Sun Records recordings on CDs re-released by Bear Family

Sun Records editions by Bear Family Records

Sam Phillips sensed that Memphis was a special place and he knew about the spiritual power of music. He rented an old building on Union Avenue that he turned into; "The Memphis Recording Service - We record anything – anywhere – anytime." His continuing experience as a producer combined with his instincts and vision. Ultimately created a legendary output and label: he literally changed the world! Bear Family offers many CDs by legendary Sun performers from Sonny Burgess to Bill Yates!

Sam Phillips

Sam Phillips once told the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art that, in his view: "To write or sing songs and make music is probably our greatest amancipator of the spirit. Memphis was made up of a great cross section of black and white rural people from the likes of the Delta and hills and woods and farms of Alabama and Tennessee.

Memphis is a special place, the repository of many proud, humble, friendly determined people. After the Depression and the Mississippi floods of 1927, there were meagre earnings for both black people and poor white. Out of adversity came people with their songs and a chance to catch their elusive dreams. I recognized all this – and I 'dared to begin'. Where it would take us, I didn't know."

The Memphis Recording Service

Where it took Phillips was to an old building at 706 Union Avenue that in 1950 he turned into Memphis' first recording business – 'The Memphis Recording Service: We record anything – anywhere – anytime' – and soon to the top of the R&B charts with his 1951 recording of Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm.

Phillips gave up his day job recording big band radio broadcasts and instead he recorded B. B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Junior Parker, Bobby Bland, Rosco Gordon, Rufus Thomas, and the Prisonaires vocal group. He recorded country singers Harmonica Frank, Slim Rhodes and Charlie Feathers. Then he recorded Elvis Presley, and the rest really, truly, was history.

But this was just the start. He discovered or recorded Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Charlie Rich - and many others then unknown but in whom Phillips heard that penchant and yearning to play, and to play a music that was 'different'. "Can you hear Johnny Cash with a steel guitar?" Phillips challenged, his withering look demanding a "no" in response.

if you're not doing something different, you're not doing anything

Sam Phillips liked to say to his artists, "if you're not doing something different, you're not doing anything." Phillips encouraged music that was individualistic but he also developed his own studio sound and style within which he framed their efforts.

He later explained: "Everything I recorded had to have a basic gut feeling to it, whether blues, gospel, country, rockabilly. I tried to help the artists where I could with a song structure or a lyric, but basically I tried to get them to record what they had, and to bring out of them what they were."

Sam Phillips' approach would have resonated with Mark Twain who unintentionally summarised Phillips' gift as a producer of records when he wrote – "all of us contain Music and Truth, but most of us can't get it out." Sam Phillips got it out. And he put it onto little yellow Sun records for the world to hear.  By Martin Hawkins

 

All SUN CDs -  All SUN Rock'n'Roll CDs - All SUN Boxsets - All SUN Country CDs - All SUN Blues CDs - All SUN R&B CDs

Sun Records editions by Bear Family Records Sam Phillips sensed that Memphis was a special place and he knew about the spiritual power of music. He rented an old building on Union Avenue... read more »
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Sun Records recordings on CDs re-released by Bear Family

Sun Records editions by Bear Family Records

Sam Phillips sensed that Memphis was a special place and he knew about the spiritual power of music. He rented an old building on Union Avenue that he turned into; "The Memphis Recording Service - We record anything – anywhere – anytime." His continuing experience as a producer combined with his instincts and vision. Ultimately created a legendary output and label: he literally changed the world! Bear Family offers many CDs by legendary Sun performers from Sonny Burgess to Bill Yates!

Sam Phillips

Sam Phillips once told the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art that, in his view: "To write or sing songs and make music is probably our greatest amancipator of the spirit. Memphis was made up of a great cross section of black and white rural people from the likes of the Delta and hills and woods and farms of Alabama and Tennessee.

Memphis is a special place, the repository of many proud, humble, friendly determined people. After the Depression and the Mississippi floods of 1927, there were meagre earnings for both black people and poor white. Out of adversity came people with their songs and a chance to catch their elusive dreams. I recognized all this – and I 'dared to begin'. Where it would take us, I didn't know."

