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"...That's All Right..."
For my Elvis Presley Sun Records fix and delectation, I would always reach for the June 2004 single CD "Elvis At Sun" - RCA/BMG 82876 613082 and its 19 tracks and 47:39 minutes sufficient for my Rock 'n' Roll/Rockabilly needs. But then this officially issued RCA/Legacy swoon-fest showed up in 2017 and it's been "That's All Right Mama..." ever since.
With the involvement of long-time Presley aficionado and a reissue name fans revere and trust - Ernst Mikeal Jorgensen – this Sun Records period splurge was always going to be thorough, affectionate and worth buying. But few could have expected "A Boy From Tupelo..." to be such a winner. This actually feels and looks like a release wanting to do right by his legendary beginnings – and not just dress to impress – but put out the definitive statement on that wild rollercoaster of a start. And in July 2021, "...Tupelo" is reduced to below twenty-two quid as new. Loads to discuss, so let's have at it...
UK released 28 July 2017 - "A Boy From Tupelo: The Complete 1953-1955 Recordings" by ELVIS PRESLEY on RCA/Legacy/Sony Music 88985417732 (Barcode 889854177324) is a 3CD 85-Track 10" x 10" Soft Book Set of Remasters covering his Sun Records period with an accompanying 120-Page Booklet. It plays out as follows:
CD1: Memphis Recording Services Acetates, Sun Masters & RCA Masters (66:36 minutes, 27 tracks):
MEMPHIS RECORDING SERVICE ACETATES
1. My Happiness
2. That's When Your Heartaches Begin
3. I'll Never Stand In Your Way
4. It Wouldn't Be The Same (Without You)
SUN MASTERS
5. Harbor Lights
6. I Love You Because
7. That's All Right (45 RPM Master)
8. Blue Moon Of Kentucky (45 RPM Master, July 1954 recording)
9. Blue Moon (August 1954 recording)
10. Tomorrow Night
11. I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')
12. I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine
13. Just Because
14. Good Rockin' Tonight
15. Milkcow Blues Boogie
16. You're A Heartbreaker
17. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (Slow Version)
18. Baby, Let's Play House
19. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone
20. I Forgot To Remember To Forget
21. Mystery Train
22. Tryin' To Get To You
23. When It Rains It Pours
RCA MASTERS
24. That's All Right (RCA Single Version)
25. Blue Moon Of Kentucky (RCA Single Version - 78 RPM Master)
26. I Love You Because (Spliced From Takes 3 & 5)
27. Tomorrow Night (RCA LP Version, Overdubbed & Slowed Down)
CD2: Sun Studio Sessions (75:40 minutes, 26 tracks):
SUN STUDIO SESSIONS
1. Harbor Lights (Takes 1-2, Level Adjustments & 3/M)
2. Harbor Lights (Take 4) 3. Harbor Lights (Takes 5-8)
4. I Love You Because (Takes 1-2)
5. I Love You Because (Take 3)
6. I Love You Because (Takes 4-5)
7. That's All Right (Takes 1-3)
8. Blue Moon Of Kentucky (Slow Tempo Outtake)
9. Blue Moon (Takes 1-4)
10. Blue Moon (Take 5)
11. Blue Moon (Takes 6-8)
12. Blue Moon (Take 9/M)
13. Dialogue Fragment (Before "Tomorrow Night")
14. I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin') (Incomplete Take)
15. Good Rockin' Tonight (Fragment From Vocal Slapback Tape)
16. I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine (Takes 1-2 & 3/Master)
17. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (Slow Version, Take 1)
18. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (Slow Version, Take 2)
19. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (Slow Version, Take 3)
20. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (Slow Version, Takes 4 & 5/Master)
21. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (Slow Version, Takes 6-7)
22. How Do You Think I Feel (Guitar Slapback Tape, Rehearsals)
23. When It Rains It Pours (Vocal Slapback Tape, Take 1)
24. When It Rains It Pours (Vocal Slapback Tape, Takes 2-4)
25. When It Rains It Pours (Vocal Slapback Tape, Take 5/Master)
26. When It Rains It Pours (Vocal Slapback Tape, Takes 6-8)
CD3: Live And Radio Performances (79:17 minutes, 32 tracks):
LIVE AND RADIO PERFORMANCES
1. That's All Right
2. Blue Moon Of Kentucky
(Tracks 1 & 2 - Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, 16 Oct 1954)
3. Shake, Rattle And Roll
4. Fool, Fool, Fool (Tracks 3 & 4 - KDAV Radio, Lubbock, Texas, 6 Jan 1955)
5. Hearts Of Stone
6. That's All Right
7. Tweedlee Dee (Tracks 5-6 - Louisiana Hayride, 15 Jan 1955)
8. Shake, Rattle & Roll (Track 8 - WJOI Radio, Alabama, 19 Jan 1955)
9. KSU Radio Commercial With DJ Tom Perryman
10. Money Honey
11. Blue Moon Of Kentucky
12. I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine
13. That's All Right (Tracks 10 to 13 - Louisiana Hayride, 22 Jan 1955)
14. Tweedle Dee
15. Money Honey
16. Hearts Of Stone
17. Shake, Rattle & Roll
18. Little Mama
19. You're A Heartbreaker (Tracks 14 to 19 - Louisiana Hayride, 5 March 1955)
20. Good Rockin' Tonight
21. Baby Let's Play House
22. Blue Moon Of Kentucky
23. I Got A Woman
24. That's All Right (Tracks 20-24 - Eagles Hall, Houston, 19 March 1955)
25. Tweedle Dee (Track 25 - Gladewater High School, Gladewater, Texas, 30 April 1955)
