E.P. 115 "Blue Suede Shoes" in 1958 containing the title tune along with Movie Magg, Gone, Gone, Gone and Sure To Fall.

The Disc 2 contents were unissued at the time by Sun, and a few were re-recorded later by Carl during his Columbia stint. Honky Tonk Gal and You Can't Make Love To Somebody were recorded in 1955, while in 1956 he did The Perkins Wiggle, Somebody Tell Me, Sweethearts Or Strangers, That Don't Move Me, and be Honest With Me. From 1958 you get Caldonia, Her Love Rubbed Off On Me, Pink Pedal Pushers (a Columbia version reached # 91 Pop in 1958), Roll Over Beethoven and You Can Do No Wrong. Jerry Lee's piano is heard on many. Both Keeper Of The Key and Lonely Street were also cut by Carl in 1958 after having been part of the legendary Million Dollar Quartet jam-session in December 1956.

If you see one of these grab a copy.

I've been a big fan of Carl's since his first hit single "Blue Suede Shoes" back in the fifties. Carl was without doubt the "Granddaddy of Rock 'N Roll" and this CD contains a lot of his early music, some of which I had never heard before.
This is a great compilation of his music and if you're a fan of Rockabilly, like me, you can't help but like this. No wonder so many musicians have copied his guitar style and hold him in high regard even now.

A friend and I recently saw "the million dollar quartet" - the musical version of the one and only time Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis were in the Sun Records studio at the same time. I purchased this CD as a gift for my friend, who was quite taken by Carl Perkins songs. For someone who is a Rolling Stones fan my gift was at first deemed disappointing. However, I have been told that "his music grows on you". This CD is representative of Carl Perkins effort to "crossover" from country to rock and roll.