The Memphis Recording Service

Where it took Phillips was to an old building at 706 Union Avenue that in 1950 he turned into Memphis' first recording business – 'The Memphis Recording Service: We record anything – anywhere – anytime' – and soon to the top of the R&B charts with his 1951 recording of Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm.

Phillips gave up his day job recording big band radio broadcasts and instead he recorded B. B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Junior Parker, Bobby Bland, Rosco Gordon, Rufus Thomas, and the Prisonaires vocal group. He recorded country singers Harmonica Frank, Slim Rhodes and Charlie Feathers. Then he recorded Elvis Presley, and the rest really, truly, was history.

But this was just the start. He discovered or recorded Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Charlie Rich - and many others then unknown but in whom Phillips heard that penchant and yearning to play, and to play a music that was 'different'. "Can you hear Johnny Cash with a steel guitar?" Phillips challenged, his withering look demanding a "no" in response.

if you're not doing something different, you're not doing anything

Sam Phillips liked to say to his artists, "if you're not doing something different, you're not doing anything." Phillips encouraged music that was individualistic but he also developed his own studio sound and style within which he framed their efforts.

He later explained: "Everything I recorded had to have a basic gut feeling to it, whether blues, gospel, country, rockabilly. I tried to help the artists where I could with a song structure or a lyric, but basically I tried to get them to record what they had, and to bring out of them what they were."

Sam Phillips' approach would have resonated with Mark Twain who unintentionally summarised Phillips' gift as a producer of records when he wrote – "all of us contain Music and Truth, but most of us can't get it out." Sam Phillips got it out. And he put it onto little yellow Sun records for the world to hear.  By Martin Hawkins

 

All SUN CDs -  All SUN Rock'n'Roll CDs - All SUN Boxsets - All SUN Country CDs - All SUN Blues CDs - All SUN R&B CDs

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The Cat Called Domino (LP, 10inch & CD, Ltd., 45rpm)
Roy Orbison: The Cat Called Domino (LP, 10inch & CD, Ltd.,... Art-Nr.: BAF14015

Ready to ship today, delivery time** appr. 1-3 workdays

1-LP 10-inch vinyl (45rpm) with 8-page booklet (8"x8"), 12 single tracks. Playing time approx. 27 min - plus bonus CD, 20 tracks, total playing time approx. 60 min. Limited 'Ooby Dooby' edition, released to celebrate the 85th birthday of...
$22.58 $33.89
Who Was That Masked Man? (4-CD Deluxe Box Set)
ORION: Who Was That Masked Man? (4-CD Deluxe Box Set) Art-Nr.: BCD16330

Ready to ship today, delivery time** appr. 1-3 workdays

4-CD boxset (LP-Size) with 24-page book 108 tracks. Playing time approx. 284 mns. It was Orion Eckley Darnell, keeping the flame of rootsy Southern music alive in the Seventies, and doing it by sounding remarkably like Elvis Presley....
$76.34 $90.48
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Sam Phillips - Der Mann, der den Rock'n'Roll erfand
Sam Phillips: Sam Phillips - Der Mann, der den Rock'n'Roll... Art-Nr.: 0017012

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(Cosoc Grand Palace) german, hardcover, 636 pages, Peter Guralnick, translation of the English original: Michael Wideman. Sam 'The Man Who Invented Rock n' Roll' Phillips, was born on 5th January 1923 in Florence, Alabama, the youngest...
$39.50
Conway Twitty - Conway Rocks (CD)
Conway Twitty: Conway Twitty - Conway Rocks (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD16670

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1-CD DigiPac (6-plated) with 36-page booklet, 30 tracks, playing time 68:38 minutes. Conway Twitty was one of the most successful country stars of all time. No one ever scored more No.1 country hits. But before he was a country star, he...
$15.23 $19.18
Billy Lee Riley Rocks (CD)
Billy Lee Riley: Billy Lee Riley Rocks (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD17597

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1-CD Digipac with 40-page booklet, 35 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 minutes. Frequently Asked Questions Q: Does the CD include recordings from the original masters? A: Yes, the original masters were used except on the Darron Lee...
$15.23 $19.18
Carl Mann - Carl Rocks
Carl Mann: Carl Mann - Carl Rocks Art-Nr.: BCD16684

