Customer Reviews

Sun Records: 50th Anniversary

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Customers should realise that Little Junior Parker is the guy who is credited as Little Junior One Hand ..(I believe Junior One Hand is a Houston based artist) ..Parker was the guy who recorded for SUN .Great to see Rufus Thomas' Sun efforts on here .. especially Tiger Man ..There is another box set that seems to cover the Rockn' Roll sides .. called Where Rock N' Roll Was Born .. but cannot view titles on Amazon .. so we will have to investigate further .... this has a great mix of rockn'roll , rockabilly ,and blues .. exactly what SUN ,and Sam were all about Killer stuff .for me this is THE box to go for .

First, don't make the automatic assumption that this is a boxed set. Despite its title, only the last disc was released during Sun's 50th anniversary year of 2002. The first two discs were respectively released in 1999 and 2001. Effectively, the only thing truly commemorative about this collection is the cardboard sleeve that contains the three discs. And if you're used to compliations duplicating some of each other's tracks, this goes one better. Because of each disc's separate identity, you now have a compliation where duplications occur WITHIN the compilation.

That aside, we are still left with the music. However, as each disc was compiled separately, they should be considered as such. Starting with 25 All-Time Greatest Hits, for anyone truly new to the Sun catalogue this a great place to start. While I'm not sure if anyone will adore every tune, most will find enough classics to justify their curiosity. What's harder to come to terms with is the scar of the final three tracks. After listening in disbelief to Jerry-Lee Lewis' astonishingly lifeless version of What'd I Say, we're then subjected to some flacid blue-eyed soul courtesy of Charlie Rich followed by a cover of Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl (by somebody called the Gentrys). While their inclusion may have been based on popularity, these do not constitute the Sun `sound'. (The last two tunes were released in 1970 - long after Sun's defining period.) It's a baffling conclusion to an otherwise worthwhile collection.

Next is 25 Blues Classics. This is more like it. All three Little Junior's Blue Flames' tracks are classics, nothing could rock harder than Rufus Thomas Jr's Tiger Man and Sammy Lewis and Willie Johnson's I Feel So Worried manages an intensity rarely heard. I should mention, though, that the whole disc is lifted wholesale from the first volume of a three-disc Sun Records blues set. If Sun's blues catalogue is where your heart really lies, you might want to head straight for that.

Last is 25 Red-Hot Rockabilly Classics. Fans of 50s' rock 'n roll won't be disappointed. Fans of unhinged, incendiary performances might be left a little wanting. To be fair, Sonny Burgess' We Wanna Boogie, Ray Harris' Come On Little Mama and Jerry Lee Lewis' Real Wild Child do deliver on that front, but more tempered (or even poppier) moments are the norm. Simultaneously, that has its benefits. Carl McVoy's Tootsie is a great r'n b track, for example.

Three discs, each a collection, that try and be part of a collection. Flawed in concept, but not without plenty of merit. Perhaps not for the initiated, which I wasn't. I've no regrets in buying it.

An excellent album,featuring some of the best tracks from sun records...I really loved this album...There seems to be two other versions of this album with less songs and a different track selection...Try this album.If you love 50s music rockabily and blues music.You will love this disc. 5 star rated. enjoy.thank you stewart L.

PROS: 75 CHERRY TRACKS, REMASTERED TO PERFECTION.
PROS: FANTASTIC LINER NOTES IN EACH JEWEL CASE.
PROS: ALMOST[$$$]THAN BUYING ALL THREE SEPERATELY.
CON: A DOZEN OR SO OF THE TRACKS APPEAR MORE THAN ONCE.
FINAL TALLY: FUGGIT, 3 SMOKERS FOR LESS THAN[$$$]EACH.
BUY THIS NOW.