Jerry Lee Lewis: The Ultimate (The Sun Years)

Jerry Lee Lewis | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 5, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 11
• Label: Sun (UK)
• ASIN: B000006LOD
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #578,930 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. End of the Road

2. Crazy Arms

3. You're the Only Star (In My Blue Heaven)

4. Born to Lose

5. Tomorrow Night

6. Silver Threads (Amongst the Gold)

7. I'm Throwing Rice

8. I Love You So Much It Hurts

9. Deep Elem Blues

10. Hand Me Down My Walking Cane

11. Crawdad Song

12. Dixie

13. Marines Hymn

14. Goodnight Irene

15. Will the Circle Be Unbroken

16. Old Time Religion

17. When the Saints Go Marching In

18. Turn Around

19. That Lucky Old Sun

20. I Love You Because

See all 183 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive Jerry Lee Lewis Sun collection..., April 17, 2008

By 

J.D. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jerry Lee Lewis: The Ultimate (The Sun Years) (Audio CD)

This is it. The definitive Jerry Lee Lewis sun records collection. Coming from an ardent cheerleader of the great things Bear Family Records has done (I own dozens of their boxed sets and it is my favorite reiussue label by far), this means a lot. Further, I previously owned Bear Family's excellent 8 disc set, "Classic", covering this very era and have found myself much preferring this set. Considering the extremely high standards of Bear Family releases, how could this be better than "Classic"? Well, there are a few things that immediately come to my mind:

1. Most importantly, this set provides a much more in-depth immersion in Jerry Lee's sun era. "The Ultimate: The Sun Years" contains 12 CDs and 348 tracks (the 183 tracks referenced on amazon's page is incorrect). Compare this to "Classic's" 247 tracks on 8 discs and you'll quickly see that this set betters "Classic" by 101 tracks. (when the first, 11 CD, version of this set came out it did not have all the outtakes that "Classic" had, nor all the outtakes found on the rarities found on Charly CD 70...this was rectified with a different set which contained a 12th, bonus, CD comprised soley of the outtakes/rarities that "Classic" had that this set did not originally have, along with further rarities....this review concerns itself with the 12 CD version of this set). For the true Jerry Lee Lewis fanatic or connoissuer, this alone warrants a search for this set as it gives you many more versions of songs and unreleased songs than any other Sun set ever has.

2. "Classic" suffers from the early (late 1980s to mid 1990s) Bear Family predilection for sequencing their sets in strict chronological order, with outtake after outtake piled on succession, making for an often tedious listen. That's not the case with this set. This one smartly focuses on thematic discs that play well as stand-alone's and are a treat to listen to. The 12 discs are grouped as follows:

Disc 1 Original Singles
Disc 2 Original Singles Part 2.
Disc 3 Country Roots
Disc 4 Hillbilly Music
Disc 5 Sixty Minute Man, R & B Roots
Disc 6 Hits Re-Defined (I Did 'Em My Way)
Disc 7 Rarities, Not On CD
Disc 8 More Rarities
Disc 9 Unissued Takes, Vol. 1
Disc 10 Pumpin' Piano Rock
Disc 11 Unissued Takes, Vol. 2
Disc 12 Bonus CD (tracks previously available only on "Classic" and Charly CD 70 plus additional rarities).

In addition, this set has an engrossing 92 page booklet, with rare photos, a discography, sessionography, and a surpisingly engrossing exploration of
Jerry Lee Lewis the person along with insight into the songs and background
on the sessions themselves. All in all about as good as a booklet as one is
likely to come upon.

I agree with the previous reviewer in regards to the sound. For the life of me
I can make no distinction in sound quality in this set compared to "Classic."
The sound here sounds alive, vibrant, and present, which is amazing
considering the age of these recordings.

I could not recommend this set more strongly. If much of this review has come across as an argument for this set over Classic, then it is merely as a testament to my regard for Bear Family & its very high standards and in no way a knock on Richard Weize and his dedicated crew. If you own that set & enjoy that set, do yourself a favor and hunt this one down. If you own neither, I highly recommend you spring for this one and enjoy these timeless tunes for many years to come.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most complete Jerry Lee Lewis Sun set yet, March 23, 2008

By 

Dougie "dougie2112" (Lakeville, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jerry Lee Lewis: The Ultimate (The Sun Years) (Audio CD)

I'm a huge fan of Bear Family records, but this set is actually superior
in an important way: it contains more recordings by Jerry Lee Lewis at
Sun than even the "Classic" set from Bear Family. To my ears there is
no difference in sound quality, either. Highly recommended if you can
find it!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything!, March 17, 2007

By 

SEAN MCATEER "Red Sox Fan and Deadhead" (Cranston, R.I. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jerry Lee Lewis: The Ultimate (The Sun Years) (Audio CD)

The entire Sun recording history of Jerry Lee Lewis; forget all those lame compilations, this is ALL that is needed--in one place. Great sound quality too!