Customer Reviews

Sun Records Collection

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Sam C. Phillips' Sun Records was the first powerhouse independent label in the fifty-year history of Rock & Roll. Its catalogue, performed by rough-edged musicians who turned out consistently innovative material and several Top Ten hits, has been the subject of many exhaustive reissues, and Rhino Records' The Sun Records Collection is the most thorough "overview" package of the innovative label to date. From Bear Cat to Lonely Weekends, Rhino's 3-CD box set collects the best trend-setting and chart-topping hits released by Sun and Phillips International, the lesser-known but equally influential records (like Sonny Burgess' Red Headed Woman), and a generous selection of material recorded at 706 Union Ave. before it became the Sun Studio (Jackie Brenston's Rocket `88 and Howlin' Wolf's Moanin' at Midnight, both issued originally on Chess, are here.) The set divides its material into three comprehensive profiles of Sun's major phases. Disc 1 covers the early years (1950-54) of Blues and Country recordings, with featured recordings by B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf and Doug Poindexter, as well as the "A" side of the only single issued on The Phillips label, Joe Hill Louis' Gotta Let You Go. Disc 2 moves into the Rockabilly Era (1954-56), and features many of the recordings that made the label famous, among them Elvis' That's All Right, Carl Perkins' Blue Suede Shoes and Johnny Cash's I Walk The Line. Disc 3, which features the best Sun recordings of Jerry Lee Lewis and the Phillips International hits by Bill Justis, Carl Mann and Charlie Rich (the "undubbed" master of Lonely Weekends is worth the price of the set!), takes Sun retrospective into its final years (1957-68), when the music it helped shaped began to topple its trend-setting status.

Unlike the "complete" collections issued by other labels, which allow the listener to follow the rise and fall of Sun, The Sun Records Collection highlights the definitive music that shaped the future of Rock & Roll. The dedicated Sunophile may still want to he! ar every Sun recording that's available, but Rhino's set is the best way to hear every Sun recording that changed the face of modern music.

This great little three CD set is a real gem for folks looking to learn about the incredible history of producer Sam Phillips and his Sun Records label. Phillips opened his first little studio in Memphis in the early 50's & soon discovered the likes of Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Howlin' Wolf, Roy Orbison, BB King, and Charlie Rich. The gritty honesty of these recordings is testament to Phillips' genius at eliciting magic from his artists. As a producer he was looking for performances that were 'real' and was not particularly interested in anything calculated & slick. As a result he was responsible for a body of truly genuine music that changed things forever. Just ask The Beatles. Although three discs can't begin to cover the wealth of music Phillips produced, this set is a fine overview of the Sun label's rich history. Several diverse genres are represented including blues, rock n roll, rockabilly, country, gospel, and even a couple of novelty songs. Turn this stuff up and get ready for an incredible journey.

The Sun Records Collection

All in all, an enjoyable 3 disc set for those who like classic rockabilly, blues, country and early rock and roll. I will say that the remastering is not flawless, and a lot of the hissing, clicks and pops from the old tapes are still there. It adds character to the recording, yes, but it also sounds like ass on a good stereo. However, that is not true of every track and overall the remastered versions are cleaner. The breakdown disc by disc is as follows.

Disc 1 is mostly a blues disc with some spirituals and boogie woogie piano numbers. Notable artists are Howlin Wolf, BB King and Rufus Thomas. Fairly enjoyable if you dig on that sound. The gospel songs really stand out, especially "There's a Man in Jerusalem" by the Southern Jubilee Singers. This a capella song has outstanding harmony and the remastering brings out the bass vocals nicely. Blues highlights are "I'm Gonna Murder My Baby" by Pat Hare mainly because it's a pretty disturbing tune. Also, "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston is a hot song, bridging the gap between blues and early rock and roll.

The second disc kicks off the rock era, with Elvis' first song "That's All Right" starting things right. This disc is from the golden era of Sun, with songs from Elvis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Carl Perkins. Some highlight tunes are "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" by Malcolm Yelvington, which I like because it is an odd rockabilly tune that reminds me of Screaming Jay Hawkins. Also, "Red Hot" by Billy "The Kid" Emerson is worth a mention because it's a decent little song that is covered by another Sun artist on the 3rd disc, and this version is about 8000% better than the cover by Billy Lee Riley. Other notable songs are Johnny Cash's first hit, "Cry Cry Cry," as well as his additional hits with the Tennessee Two "I Walk The Line" and Folsom Prison Blues." However, the show stopper on this album is the original "Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins.

Three starts out with another Sun superstar, Jerry Lee Lewis. Honestly, Jerry owns this disc with 8 tracks out of 26. Notables are his hits "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," "Breathless" and "Great Balls of Fire," the last being close to a theme song for Jerry. One of the more interesting tracks is the gospel song "Down By The Riverside" as it is performed by the "Million Dollar Quartet" of Carl Perkins, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. There are some interesting articles out there on the irony of that myth. Also interesting is Jerry Lee Lewis' cover of Hank Williams' "You Win Again." Its follows the lines of the original, but has some added vocals and such that make it a rock ballad. It also has the creepiest song in the world, "Right Behind You Baby" by Ray Smith, which is also apparently the first recorded song about stalking a woman.

This is Music that wasn't motivated by fame and fortune. This cd collection features your early Elvis Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins,Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Howlin Wolf BB King and many others. It features your first rock song Rocket 88. The songs on the collection would go on to influence bands like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton as well as many others. I would recommend this collection to a true music fan.

