Sun Records !

Rufus Thomas, Jr. - Sun Records # 181 - March 1953

Side A - Bear Cat 

Side B - Walking In The Rain

This is the earliest Sun 78 record in my collection and it's in great shape and a bloody marvellous record it is to!

This was in a time when those answer records were becoming all the rage and Sam Phillips and Rufus wasted no time in a reply to 'Hound Dog' by Big Mama Thornton back in 1952.

The early labels were withdrawn rather quickly as they said "The answer to Hound Dog" and Sam was getting sued by Don Robey of Peacock Records.

"Bear Cat" is simply wonderful and Rufus gets right into it, blues guitar and a slow slappin' bass moves this tune right up amongst the best blues that Sun was putting out and when Rufus shouts 'Get It, Get It, Get It, Get it' you know it's only one thing that he wants!

The flip side is a slower groove but still hits the spot! 

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Little Junior's Blue Flames - Sun Records # 187 - July 1953

Side A - Feelin' Good

Side B - Fussin' and Fightin' Blues

If you want to hear the quintessential Blues bopper of the early 50's then ladies and gentlemen I give you 'Feelin' Good'! this is without doubt the most copied and adored song for modern Blues/Rockabilly bands! it moves even when it's standing still! this monster tune just moves! 

Little Junior Parker with his superb Blue Flames are on a different level to most of their ilk! a glorious record that will be forever remembered for making us 'Feel Good'

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Little Junior's Blue Flames - Sun # 192 - Nov 1953

Side A - Love My Baby

Side B - Mystery Train

A slice of Blues perfection perfectly captured onto tape by Sam Phillips in August 1953 and we should all be so eternally grateful that it happened as this is as close to heaven as you will ever hear.

Both sides went onto to be updated within a couple of years also at Sun by Elvis (Mystery Train) Sun records and by Hayden Thompson (Love My Baby) released on the Phillips International label.

To be honest both songs need no introduction by me or anyone else! they are class personified and take you back to a time where music was being pushed to new boundaries and Mr Parker should be mighty mighty proud of what he recorded on these takes in August 1953.

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Little Milton - Sun Records # 194 - Dec 24th 1953.

Side A - Beggin' My Baby

Side B - Somebody Told Me 

Recorded: - July 28, 1953

Released: - December 24, 1953

Little Milton Campbell - Vocal and Guitar

Ike Turner - Piano

C.W. Tate - Tenor Saxophone

Jesse Knight - Bass

Willie Sims - Drums

Little Milton Campbell storms his way through this brilliant slice of Blues shellac. I for one would have preferred 'Somebody Told Me' as the A side, not sure who made that decision but I much prefer the B side. It is a real stomping Blues number, just rolls with every Ike Turner piano note & Milton's wonderful raspy vocal. 

Beggin' My Baby is still a real cool tune but it has that Fats Domino feel, it slowly moves along and is just a very nice blues tune.

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Earl Peterson (Michigan's Singing Cowboy) - Sun Records # 197 - 20th  Feb 1954

A Side - Boogie Blues

B Side - In The Dark 

A masterpiece of the first fiddle boogie country bop to be released by Sun (just three months before Elvis got his 1st release) Earl lays on some yodel and inflections in his voice that show maturity and you get some sublime guitar pickin' just for good measure! Whoever is on this session were top notch musicians that's for sure! Just a few months later Earl hopped over to Columbia records and re recorded and released 'Boogie Blues' for them! but it did not have that magic that he got in Memphis and Earl I'm sure carried on singing Country until his death in 1971!

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Elvis Presley - Sun Records # 210 - Sept 1954.

A Side - Good Rockin' Tonight

B Side - I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine

This is my first Elvis Sun 78 record! I got it at a decent price! so I'm happy but other Elvis Sun 78's are way out of my league! (but you never know)

These two songs need no introduction! the word 'Classic' comes to mind! mind blowing stuff considering it was recorded in 1954! this record must have flipped wigs all over Tennessee at the time!

