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.

Tracks:

	Title	Artist	Year	Pop	R&B	C&W
1	Bear Cat (The Answer To Hound Dog)	Rufus "Hound Dog" Thomas, Jr.	1953		3
2	Feelin' Good	Little Junior's Blue Flames	1953		5
3	Mystery Train	Little Junior's Blue Flames	1953
4	Folsom Prison Blues	Johnny Cash & the Tennessee Two	1956			4
5	Blue Suede Shoes	Carl Perkins	1956	2	2	1
6	Honey Don't	Carl Perkins	1956
7	I Walk The Line	Johnny Cash & The Tennessee Two	1956	17		1
8	Ooby Dooby	Roy Orbison & Teen Kings	1956	59
9	Boppin' The Blues	Carl Perkins	1956	70		7
10	Dixie Fried	Carl Perkins	1956			10
11	Matchbox	Carl Perkins	1957
12	Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On	Jerry Lee Lewis	1957	3		1
13	Red Hot	Billy Riley & His Little Green Men	1957
14	Raunchy	Bill Justis & His Orchestra	1957	2	1	6
15	Great Balls Of Fire	Jerry Lee Lewis & His Pumping Piano	1957	2	3	1
16	Ballad Of A Teenage Queen	Johnny Cash & The Tennessee Two	1958	14		1
17	Breathless	Jerry Lee Lewis & His Pumping Piano	1958	7	3	4
18	Guess Things Happen That Way	Johnny Cash & The Tennessee Two	1958	11		1
19	High School Confidential	Jerry Lee Lewis & His Pumping Piano	1958	21	5	9
20	The Ways Of A Woman In Love	Johnny Cash & The Tennessee Two	1958	24		2
21	Mona Lisa	Carl Mann	1959	25	24
22	Lonely Weekends	Charlie Rich	1960	22
23	What'd I Say	Jerry Lee Lewis & His Pumping Piano	1961	30	26	27
24	Who Will The Next Fool Be	Charlie Rich	1970			67
25	Cinnamon Girl	The Gentrys	1970	52

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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.

Tracks:

	Title	Artist	Year
1	We All Gotta Go Sometime	Joe Hill Louis	1953
2	Baker Shop Boogie	Willie Nix, The Memphis Blues Boy	1953
3	Easy	Jimmy Berry & Walter Horton	1953
4	Bear Cat (The Answer To Hound Dog)	Rufus "Hound Dog" Thomas, Jr.	1953
5	Feelin' Good	Little Junior's Blue Flames	1953
6	Tiger Man (King Of The Jungle)	Rufus Thomas, Jr.	1953
7	Pinetop's Boogie Woogie	Pinetop Perkins	1953
8	Hydramatic Woman	Joe Hill Louis	1953
9	The Hucklebuck	Earl Hooker	1953
10	Mystery Train	Little Junior's Blue Flames	1953
11	Love Me Baby	Little Junior's Blue Flames	1953
12	Come Back Baby	Doctor Ross	1954
13	Somebody Told Me	Little Milton	1954
14	Straighten Up Baby	James Cotton	1954
15	I'm Gonna Murder My Baby	Pat Hare	1954
16	Cotton Crop Blues	James Cotton	1954
17	The Boogie Disease	Doctor Ross	1954
18	When It Rains It Pours	Billy (The Kid) Emerson	1954
19	I Feel So Worried	Sammy Lewis with Willie Johnson	1955
20	Red Hot	Billy "The Kid" Emerson	1955
21	Lookin' For My Baby	Little Milton	1955
22	Ain't That Right	Eddie Snow	1955
23	Go Ahead On	Guitar Red	1954
24	The Chicken (Dance With You)	Rosco Gordon	1956
25	Jelly Roll King	Frank Frost	1962

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.

Tracks:

	Title	Artist	Year
1	We Wanna Boogie	Sonny Burgess	1956
2	Slow Down	Jack Earls	1956
3	Go! Go! Go!	Roy Orbison & The Teen Kings	1956
4	Huh Babe	Luke McDaniel	1956
5	Rockin' With My Baby	Malcolm Yelvington	1956
6	Drinkin' Wine	Gene Simmons	1958
7	Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby	Carl Perkins	1957
8	Ubangi Stomp	Warren Smith	1956
9	Come On Little Mama	Ray Harris	1956
10	Give Me Some Love	Harold Jenkins (Conway Twitty)	1956
11	Flying Saucer Rock And Roll	Billy Riley & His Little Green Men	1957
12	Put Your Clothes On	Carl Perkins	1957
13	Ain't Got A Thing	Sonny Burgess	1957
14	Miss Froggie	Warren Smith	1957
15	Rock Boppin' Baby	Edwin Bruce (Ed Bruce)	1957
16	Real Wild Child (Wild One)	Jerry Lee Lewis	1958
17	Flat Foot Sam	Tommy Blake	1957
18	Fairlane Rock	Hayden Thompson	1956
19	Rock Baby, Rock It!	Johnny Carroll	1957
20	Good Lovin'	Dickey Lee & The Collegiates	1957
21	Judy	Rudy Grayzell	1958
22	Right Behind You Baby	Ray Smith	1958
23	Tootsie	Carl McVoy	1958
24	Shake Around	Ray Smith	1958
25	Rockin' Love	Carl Mann	1959

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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):