This superb Rhino box set collects the best of the enormous treasure trove of music recorded during the heyday of Sam Phillips' Sun Record Studio in Memphis. There is a wealth of material to pick from, but this release by Rhino is by far the finest, most informative, and affordable representation of the Sun legacy released to date. There is little marginal material included here. The story begins with "Rocket 88," believed by many to be the first rock and roll recording, and segues into haunting sides recorded by BB King, Joe Hill Louis, and Howlin' Wolf. The best of Elvis Presley's early Sun sides are here (including "That's Allright, Mama," and "Mystery Train," perhaps the most exciting 2 minutes of music ever waxed), as are the best output of Jerry Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Charlie Rich. The legacy continues into the early 60's with the country-flavored sides of Warren Smith and Billy Lee Riley. An extremely informative, well-researched booklet and discography penned by reknowned expert Colin Escott accompanies this flawless 3-CD survey of the most important record company in the history of recorded music.

Elvis hadn't succumbed to Col. Tom Parker and stuck to this material ("That's All Right,'' "Mystery Train''). He wouldn't have made as much money, but he probably would have lived longer and produced more rewarding work.

Beyond that, this is a wonderful set. Look at the material recorded in a relatively short period in 1954 and 1955 that still lives. From Johnny Cash ("Folsom Prison'' and "I Walk the Line"); Carl Perkins ("Blue Suede Shoes'') Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and on and on through Howlin Wolf, B.B. King, et. al. An interesting note in the booklet _ "Blue Suede Shoes'' was No. 2 on the pop and R%B charts, No. 1 in country. That's something that's rarely happened since in a comparmentalized market.

Interesting. Phillilps and Sun were clearly color blind before their time. So much so that they also produced "Ubangi Blues,'' a blatantly racist track that includes the "n'' word. It didn't offend me as much as it reflected how much society has changed in the last half-century.

This is worth of for Elvis.
But it's worth it for the others, too.

This review (and others concerning Sun Records in this space) has been used for separate CD collections. If you NEED all the best (and some middling) R&B, blues, rockabilly, roll 'n' roll Sun work under one roof this is the one for you. This is the feast of feasts.

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Howlin' Wolf, Roscoe Gordon, Rufus Thomas and an assortment of black blues notables in the early days. Elvis, Carl Perkins, Johnnie Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis and an assortment of white rockabilly notables in the mid to late 1950's. What do they have in common? Well, one thing, and make that a decisively important one thing, is that they passed through Mr. Sam Phillips' Sun Records recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee on the way to some kind of career. Amazing. With the possible exception of Chess Records in Chicago, a label that moreover concentrated on the blues no other studio can claim so much as the catalyst for what became rock and roll in the mid- 1950's, the youth of the present writer and of his Generation of `68.

That said, the impetus for this review of a compilation of Sun Record rock and roll artists is a Public Broadcasting Station's American Masters series that highlighted the ten years existence of that recording studio. There the format included a generous round of ` talking heads' interspersed with some performances, in this case, to honor the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Sun Records (1950). The `talking heads' in that documentary include several of the artists highlighted here.

This also included many of the old Sun artists who did not attain the stardom of those mentioned in the first paragraph yet who nevertheless had some interesting things to say about the meaning of the Sun Record experience. A recurring theme is that mainly it got them the hell off the farms and out of the fields, especially those damn cotton fields. And they had fun and got paid for it. And met girls! How can you beat that? My take on this is that they were good old boys who got more out of the Sun, if not financially then musically, than they had originally bargained for. And this entire trip down memory lane is presided over by the impresario himself, the late Sam Phillips.

Most of the points made above about fates of the rock and roll artists apply here as well, except the obvious question of race both in how the artists were treated personally and financially by Phillips and the audiences that the artists could perform before that does not get dealt with adequately in the documentary except by Rufus Thomas in his fight to trace the roots of rock and roll back to the black musical influence.

As to the present compilation some comments are worth mentioning. As with all such compilations there is some unevenness in the quality of performance. Rufus Thomas on Married Woman is fine. As are Earl Hooker and Sleepy John Estes in his pre-country blues folkie days on their cuts. Tops for me is Little Milton. One should also note the high quality of the house musicians like Billy Emerson ( a fine artist in his own right) and hovering around on that old piano the late Ike Turner (can anyone forget his work on Rocket 88, although it is not on this CD. Get it, please).

Great collection of music from many artists who went on to be legends. I am always partial to the early works of people who went on to be great stars - the days before their heads and their producer's bank accounts swelled.

This magnificent 3-CD set released by Rhino touts itself as 'the mother of all box sets,' and it's difficult to argue the point. In chronological order and beginning with the pristine recordings of such blues luminaries as BB King, Howlin' Wolf, Joe Hill Louis, Rufus Thomas, and Little Junior Parker, this box set takes the listener on a breathless journey through the historical, hit-making years of the mid-through-late 1950's, featuring the best of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Charlie Rich, and lesser-known hilbilly cats. The importance and influence of this music is almost indescribable, and this economical/educational box set summarizes the period better than any.

The reviewer below pretty much says it all. This is an essential set for anyone wanting to understand how rock & roll evolved from blues, C&W, and pop music. I'd add that Charlie Rich's undubbed recordings of "Don't Put No Headstone on My Grave" and "Who Will the Next Fool Be" (my all-time favorite song) are even better than "Lonely Weekends."