Various Artists - Sun Records 50th Anniversary Box (2002)

BOX SET MONTH (MAY, 2015)

A 3 disc box set of music from Sun Records and an obvious money grab by the Varèse Sarabande label.  The first disc, 25 All-Time Greatest Hits, was originally a single disc release in 1999.  The second disc, 25 Blues Classics, was released in 2001. For the 50th anniversary, the label threw those two discs (as is) into a box with a new compilation, 25 Red-Hot Rockabilly Classics.  As a result, there are tracks that are repeated within the set.  Conspicuously absent is Sun Record's most famous recording artist Elvis Presley.  Nonetheless, I bought this box for historical purposes and it, like the Atlantic R&B box set, has exposed me to music and musicians that were historically influential, but mostly recorded before my birth.

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25 ALL-TIME GREATEST HITS
25 tracks, 62 minutes

Tracks here released mostly in the late 1950's with a few stragglers from later decades (the cover of Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl is oddly out of place). Most charted on at least one chart - R&B, country, pop - often more than one. Lots of classics here; I'm partial to the Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins tracks.

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25 BLUES CLASSICS
25 tracks, 70 minutes

Here's a healthy dose of both R&B and electric blues (what was, at the time, callously referred to as "race music"); I enjoy the variety.  It's my favorite disc of the set although there are 4 tracks here that were also on the first disc.  Lots of good stuff here and many artists that I was unfamiliar with until I purchased this set.  Recommended.

Yes, there's a song titled I'm Gonna Murder My Baby. Pat Hare is upset cuz all she do is cheat and lie.

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25 RED-HOT ROCKABILLY CLASSICS
25 tracks, 60 minutes

Now here's a fun disc. Lots of late '50s rockabilly served up by inventors of the genre.  Makes me grab my lady and do our best sock hop imitation.  Again, a lot of these were new to me before purchasing this set.  For me, however, a little rockabilly goes a long way and I start getting bored about 30-40 minutes in. My top cuts are We Wanna Boogie, Ubangi Stomp, Real Wild Child (Wild One), and Fairlane Rock.

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Regular readers of the blog know that I have an affinity for Memphis. I was born about 60 miles south of Memphis in the Mississippi Delta and have made four trips to that wonderful city over the past 10 years, but I've only taken the Sun Studios tour once and that was in 2007 (click to enlarge pics):