26. That's All Right (Track 26 - Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Festival, Meridian, Mississippi, 26 May 1955)
27. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (Track 27 - Louisiana Hayride, 2 July 1955)
28. Baby Let's Play House
29. Maybelline
30. That's All Right (Tracks 28-30 - Louisiana Hayride, 20 August 1955)
31. Interview With Bob Neal (5:31 minutes) (WMPS Radio, Memphis, Tennessee, 29-31 August 1955)
32. I Forgot To Remember To Forget (Track 32 - Louisiana Hayride, 29 Oct 1955)
Many have commented on the 120-page booklet but until you see it, its hard to describe how cleverly and beautifully its put together. Take Pages 70 and 71 - there are seven photos on one and another six on 71 - at the bottom you get a numbered reference - most are in black and white but there are four colour of a June 1955 Louisiana Hayride gig where a young lad gets a photo opportunity with the new 'uppercoming Country Star attraction' ELVIS PRESLEY. They even picture the ten 45-singles that Elvis took his cover versions from on Pages 116 and 117. The text is stunning - broken down into a week-by-week chronology of events - for instance Page 61 pictures both sides of the Sun 217 45-single - "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" b/w "Baby, Let's Play House" because it was issued April 1955. The booklet even provides the less-than-enthusiastic trade reviews for the awkward A-side while a timeline chart shows that Elvis played Gladewater High School on Saturday 30th of April. And of course all the key players are there - Sam Phillips of Sun Records - the ever-lingering Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis' chaperoning Mum and Dad - Vern and Gladys. There are lovely photos of girlfriends too - Carolyn Bradshaw, Betty Amos, all a tad giddy to be in the orbit of a rising star.
AUDIO RESTORATION and Mastering is by SEBASTIAN JEANSSON with additional work from Sony stalwarts VIC ANESINI, MARIA TRIANA and MARK WILDER with Dominick Constanzo and Alan Stoker - all at Battery Studios. As you can imagine it's a mixed bag of the amateur vying for attention with the restored hissy tapes of Sun Records. The outtakes are in great shape and even if the Sun Masters dip a bit here and there, we are so used to hearing the lo-fi releases of yore - this kind of clarity will come as a shock to most. I cannot imagine the number of hours both the presentation and the restoration took, but the results are impressive even if the difficult-to-remove CDs from their card lips is a disappointment (once out, I'd store them in envelopes for ease of access). To the music...
The sound on the "My Happiness" debut acetate is eerily clean – awesome frankly. RCA admits that the second "I'll Never Stand In Your Way" self-financed acetate is far more compromised and therefore not as pristine, but it still shockingly good. The RPM Master for "That's All Right" has hiss but the sheer power of history comes roaring across your speakers and it put the first of many smiles on my Covid-weary visage. But then you're whomped with the stunning Slapback echo of "Tomorrow Night" in fabulous sound quality – the best I've ever heard it – Scotty Moore on Guitar and Bill Black on Bass. There is also an RCA version (Track 27) but it feels like Elvis is lost in the back of the mix amidst girly vocals, an overly powerful Bass and a scene-stealing Charlie McCoy Harmonica solo. I want to hear him, not them.
Another wonderful clarity moment comes with the Rockabilly rattle of the kiss and kiss and kiss "I Don't Care If The Sun Don’t Shine" – lights are low – when I’m with my baby. There has been repair to "Good Rockin’ Tonight" – Scotty’s fab solo clear as a bell – Bill’s plucking Double Bass sweet in the background as Elvis sings I heard the news. And while "Milk Cow Blues" and "You're A Heartbreaker" sound good and not much more - I'm taken aback by the Slow Version of "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" – the Audio leaping out of my speakers and Elvis letting rip with just enough power. Suddenly he seems like the rocket they were all saying he was. Music-changing epoch number three arrives in the shape of "Mystery Train" – sixteen coaches long – coming right round the Audio Slap-Bass bend - very tasty indeed.
In some respects I was crest-fallen to find not one outtake from my fave Elvis track of that period - his great cover version of The Eagles Vocal Group R&B hit "Tryin' To Get To You" (original 1954 on Mercury Records) - or for that matter "Mystery Train" - but the stop-starts of "Harbor Lights" and "That's All Right" are very clear if not minus any dialogue (Elvis being respectful?). And when you hear the live stuff where he tears into R&B influences like Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle And Roll", The Clovers "Little Mama", Ray Charles' "I Got A Woman" and even Chuck Berry's "Maybelline" - you wish they were amongst the outtakes or studio cuts too - but alas.
For certain that 2004 single CD "Elvis At Sun" is probably all any period-curious traveller needs, but if you've any love for the man and this myth making period - then "A Boy From Tupelo" is the tribute it has always deserved...
