Elvis Presley's Sun Recordings
Elvis Presley recorded 25 songs at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee between 1953 and 1955. The recordings reflect the wide variety of music that could be heard in Memphis at the time: blues, rhythm & blues, gospel, country & western, hillbilly, and bluegrass. In 2002, the recordings were inducted into the US Congress's National Recording Registry.
Of the 25 songs, only 23 survive. Ten were released by Sun as Elvis' first five singles between 1954 and 1955. With the exception of the first four songs, which were demos recorded at Presley's expense, all of the songs were produced by Sam Phillips and featured Scotty Moore on guitar and Bill Black on bass.
A year after Presley left for RCA, he had a spontaneous informal session with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis when visiting the Sun studio. This meeting was recorded on December 4, 1956, and dubbed The Million Dollar Quartet by the local paper the next day. These sessions are not generally included when reference is made to "Elvis's Sun Sessions", however.
Read more about Elvis Presley's Sun Recordings: The 25 Titles, Rumored/legendary Recordings, Releases
Famous quotes containing the words elvis, presley, sun and/or recordings:
“Commercial to the core, Elvis was the kind of singer dear to the heart of the music business. For him to sing a song was to sell a song. His G clef was a dollar sign.”
—Albert Goldman (b. 1927)
“I wish not to be given a title or an appointed position. I can and will do more good if I were made a Federal Agent at Large, and I will help best by doing it my way through my communications with people of all ages. First and Foremost I am an entertainer but all I need is the Federal Credentials.”
—Elvis Presley (1935–1977)
“The landscape of the northern Sprawl woke confused memories of childhood for Case, dead grass tufting the cracks in a canted slab of freeway concrete. The train began to decelerate ten kilometers from the airport. Case watched the sun rise on the landscape of childhood, on broken slag and the rusting shells of refineries.”
—William Gibson (b. 1948)
“All radio is dead. Which means that these tape recordings I’m making are for the sake of future history. If any.”
—Barré Lyndon (1896–1972)