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Billy (The Kid) Emerson 

Sun Records # 214 - 8th Jan 1955

Side A - Move Baby Move

Side B - When It Rains It Pours

Side A kicks off with a mid paced bounce, with hand claps and rasping vocals from Mr Emerson and then you get some blasting sax to finish you off, pure brilliance .

On the flip you get another top tune (later covered by Mr Presley at RCA) 

William Robert Emerson (December 21, 1925 – April 25, 2023) died aged 97!

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Elvis Presley with Scotty & Bill - Sun Records # 223 - 1st Aug 1955.

A Side - Mystery Train 

B Side - I Forgot To Remember To Forget 

This is my second! and maybe not (as I previously thought) my last ever Elvis Sun 78 record! You wait years to own just one and then two opportunities come along within 2 months! so I grabbed this one with all gusto and at a really great price that I could not refuse!

Mystery Train really needs no introduction to anyone who loves Rockabilly/Rock 'n' Roll but when I heard it through my late 50's Dansette record player! wow! it just explodes of the turntable! how did that young boy or girl react in 1955 when they played this! truly mind blowing! Elvis sounds as great as he always has but for me Scotty Moore's guitar is about near perfection as you'll ever hear! he is on the edge of a sound that 6 strings had really not been doing in any band or studio (with a very few exceptions). 

And as you are all aware on the flip is the masterful 'I Forgot To Remember To Forget' written by Kesler and the rockabilly cat himself Charlie Feathers! Again Scotty and Elvis steal the show but lets not forget the mesmerising shuffle drums provided by Johnny Bernero! 

A record that still makes you shake and quiver after all these years must be a bit special! surely?

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Carl Perkins - Sun Record # 224 - Oct 1955

Side A - Let The Juke Box Keep On Playing.

Side B - Gone, Gone, Gone.

After his 1st release on Flip Records 'Movie Magg' in March 1955! Carl got his first release on Sun Records proper! The A side is a delightful Country tune! Carl is still finding his feet in the studio but you can hear the very beginning of a wonderful artist who would go on to be a major star at Sun and then Columbia and be a pivotal player in Rock 'N' Roll history! This song was obviously targeted towards the massive country music fan in the south of the USA! But it would be the flip that you can hear the direction that Carl believes he should be going in! 'Gone, Gone, Gone' is a rip roaring rockabilly track and aimed at the young kids who had started to dig the new star in Memphis! that new star was Elvis Presley! who had just the released 'Mystery Train'  on Sun # 223! Carl would go onto produce more excellence on Sun and throughout his career in music!

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Carl Perkins - Sun Records # 234 - Dec 1955.

A - Side - Blue Suede Shoes

B - Side - Honey Don't

The second release on Sun found Carl laying down the first million seller for Sam Phillips at Sun and it peaked on the billboard charts at number 4! And as you would imagine both Carl and Sam would be elevated to stardom and with Elvis and Carl on the books Sun studios would be the place to record your tunes and the door would be open to all the great rockabilly kids to try their luck over the next few years!

Both sides on this platter show the simplicity of great rockabilly! played with excellence by all! both of these tunes need no introduction but they both tick all the boxes when it comes to the Sun studio sound!

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Warren Smith .
Sun Records # 239 - 1956.
Rock 'N' Roll Ruby / I'd Rather Be Safe Than Sorry.

Rock 'n' Roll Ruby was written by Johnny Cash and he apparently was present at Sun Studios with Sam Phillips on the night (5th Feb) when Warren and his 'Snearly Ranch Boys' cut these two tracks. This is proper grown up rockabilly, the whole band just rocks on the A side . The band consisted of The line-up consisted of Warren Smith on vocals and rhythm guitar, Buddy Holobaugh on electric lead guitar, Stan Kesler on steel guitar, Jan Ledbetter on bass, Smokey Joe Baugh on piano, and Johnny Bernero on drums, who replaced Clyde Leoppard.

