Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 09/29/2009
Run Time: 39:15
Sam Phillips launched his
Sun Records label in Memphis in 1952 (he added a subsidiary,
Phillips International, in 1957), and as the world knows, he discovered
Elvis Presley and broke
rock & roll on an unsuspecting public in 1954, making the so-called
Sun Records sound a Rosetta Stone for the ensuing
rock revolution. But like with all stories, there is more to the
Sun saga than
Presley and the other stars that
Phillips discovered (who included
Johnny Cash,
Carl Perkins,
Roy Orbison,
Charlie Rich, and
Jerry Lee Lewis). Initially
Phillips recorded mostly black bluesmen from the Memphis area, moving on to an eccentric cast of
country players as well, and while the pressurized test tube that was Memphis (and
Sun Studios in particular) in the early '50s eventually produced
rock & roll, it also issued forth all manner of other strains of
country and
blues DNA in recordings that are utterly fascinating. This concise sampler compiles 16 classic
Sun tracks, although there was a whole lot more going on at
Sun than this, of course.
~Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
;)
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