Customer Reviews

Sun Records: Ult Blues Collection

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Well, this is it. Unless you own the very pricey Sun box set on Bear Family, you'll want to purchase this 3-disc compilation if you are a blues lover and the "Sun Sound" rings your bell. This set is an absolute bargain and it contains most of the best blues titles that Sam Phillips ever recorded. Yup, it's all here; Big Walter Horton's "In the Mood", and "Easy" are in the desert island top 10 for blues harp instrumentals. Little Milton Campbell can be heard doing a respectable imitation of early B.B. King, and Little Jr. Parker's perfect voice is not to be missed. Other highlights are the great Earl Zebedee Hooker - King of the slide guitarists - performing some very rare tracks in the Robert Nighthawk mould plus Rufus Thomas (later of Stax records fame) doing his best to knock Big Mama Thornton's Hound Dog off the charts with his version of Bear Cat. James Cotton fans will be intrigued to hear Jimmy's sandpaper voice (but no harp) on his earliest sides. And not to be missed are one-man bands Joe Hill Louis and Dr. Ross blasting their harmonicas and wanging away on drum kits and guitars sounding like a full blues band in a jook. No doubt that a certain Mr. P. was listening to some of these same titles on his radio set while growing up in Memphis. Informative notes by journalist-aficionado Bill Dahl and some nice photos are supplied in the enclosed 8 page booklet. Get this set now. Like so many of the great vintage blues reissues, this won't be around long and you'll kick yourself if you miss it.

Along with the Chess Blues box, and separate collections by individual stars like Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and others, this is really an essential part of a collection for any blues fan or music collector. This is the grittier, slightly leaner southern style blues of the 1950s and an important contrast to the bigger sound practiced in the northern cities.

Sun Records didn't just produce Elvis Presley and rockabilly. They were a major blues label too. If you don't have this best of Sun collection, you're probably not getting the full picture of how the blues evolved.

This comprehensive three CD, 75-track collection covers some of the best blues recordings Sun Records has to offer. Featured in this box are tracks by genuine blues legends like: Rufus Thomas, whose "Bear Cat" was Sun's first national hit in `53; Little Junior Parker (including the original "Mystery Train"), Walter Horton, Earl Hooker, Pinetop Perkins, James Cotton, Little Milton (including his rocking 1953 debut single, "Somebody Told Me"), Billy "The Kid" Emerson's original 1955 waxing of "Red Hot," Rosco Gordon, and plenty more.