Customer Reviews

Sun Story

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4 star:		(3)
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Fours Stars because it is the Sun Story but... I have the vinyl and there are 8 songs that were left off the CD. They left off My Bucket's Got A Hole In It and High School Confidential, which are the two most egregious errors. A guy at Rhino Records told me they didn't get the clearances for the CD. Didn't make sense. Why didn't they get them for all formats? However this is a good start. If you can find the vinyl get it.

Sam Phillips and his Sun Records played an integral role during the formative years of rock 'n' roll and artists like Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lewis, and Roy Orbison belong in any serious music collector's library. What makes this CD of interest to more than merely the casual fan is the inclusion of some of Sun's lesser known artists.

Billy Lee Riley was a session player for Sun, but also recorded with his band The Little Green Men. "Red Hot" is a rambunctious number and with Jerry Lee Lewis on piano, "Flying Saucers Rock 'n' Roll" is an equally raucus number.

The version of "Mystery Train" included here is not Presley's souped-up classic, but a slowed down number by Herman "Junior" Parker with a soulful vocal delivery.

Carl Mann gives the rockabilly treatment to Nat King Cole's 1950 No. 1 hit "Mona Lisa." Mann's version stalled at No. 25

Warren Smith's "Ubangi Stomp" is rockabilly in the Carl Perkins mold. In fact, when I first head this, I thought it WAS Perkins.

So if you're looking for a single disc to illustrate the importance of Sam Phillips and Sun Records, this will do the job more than adequately. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

This is the good stuff that put the rock in rockabilly! Hard driving, hard pumping gritty poor-White Rhythm and Blues that is still a lot of fun to listen to nearly 50 years later. All the classics are here. Elvis, Bill, and Scotty doing "That's All Right Mama" (with apologies to Arthur Crudup), Warren Smith's "Ubangi Stomp," Charlie Rich's lovely "Lonely Weekends." Carl Perkins' "Honey Don't," and (to me), best of all, Billy Riley's underground classic "My gal is Red Hot/Your gal ain't doodely squat!" So is this CD! FUN FUN FUN! I DEFY anyone to sit still while listening to this!

Rock and roll, which has been with us now for (at least) fifty years, was born when white country music was combined with black rhythm and blues. A few zealous visionaries, such as Memphis own Sam Phillips, played midwife to this birth. Sun Story is a compilation of the finest, rockingest, rollingest cool cats who recorded for Phillips label, Sun Records, in the mid-1950's. Here, we have rockabilly bopcat Carl Perkins with the original versions of "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Honey Don't", soul brother Little Junior Parker's smooth version of "Mystery Train," and The Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis (and his Pumping Piano)with no less than three scorchers: "Great Balls of Fire," "Whole Lotta Shakin'" and "Breathless". Twenty fabulous cuts in all and a great introduction to the Sun sound. There are even some "lesser lights" of the movement thrown in for good measure: Billy Riley and his (yes!) red-hot version of "Red Hot" (covered in the seventies by Robert Gordon and Link Wray) and the hilarious "Flying Saucer Rock 'N Roll", plus Warren Smith with the politically incorrect "Ubangi Stomp", later covered by the aforementioned Mr. Lewis. A great collection, to be sure. However, a few complaints. For my money, Roy Orbison was one of the greatest of the early rockers, yet "Devil Doll" is, to put it kindly, not one of his best efforts. ("Rockhouse" or "I'm Hurtin'" should have been chosen instead.) And, while Carl Mann made a noble attempt of the standard "Mona Lisa," he couldn't even begin to touch Nat King Cole's original. Johnny Cash's attempt at rockabilly, "Straight A's in Love," is good for a few laughs, but grows old quickly. Much better are the two country hits also included here, "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk the Line". (Oh, for the days when country music truly had soul!) Charlie Rich, pre-Silver Fox, weighs in with two fine numbers, "Who Will the Next Fool Be?" and "Lonely Weekends," the latter sounding very much like Elvis himself. Finally, speaking of the King, Presley is well represented with two of his best (and least played on the radio) early efforts: "Good Rockin' Tonight" and his fine cover of Arthur Big Boy Crudup's "That's All Right, Mama". Altogether, a collection that will have you shakin' what God (and your mama) gave you. Get Sun Story right away, and pass out a few cigars to celebrate the "new" baby, Rock and Roll!!!

This CD features 20 great songs from the great Sun Records label. While all these songs are great, this CD focuses on the rockabilly side of Sun Records at the expense of it's blues side. "Mystery Train" by Little Junior is the only song by a black performer here. So, this is by no means a complete overview of the history of Sun Records. But it is a good start for someone who just wants the best known songs from the label.

The songs on this package have been issued and re-issued by just about everyone. .On this Rhino compilation the quality of the music is about as good as it gets for SUN product. As with any of the re-issues from the Sun masters there's that ever present tape hiss. This package was mastered from analog to digital in 1987. The tracks are all great and if you don't have any of these cuts in your collection. This one should be on your list.

This is the good stuff that put the rock in rockabilly! Hard driving, hard pumping gritty poor-White Rhythm and Blues that is still a lot of fun to listen to nearly 50 years later. All the classics are here. Elvis, Bill, and Scotty doing "That's All Right Mama" (with apologies to Arthur Crudup), Warren Smith's "Ubangi Stomp," Charlie Rich's lovely "Lonely Weekends." Carl Perkins' "Honey Don't," and (to me), best of all, Billy Riley's underground classic "My gal is Red Hot/Your gal ain't doodely squat!" So is this CD! FUN FUN FUN! I DEFY anyone to sit still while listening to this!

This is probably the best one-disc collection of material from the legendary Sun Records, where so much of rock's language and spirit began.

Produced and selected by label founder Sam Phillips, it includes the legendary "Class of 55": Carl Perkins (all of whose hits here were George Harrison covers with the Beatles), Jerry Lee Lewis (his four best-known hits), Roy Orbison (whose two debut singles are his weakest) Johnny Cash's signature songs and, back on Sun, Elvis Presley (two from the seminal Sun sessions).

You also get some great early doo-wop from the Prisonaires, two annoying novelty songs from Billy Riley, Charlie Rich's great first hits, Rufus Thomas' "Bear Cat" (a salacious answer to "Hound Dog") and what many consider the first rock n' roll single ("Rocket 88," later reissued on Chess). Until the later Rhino box was released, this stood as the best sounding set of this essential music. It is still recommended for those not willing to make that larger investment.