Elvis Presley - The Sun Sessions

Is there anything left to say about the King of Rock and Roll?

Elvis Presley turns seventy-one years old on the 8th of this month. If he was still alive, he might have made a special appearance on Letterman or Leno. He might have booked an exclusive engagement at one of the big hotels in Las Vegas. It might have been broadcast live via the web. Or, he might have retired into seclusion like Howard Hughes.

What else can one say about the King of Rock and Roll?

Long live the King!

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Album Title: Elvis Presley - The Sun Sessions
Original Release: 1976
Compact Disc Release: 1999
Label: RCA

As much as I hate to admit it, I was never much of an Elvis fan before I bought this album. As far as I was concerned, Elvis wasn’t rock and roll, Elvis was a movie star.

I bought it when it first came out because even though I had read about the early recordings on Sun Records, I had never heard more than a few snippets of the songs. I’d read they were even more rockin’ than his early radio hits, and at the time rock-a-billy was sort of bubbling under on the music scene and The Sun Sessions was creating a buzz in record collector circles.

After just one listen, I understood the buzz. This was my Elvis epiphany, after just one listen, I knew Elvis was the King of Rock and Roll.

It’s not hard to see why these recordings turned the rock and roll world upside down, they made me sit up and take notice in 1976. I can only imagine what it must have sounded like in 1954.

This was the stripped down, lean and hungry Elvis who wanted to rip it up and shake it up more than he wanted fame and fortune.

From the rockin’ opener "That’s All Right" to the smoldering "Good Rockin’ Tonight", Elvis takes you chugging along on a "Mystery Train" rolling straight to the heart of the "Blue Moon".

I suppose it will always be open to debate, but whether it was the production genius of Sam Phillips (often credited for the echo effect vocals that became a staple in early fifties recording sessions) or the reckless abandon in the band's performance, there was a new sound shining from Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee.

The chemistry that existed in the studio when guitarist, Scotty Moore and upright bassist, Bill Black teamed up with Elvis Presley was the flash point for the spark that set rock and roll on fire.

Some people say Elvis died twenty years too late. I don’t know what that means, all I know is when I want to hear the King of Rock and Roll, I listen to The Sun Sessions…“I heard the news, there’s good rockin’ tonight!”