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Jack Earl And The Jimbos 

Sun Records # 240 - 1956

Slow Down / A Fool For Lovin' You

A bop classic ! a Rockabiily tune that needs no introduction to any fan, in short this is what Sun Records is all about, this is the Sun sound and Jack is the ring master as he conducts the Jimbos in a furoius  A side in "Slow Down" and then brings them down with a skippy ballad on the flip ........just a dream records !

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Johnny Cash and Tennessee Two - Sun Record # 241 - 1st May 1956.

Side A - I Walk The Line

Side B - Get Rhythm .

When it comes to a Johnny Cash release on Sun Records! there really is not too much to be added! as I think we all know how good this 2 sided record is! it is a CLASSIC! and there is never going to be the likes of this record ever again! it is without doubt brilliant! we know the songs! we know the man! we know the history! timeless and priceless! 

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Roy Orbison and Teen Kings 
Sun Records - # 242 - 1956
Ooby Dooby / Go Go Go

Classic Sun twin spin monster from Roy! & it does exactly what it says on the tin! it rocks, it moves and it shakes! all at the same time . The session at Sun took place on the 

27 March 1956 Sun Studio, 706 Union Ave., Memphis, TN – Roy Orbison (Roy Orbison [vcl], Johnny Wilson [gt], James Morrow [mandolin], Jack Kennelly [bass]. Billy Ellis [drums])

ROY FACT - "Ooby Dooby was a song I heard at North Texas State when I met two guys there, Wade & Dick. I took their song back and recorded it.
Then I called Sam Phillips at Sun, on the advice of Johnny Cash. I told Sam that Johnny had said I might be able to get on his label. Sam Phillips replied Johnny Cash doesn't run my record label and he hung up"

Roy's first release was a 45 rpm on Jewel records # 101 it was recorded March 4, 1956 in Norman Petty's studio, Clovis, New Mexico, the A Side was 'Tryin' To Get To You' B/w 'Ooby Dooby'. That record sparked Sam Phillip's interest and 'Ooby dooby' was quickly re-recorded later in March for SUN and released with 'Go Go Go' in May 1956 as Roy Orbison And Teen Kings !

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Carl Perkins 

Sun Records # 249 - 1956

Dixie Fried / I'm Sorry, I'm Not Sorry

Dixie Fried was not the sort of single you would have expected as a release after Carl's previous hit on Sun Records but Sam Phillips went for it all the same . The dark tale of late night boozing ,Honky Tonks, Razors and bar room brawls .....not really the stuff that Mum and Dad were gonna buy  for their kids back in 1956, but this is the stuff the collectors want now, this is Rockabilly with a dark twisted edge and boy oh boy does it move ....Rave on cats !

March 1956 Sun Studio, 706 Union Ave., Memphis, TN – Carl Perkins
024 U-211 DIXIE FRIED 249
025 U-210 I'M SORRY I'M NOT SORRY 249

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Warren Smith 

Sun Records # 250 - 1956

Ubangi Stomp / Black Jack David.

In August 1956, Smith went back to the Sun Records studio to record his second release, "Ubangi Stomp". This infectious rocker had an incorrect lyric including an African chief with the syntax of a movie Indian. For the B side, Smith recorded the classic ballad "Black Jack David". This song, which originated in early 18th-century Britain and survived in various forms in the mountains of the American south, may be the oldest song ever recorded by a rock and roll performer. Although a resounding artistic success, it did not sell as well as Smith's debut.

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Slim Rhodes (Featuring Sandy Brooks) 

Sun Record # 256 - Nov 1956

Side A - Do What I Do

Side B - Take And Give

Sandy Brooks - Vocal Slim Rhodes - Guitar Brad Suggs - Lead Guitar John Hughey - Steel Guitar Speck Rhodes - Bass Johnny Bernero - Drums

Slim and the band were a very popular combo and he even had his own WMC-TV show in the local area but even he realised on his show and live appearances he needed that Elvis type rockabilly part to keep the teenage rabble happy and with Sandy Brooks stunning vocal on both sides you get all this and more.

