Various "The Legendary Sun Records Story: Volume 2" 1953-1962(rec) 2001(comp)***

I just finished watching "The Road To Memphis" an excellent documentary of the Martin Scorsese -curated series about the Blues featuring many musicians of the Beale Street scene (from famous like B.B. King and Ike Turner to Rufus Thomas and semi-forgotten ones like Rosco Gordon) as well as producer Sam Phillips, owner of Sun Records and better known as "the man who discovered Elvis Presley". He did much more than that, recording many blues musicians (e.g. Howling Wolf) before discovering rock'n'roll was the real goldmine and turning his full attention there. The series had me rushing to the drawers where my Sun Records CDs are, and sure 'nough here were all the artists. dead and alive, mentioned in the documentary. For some reason I chose The Legendary Sun Records Story: Volume 2 to present here. I like the way it encompasses the timeless and ephemeral, the stars and the never-have-beens. DISC ONE opens with a couple of red-hot rockabilly numbers, Billy Lee Riley's "Red Hot" and Jerry Lee Lewis' "Mean Woman Blues". Carl Perkins is represented with two of his best, and often-covered, songs ("Honey Don't", "Boppin The Blues"), Johnny Cash with C&W classic "Big River", Roy Orbison with the rockin' "You're My Baby", and Charlie Rich with the crooning "Stay". Presumably for copyright reasons, the studio's big star Elvis only appears as 1/4 of The Million Dollar Quartet (with Cash, Perkins and Jerry Lee) an unofficial jamming session with underwhelming results. Other notable songs include  Carl Mann's rockabilly dynamite "Ubangi Stomp", Ray Smith's novelty "Rockit Bandit", and Sonny Burgess' "My Buckets Got A Hole In It". Bill Justis' "College Man" is an almost-instrumental with nice sax. Apparently the singer took a nap during the proceedings, waking up during the last 20 seconds to hurriedly add a couple of lines. In Elvis' absence, we get Jerry Lee's version of "Jailhouse Rock", which is not so famous but has its own merrit nevertheless. 

***** for Honey Don't (Carl Perkins), Big River (Johnny Cash), Ubangi Stomp (Carl Mann), Boppin The Blues (Carl Perkins)

**** for Red Hot (Billy Lee Riley), Mean Woman Blues (Jerry Lee Lewis), My Buckets Got A Hole In It (Sonny Burgess), Move Baby Move (Billy 'The Kid' Emerson), Jailhouse Rock(Jerry Lee Lewis)

*** for You're My Baby (Roy Orbison), I Won't Be Rockin' Tonight (Jean Chapel), Rockit Bandit (Ray Smith), Walkin' Shoes (Onie Wheeler), College Man (Bill Justis), Gonna Romp And Stomp (Slim Rhodes), 

** for Stay (Charlie Rich), After The Hop (The Turks),  Treat Me Right (Cliff & Barbara Thomas), Sweet Sweet Girl (Warren Smith), Thats When Your Heartaches Begin (The Million Dollar Quartet)

DISC TWO features many of the same artists, just playing less famous songs. Highlights include Jerry Lee's "Lovin Up A Storm", Cash's "Oh Lonesome Me", Warren Smith's "Uranium Rock" (later covered by The Cramps), Gene Simmons' (no, not that one) "Drinkin' Wine", and Hayden Thompson's mid-tempo ode to a "Rockabilly Gal". One such gal here is Barbara Pittman ("I Need A Man"), while two of the afforementioned documentary's protagonists also appear: Rosco Gordon with his New Orleans-style piano (which he usually adorned onstage with a ...rooster) in "Shoobie Oobie", and Rufus Thomas with the original version of R&B stomper "Tiger Man (King Of The Jungle)" - later a hit for Elvis. 

**** for You Made A Hit (Ray Smith), Lovin Up A Storm (Jerry Lee Lewis), Uranium Rock (Warren Smith), Rockabilly Gal (Hayden Thompson), Tiger Man/King Of The Jungle (Rufus Thomas), Drinkin Wine (Gene Simmons), I Need A Man (Barbara Pittman), Oh Lonesome Me (Johnny Cash), Sadies Back In Town (Sonny Burgess)
*** for Your True Love (Carl Perkins),  Jumpin Jack (Cliff & Barbara Thomas), Wouldn't You Know (Billy Lee Riley), Sweet Woman (Ed Bruce), Sittin' And Thinkin'(Charlie Rich), Look At That Moon (Carl Mann), Shoobie Oobie (Rosco Gordon), I'm Feelin Sorry (Jerry Lee Lewis), It's Me Baby (Malcolm Yelvington)

** for Ballad Of A Teenage Queen (Johnny Cash), Softly And Tenderly (The Million Dollar Quartet)

DISC THREE features the usual suspects Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee and Johnny Cash, both individually and all together singing gospel with Elvis (as The Million Dollar Quartet). There are also some tearjerker ballads ("Tragedy"), country ("Muddy Ole River",  "I'm Comin' Home"), and blues (by Little Junior and The Jesters). On the whole this is a rich collection (60 tracks) which, together with no.1, provides a nice -though still uncomplete- overview of Sun Records' history. If only they could include some of The King's early sides for that label...

****for Mis Froggie (Warren Smith), Pearl Lee (Billy Lee Riley), You Better Dig It (Bill Johnson), Red Velvet (The Kirby Sisters), Little Queenie (Jerry Lee Lewis), Without A Love (Jimmy Isle), Walkin' And Talkin' (Mack Owen), Love My Baby (Little Junior's Blue Flames), Night Train From Chicago (The Jesters)

***for Pink Pedal Pushers (Carl Perkins), Restless (Sonny Burgess), Straight As In Love (Johnny Cash), Tragedy (Thomas Wayne), Sweet And Easy To Love (Roy Orbison), Hey Boss Man (Ray Smith), Muddy Ole River (Dane Stinit), Whirlwind (Charlie Rich), Hambone (Rayburn Anthony), I'm Comin Home (Carl Mann)

** for Just A Little Talk With Jesus (The,  Million Dollar Quartet)