CD REVIEWS
25 Sun Rock’n’ Roll Classics, various artists, Sun Records, 2004
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 all 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 & 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 documentary 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 film trip down memory lane, not without a ew barbs, was presided over by the impresario himself, the late Sam Phillips.
As to the present compilation of songs some comments are worth mentioning. As with all such compilations there is some unevenness in the quality of performance. For every Jerry Lee Lewis and "Great Balls of Fire" or Carl Perkins and "Blue Suede Shoes" there are any number of one-shot johnnies like Warren Smith doing the Johnny Cash- written "Rock and Roll Ruby" or Sonny Burgess doing "Red-Headed Woman", both fine if singular efforts. Then there are the merely imitative- of Elvis, Jerry Lee or whoever- like Bill Riley. And then those who never got released like Jack Earls and "Let's Bop". Well, today they all attain immorality collectively with this compilation. Rock on.
25 Sun Rare Blues Classics, various artists, Sun Records, 1997
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 mentioned above except by Rufus Thomas in his fight to trace the roots of rock & roll back to a 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 the performances of Earl Hooker and Sleepy John Estes in his pre-folkie days. Tops for me is Little Milton. One should also note 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", not on this CD but get it).
I would add this note below that I am doing to all my Sun Record-related reviews taken from the review of the Sun Record documentary because it is appropriate in virtually every instance.
"A note on sound- no, not of this American Masters production which like virtually all PBS productions is technically of high quality. No, I am referring here to the sound in Sun Studio. I do not believe in ghosts or other such things but tell me this. Why, for example, does Johnny Cash in his Sun Records days sound like god’s own creation when on work from other recordings I can take him or leave him? And that goes for Elvis, Carl, Jerry Lee and the others as well. The gods and goddesses of Rock and Roll were smiling on that joint- thanks."
Once Again On Sun Records
25 More Blues Classics, various artists, Sun Records, 2002
Most of the points that I have made in reviewing the fates of the rock and roll artists that passed through the portals of Sun Recording studio 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 PBS documentary on the history of Sun Records 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 "Save That Money" is fine. As are the performances of Earl Hooker and James Cotton, Tops for me is Frankie Ballard’s "Trouble Down The Road". One should also note 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", not on this CD but get it). Mainly though the first volume of this series (25 Rare Blues Classics) is more varied and flows better. Here there is a fair amount of imitation of Muddy Water’s and Howlin’ Wolf’s sound (not bad men to imitate, that is for sure) by musicians who, for the most part, like James Cotton and Walter Horton were just getting warmed up in their careers. They get better later.
I would add this note below that I am doing to all my Sun Record-related reviews taken from the review of the Sun Record documentary because it is appropriate in virtually every instance.
"A note on sound- no, not of this American Masters production which like virtually all PBS productions is technically of high quality. No, I am referring here to the sound in Sun Studio. I do not believe in ghosts or other such things but tell me this. Why, for example, does Johnny Cash in his Sun Records days sound like god’s own creation when on work from other recordings I can take him or leave him? And that goes for Elvis, Carl, Jerry Lee and the others as well. The gods and goddesses of Rock and Roll-and the blues- were smiling on that joint- thanks."
To prove a point here is a little something from Sonny Burgess one of the good old boys who didn't make it big out of Sam Phillips' stable.
ReplyDeleteRock and Rock Will Never Die
Tennessee Border, Sonny Burgess, and David Alvin, Hightone Records, 1992
The last time the name Sonny Burgess appeared in this space was as walk on character in a review I did on the PBS documentary commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Sam Phillips’ Memphis-based Sun Records. I placed him among the one hit wonders that fill up the music world for a moment and then .... In Sonny’s case it appears that he just kept right on being a good old boy rockabilly artist if the currently reviewed CD is any indication. I do not know that his playing has the passion of his youth but on several tracks he is ‘hot’ in the old rockabilly style. Listen to “Enough Of You”, “Flattop Joint” and “Stuck Up” if you want to know, or want to remember when men and women played that early rock & roll for keeps.