POX - Sun Records

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In memory of Sam Phillips, how about picking your favourite ten Sun songs.

― James Ball (James Ball), Friday, 1 August 2003 07:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

Off the top of my head:

Elvis Presley – That’s alright mama
Jerry Lee Lewis – Whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on
Rufus Thomas – Bear Cat
Charlie Rich – Lonely Weekends
Elvis Presley – Blue Moon of Kentucky
Billy Lee Riley – Red Hot
Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison blues
Charlie Rich – Sittin’ and Thinkin’
Jerry Lee Lewis – Breathless
Elvis Presley – Baby let’s play house

(In all honesty I could’ve packed it more with Elvis but wanted to be more representative.)

― James Ball (James Ball), Friday, 1 August 2003 07:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Red Headed Woman" - Sunny Burgess
"I'm Gonna Murder My Baby" - Pat Hare
"Love My Baby" - Little Junior's Blue Flames
"Jump Right Out of This Jukebox" - Onie Wheeler
"Red Cadillac and a Black Mustache" - Warren Smith
"Break Up" - Ray Smith
"Lovin' Up a Storm" - Jerry Lee Lewis
"Dixie Fried" - Carl Perkins
"Swamp Root" - Harmonica Frank
"Who Will the Next Fool Be" - Charlie Rich

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Friday, 1 August 2003 12:55 (twenty-one years ago) link

jackie brenton, "rocket 88"
billy lee riley and his little green men, "flying saucers rock n' roll"
howlin' wolf, "oh! red"
rufus thomas, "bear cat"
hot shot love, "wolf call boogie"
dr. ross, the harmonica boss, "that ain't right"
the prisonaires, "just walkin' in the rain"
jerry lee lewis, "breathless"
roy orbison, "ooby dooby"
johnny cash, "i walk the line"

is there someone I'm forgetting?

― Neudonym, Friday, 1 August 2003 13:42 (twenty-one years ago) link

Crap, all from memory here.

Barbara Pittman "Sentimental Fool"
Little Junior's Blue Flames "Mystery Train" way cooler than the Elvis version (And I'm not just saying that to be an Elvis Hata)
Carl Perkins "Matchbox"
Rufus Thomas "Tiger Man"
Johnny Cash "Straight A's In Love"
Jerry Lee Lewis "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On"
Jerry "The King" Lawler "Memphis TN" (not issued by Sun, but recorded there with Jim Dickinson, easily the best song by a pro wrestler)
Patsy Holcomb "I Wanna Rock"
Jean Chapel "Welcome to the Club"
Jerry Lee Lewis "I'm Feeling Sorry" (just cuz it's such an atypical, almost pretty JLL performance)

IMO, neither Elvis nor Roy Orbison (whom I love) did their best work at Sun.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Friday, 1 August 2003 13:54 (twenty-one years ago) link

I'd agree with your last points Horace, but surely there are half a dozen Elvis Sun tracks that still beat the shit out of Carl Perkins. (Personally I'd go for the Memphis '69 stuff as his very best.)

― James Ball (James Ball), Friday, 1 August 2003 14:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

“Boppin’ the Blues”/”All Mama’s Children” - Carl Perkins
“Down the Line”/“Ooby Dooby” - Roy Orbison
“Flying Saucers Rock ‘n’ Roll” - Billy Lee Riley
“Good Rockin’ Tonight” - Elvis Presley
“Great Balls of Fire” (the outtake following the argument about the devil) - Jerry Lee Lewis
“Her Love Rubbed Off” - Carl Perkins
“How Many More Years”/”Moanin’ at Midnight” - Howlin Wolf
“I’m Left You’re Right She’s Gone”/“Baby Let’s Play House” - Elvis
“The Next in Line” - Johnny Cash
“Trying to Get to You” Elvis
“Ubangi Stomp” Warren Smith

― Burr (Burr), Friday, 1 August 2003 17:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

best damn studio and record label ever. Sam Phillips my hero.
Howlin wolf - highway man - goddamn, where did this guy's voice come from, really? nothing in the world can touch it.
Roscoe Gordon - decorate the counter. Drunk, drunk, drunk, and poetry direct from his liver to you. "Cheese and crackers" is more surreal, but I gotta admit I love this one even more.
Little Junior Parker - love my baby. Dunno why this one does it for me, except for the high, distorted electric geetar.
Doctor Ross - the boogie disease. If you gotta ask, you'll never know.
Harmonica Frank - rockin' chair daddy. "told her my name was on the tail of my shirt".
Warren Smith - rock and roll ruby.
Johnny Cash - cry, cry, cry.
Jerry Lee Lewis - milkshake mademoiselle. Oh, you could pick the argument about the devil, 'cause that's amazing, too, or any of his songs, 'cause they were all from another planet altogether, but this'll do just fine.
Sonny Burgess - ain't got a thing. just wails. nonsense, but who the hell cares.
Billy Emerson - little fine healthy thing. pure poetry, too. a love song.
damn, no elvis? So what?

― pauls00, Saturday, 2 August 2003 03:15 (twenty-one years ago) link

eight years pass...

loving this (classic) label lately, as part of a broader discovery of noir-ish, moody, brooding 50s music.

― Daniel, Esq., Monday, 10 October 2011 00:27 (thirteen years ago) link

nine years pass...

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/local/2020/10/27/stan-kesler-obit-memphis-music-elvis-jerry-lee-lewis-sam-the-sham/3746810001/

RIP guitarist, songwriter, producer, engineer Stan Kesler who wrote “I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone," & "I Forgot to Remember to Forget” for Elvis, engineered soul classic “Dark End of the Street,” played w/ Jerry Lee Lewis on “Great Balls of Fire,” and produced Sam the Sham’s “Wooly Bully “.

Quite a life and never got that much attention

― curmudgeon, Friday, 30 October 2020 16:13 (four years ago) link

three years pass...

RIP drummer J.M. Van Eaton

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/music/2024/02/10/jm-van-eaton-obit-dies-sun-records-jerry-lee-lewis-billy-lee-riley-charlie-rich/72552098007/

― birdistheword, Saturday, 10 February 2024 21:06 (one year ago) link

RIP

― The Ginger Bakersfield Sound (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 10 February 2024 21:31 (one year ago) link

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