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1-CD-Album Digipak (6-plated) with 46-page booklet, 35 tracks. Playing time approx. 78 mns. • Contains the best of Carl Mann 's rockin' Sun sides and more, replacing the out-of-print box set formerly issued by Bear Family! • Contains...
$15.23 $19.18
Rock Baby, Rock It (CD)
Johnny Carroll: Rock Baby, Rock It (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD15928

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1-CD with 28-page booklet, 33 tracks. Playing time approx. 75 mns. Back in the 1950s, Johnny Carroll was one of the wildest of them all. For fans of explosive, no-holds-barred rockabilly, this is a dream collection. It includes all of...
$14.21 $18.05
Jerry Lee Lewis - Jerry Rocks (CD)
Jerry Lee Lewis: Jerry Lee Lewis - Jerry Rocks (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD16396

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1-CD Digipak (6-plated) with 40-page booklet, 33 tracks. Playing time approx. 80 mns. Inevitably, our top-selling ROCKS! series now turns to the man who literally epitomizes ROCK: Jerry Lee Lewis! There have been plenty of Jerry Lee...
$15.23 $19.18
Southern Swagger (CD)
Jerry Lee Lewis: Southern Swagger (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD16865

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1-CD-Album with 28-page booklet, 32 tracks. Playing time approx. 73 mns. A unique collection of Jerry Lee Lewis ' most confident/sexually aggressive performances. Because sexual energy fuelled Jerry Lee Lewis' best music, 'Southern...
$14.21 $18.05
The Ballads Of Charlie Rich (CD)
Charlie Rich: The Ballads Of Charlie Rich (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD16516

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1-CD Digipak (4-plated) with 40-page booklet, 33 tracks. Playing time approx. 86 minutes. A deep look at Charlie Rich's Sun, RCA and Smash ballads, beginning nearly twenty years before the 'Silver Fox' era q The only collection focusing...
$15.23 $19.18
Orbison 1955-1965 (7-CD Deluxe Box Set)
Roy Orbison: Orbison 1955-1965 (7-CD Deluxe Box Set) Art-Nr.: BCD16423

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7-CD box set (LP-size) with 104-page hardcover book, 189 tracks. Playing time approx. 482 mns. The ultimate Roy Orbison ! Between 1955 and 1965 Roy Orbison revolutionised popular music and these are the recordings that did it! This album...
$178.75
Classic Recordings 1956-1960 (2-CD)
Billy Lee Riley: Classic Recordings 1956-1960 (2-CD) Art-Nr.: BCD15444

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2-CD with 38-page booklet, 49 tracks. Playing time approx. 110 mns. Classic... and then some! When people talk about rockabilly, Billy Lee Riley is usually in the 'A' list, even tho' he never had a hit. His spectacularly untamed vocals,...
$20.33 $33.89
Rocks (CD)
Sonny Burgess: Rocks (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD17629

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1-CD (Digipak) with 36-page booklet, 29 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 min. Albert Austin Burgess - in short 'Sonny' - was an icon and a crowd favorite for generations of Rockabilly fans worldwide. Active in the music scene for...
$15.23 $19.18
See The Big Man Cry - The complete SUN and Wand recordings 1957 – 65, plus… (CD)
Ed Bruce: See The Big Man Cry - The complete SUN and Wand... Art-Nr.: BCD17616

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1-CD (Digipak) with 32-page booklet, 30 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 min. Bear Family presents ‘See The Big Man Cry – The complete SUN and Wand recordings from 1957 – 65, plus…', the first complete CD collection of Ed Bruce's...
$14.21 $18.05
The Ballads Of Jerry Lee Lewis (CD)
Jerry Lee Lewis: The Ballads Of Jerry Lee Lewis (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD17544

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1-CD (Digipak) with 24-page booklet, 27 tracks. Total playing time approx. 72 minutes. With 'Ballads' Bear Family presents the soulful and sentimental side of the Killer. 27 beautiful Rock ‘n’ Roll and Country ballads recorded between...
$19.18
Sun Ballads 1953-1962 (3-CD)
Various - SUN Records: Sun Ballads 1953-1962 (3-CD) Art-Nr.: BCD17213