The more youthful Sandy Brooks rips and rollocks his way on both sides of this rockabilly double sided shellac! so much energy on the A side and the flip is just as great even if the song is slower the delivery is perfect, Sandy shimmers with his terrific vocal and with that weeping steel by John Hughey it becomes a classic in every word. One word for this record is "marvellous"

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Johnny Cash And Tennessee Two.

Sun Records # 258.

There You Go / Train Of Love

You wanna hear classic Johnny Cash ? then look no further than Sun # 258 .....pure Cash, you get exactle what you need, heartbreak, love, chuggin rhythm and the voice of Johnny ......unmistakeable brilliance !

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Ernie Chaffin

Sun Record # 262 - 1957

Feelin' Low / Lonesome For My Baby.

Ernie Chaffin for me, can be summed up in just one word .......King !
For me he was the king of Country at Sun studios, a trail blazer, a man way before his time, a truly gifted song writer and vocalist. Sam Phillips obviously saw the same in the man and released a total of four singles ( not bad for a simple Country singer in 1956/57 ) while all around him Jerry Lee, Roy Obison and Carl Perkins were rocking it up for the kids, Ernie just kept doing what he did best, quality songs that were not only catchy but were different, oozed class and are today considered classics .......these are beautiful songs and I will say it one more time ........ERNIE CHAFFIN IS .........KING !

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Warren Smith - Sun Records # 268 - 15th April 1957.

Side A - So Long I'm Gone (Roy Orbison)

Side B - Miss Froggie (Warren Smith)

This was to be the third release on Sun records for Warren and a great effort it was! the A side is a cool enough shuffle track with great vocals by Mr Smith (Reached No. 74 on the Billboard charts) but it's the B side that you find the killer tune! Now this is a song that every rockabilly band has played at some time or another ( some very well but most not so much) but when you listen to the original! it vibrates with venom! Just superb lead guitar by Al Hopson & Warren just growls his way through it! and the band at times seem a little unhinged as they must have been enjoying the moment on the take that was released! a killer tune! 

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Ernie Chaffin

Sun Record # 275 - Aug 1957

Laughin' And Jokin' / I'm Lonesome

Ernie Chaffin again pulls a monster record from the Sun studios! Laughin' And Jokin' with it's chuggin' beat and gold crafted melody smacks you square between the eyes with a tune so ahead of it's time it's scary! A full on country rockabilly record which has style and a  performance that must have turned Sam Philips head right around!  

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Carl Perkins - The Rockin' Guitar Man.

Sun Records # 287 - Dec 1957

Glad All Over / Lend Me Your Comb.

Rock 'n' Roll was now all the rave down on Union Ave and Carl was now heading for greater things(or so he thought) and his very last Sun output was just impressive! a toe tapping, head nodding hit! 

Carl Perkins - Lead Guitar/ Vocals

Jay Perkins - Rhythm Guitar /Harmony vocals on (lend Me Your Comb)

Clayton Perkins - Upright Bass

W.S 'Fluke' Holland - Drums

Glad All Over is a terrific mid paced rocker, catchy and gleeful lyrics were just what Sam Phillips wanted to get more sales! and the flip 'Lend Me Your Comb' was pure 50's pop, it has a 'Wake Up Little Suzie' feel to it and is definitely aimed at the teen R'n'R market! this song has Carl & Jay sharing the vocals and should have really been a massive hit, mayeb the production could have been a bit more lavish as in places it's quite stark instrumentation wise, but boy, a great song!

'Lend me your Comb' was released a year later in the UK on London Records as the A side on a 45 with 'That;s Right' on the flip! a perfect song record for the UK teens!

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