VARIOUS
ROCKABILLY TUNES (SUN)
The bulk of the recordings on this compilation were not originally released by Sun Records during its existence and several first appeared on this album.Ken Cook's duet with Roy Orbison was originally issued on Phillips International in 1958 credited to Ken Cook.
Thinkin' Tonight Of My Blue Eyes saw it's first release on this album, as did Ray Harris' Love Dumb Baby.
The only song recorded on Sun containing the word "Rockabilly" was Hayden Thompson's Rockabilly Gal.
Andy Anderson's Johnny Valentine and Tough, Tough, Tough saw their first release on this album and have since become iconic Sun recordings.
Jimmy Wages did not have any of his Sun recordings issued until 1975. Heartbreakin' Love and Take Me were previously unissued, but their popularity was sufficient to bring Wages over to Britain to appear live.
Tommy Ruick was another who never saw a release on Sun Records and his three sides on this album represent 75% of his Sun recordings.
Narvel Felts, in common with a number of Sun artists, made the big time after leaving Sun, in his case in 1973.
His recordings for the Memphis label remained unissued for some 20 odd years. Vintage photos of the artists and Ding Dong's detailed sleeve notes adorn the album.
A diehard lover of authentic Rock'n'Roll music, Ding Dong (real name Alain Pourquier) was France's leading Rock'n'Roll dee-jay in the early Eighties when he produced an acclaimed series of 10" albums for Charly Records compiled from recordings made for Sam Phillips' legendary Sun label.
Ding Dong then launched into another series of 12" albums for Charly, following the same formula that had been so successful in the 10" series.
For both series he made visits to the hallowed Sun vaults in Memphis, Tennessee, where he listened to countless tapes, working his way through 1,228 outtake tape boxes and in the process selecting the best quality masters he could find.
After listening to more than 11,000 tracks during February and March of 1983 and identifying a whole stack of unissued sides, he brought the master tapes back to England, where he embarked upon an amazing one-man re-issue program.
Not only did he master all the recordings, he designed the sleeve artwork and wrote the sleeve notes.
His excellent contacts amongst record collectors around the world enabled him to come up with a whole stack of rare artists' shots to use for the album artworks.
The resulting albums, both various artists compilations and solo major artists, have over the years acquired iconic status and are now much sought after by fans of the ground-breaking Sun sound.
Now lovingly restored, selected titles are being presented in their full original glory for today's vinyl buyers.
They will be essential purchases not only for Ding Dong's fans seeking replacements for their worn-out original copies, but also for today's younger buyers discovering this exciting music for the first time.