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3-CD-Album DigiPac (8-plated) with 90-page booklet, 78 tracks. Playing time approx. 137 minutes. The first-ever in-depth look at the ballad side of the Sun Records legacy. Surveys a 10-year period from the earliest blues and hillbilly...
$27.46 $56.53
Sun Shines On Hank Williams - Sun Artists Sing The Songs Of... (CD)
Various Artists: Sun Shines On Hank Williams - Sun Artists Sing... Art-Nr.: BCD17504

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1-CD with 28-page booklet, 28 tracks. Total playing time approx. 58 minutes. Questions about 'Hank Williams On Sun' Q: Why should I buy this SUN Records compilation? A: This is a one of a kind theme compilation featuring Rockabilly &...
$14.21 $18.05
Narvel Felts Rocks (CD)
Narvel Felts: Narvel Felts Rocks (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD17594

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1-CD Digipak with 40-page booklet, 35 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 mns. • Another great rocker in our highly acclaimed and constantly expanding ROCKS! series! • Wild-and-woolly rockabilly – his early sides including 1956 live...
$15.23 $19.18
Up Through The Years 1954-1957 (CD)
Carl Perkins: Up Through The Years 1954-1957 (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD15246

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1-CD Album with 8-page booklet, 24 tracks. Playing time approx. 61 mns. Carl Perkins, later called 'The King of Rockabilly', made his initial recordings for Sam Phillips' Memphis-based Sun Records in late 1954. His original version of...
$14.21 $18.05
I Can't Seem To Say Goodbye (LP, 180gram Vinyl)
Jerry Lee Lewis: I Can't Seem To Say Goodbye (LP, 180gram Vinyl) Art-Nr.: BAF18027

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ALTERNATIVE VERSIONS - FIRST TIME ON VINYL 1-LP, 180 gram Vinyl-LP, 14 tracks, Total playing time approx. 32:25 minutes. NEW to LP – never released before 12'' vinyl albums! For the first time in more than a generation: two entirely new...
$22.36 $28.24
In The Beginning (LP, 180gram Vinyl)
Jerry Lee Lewis: In The Beginning (LP, 180gram Vinyl) Art-Nr.: BAF18025

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ALTERNATIVE VERSIONS - FIRST TIME ON VINYL , 1-LP, 180 gram ,Vinyl-LP, 14 tracks, Total playing time approx. 33:10 minutes. NEW to LP – never released before 12'' vinyl albums! For the first time in more than a generation: two...
$22.36 $28.24
The Sun Years 1956-58 (CD)
Roy Orbison: The Sun Years 1956-58 (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD15461

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1-CD with 12-page booklet, 28 tracks. Playing time approx. 60 mns. Here's the definitive edition of Roy's rock 'n' roll years with Sun 1956-1958. The 28 songs include Ooby Dooby, Rockhouse, You're My Baby, Chickhearted, Go Go Go, Domino,...
$14.21 $18.05
Roy Orbison - Roy Rocks
Roy Orbison: Roy Orbison - Roy Rocks Art-Nr.: BCD15916

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1-CD-album Digipak (6-plated) with 40-page booklet, 30 tracks. Playing time approx. 65 mns. Bear Family has put together a special compilation of all of Roy Orbison's rockin' material - the first of its kind - from his days at Sun all...
$15.23 $19.18
Man In Black 1954-58 Vol.1 (5-CD Deluxe Box Set)
Johnny Cash: Man In Black 1954-58 Vol.1 (5-CD Deluxe Box Set) Art-Nr.: BCD15517

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5-CD boxed set (LP-size) with 36-page book, 138 tracks. Playing time approx. 330 mns. It has been the most remarkable career in modern country music. 'Nobody But Nobody More Original Than Johnny Cash ' was the slogan they coined in the...
$84.82 $90.48
Travelling Cash - An Imaginary Journey (CD)
Johnny Cash: Travelling Cash - An Imaginary Journey (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD16820

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1-CD with 15-page booklet, 20 tracks. Playing time approx. 46 mns. Johnny Cash was a traveling man. He was a songwriter and troubador who turned his personal adventures into stories and songs. On this album, we bring together many of...
$9.00 $18.05
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