Best of his Sun years
Laurence Upton | Wilts, UK | 03/23/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"If Carl Perkins had done nothing but write and record Blue Suede Shoes, his place in history would be assured. His original version released in February 1956 reached no. 2 in the USA, becoming Sun Records' first million seller, and no. 10 in the UK, but was eclipsed by former label mate Elvis Presley's version for RCA. This was released just 3 months later, as Carl Perkins lay convalescing in hospital after the car accident that put his career on hold at such a crucial time.
Carl Perkins was a big influence on many later artists, in particular the Beatles. George Harrison and Ringo Starr between them sung lead on three Beatle records of Carl Perkins' songs, Matchbox, Honey Don't and Everybody's Tryin' To Be My Baby. At BBC sessions they also recorded Sure To Fall, Glad All Over and Lend Me Your Comb. Many decades later Paul McCartney recorded Carl's first single, Movie Magg. All these songs are included on this CD.
Although Carl Perkins recorded and performed live throughout his long career, it is for the early recordings he made for Sun between 1955 and 1958 that he is best remembered. Serious collectors will want original albums or box sets, but if you just need a representative selection of Carl Perkins at his best on Sun, these 25 digitally remastered tracks are just that. All nine A-sides are included, plus six notable B-sides and album tracks.
When he left Sun to join Columbia, a heap of first class unreleased masters were left behind, many of which have since surfaced on Sun compilations and ten are included here. These include the original recordings of Y-O-U and Pink Pedal Pushers, both of which were re-recorded as singles for Columbia, an alternative version of Honey Don't, and his version of Chuck Berry's Roll Over Beethoven (which the Beatles also covered).
This compilation first appeared in 1995. A much more recent Charly 25-track CD of the same title is listed by Amazon but without a track listing, so I cannot confirm if it is a re-issue of this."
Track Listings (25) - Disc #1