He only set out to have make recordings with his brainchild The Memphis Recording Service based at 706 Union Avenue Memphis - his main competitor at the time had a decent living by taping parties and weddings. Sam wanted to also capture local musicians, particularly country, gospel and blues artists. One of his earliest successes has often been described as the first rock'n'roll record: "Rocket 88" masterminded by Ike Turner and credited to sax man Jackie Brenston. Trouble is it led to many of Sam's artists moving to Chicago to work with Chess direct. And when Sam couldn't get the Chess brothers to take more of his output, he was forced to start his own label: Sun. He intended a recording featuring Walter Horton as the first issue and gave it a catalogue number Sun 174 ("Blues in My Condition" b/w "Sellin' My Whiskey" credited to Jackie Boy & Little Walter) - only a fragment of the b-side remains on cd - but poor feedback made him keep the record back, so the first single was Sun 175.(Johnny London's "Driving Slow").
Jim Buillet was an early financial partner and Sam bought him out in 1954, the same year he sold Elvis Presley to RCA Records for $40000 (the Colonel got $35k and Elvis the rest in back royalties). I speculated Sam's hand was forced in light of resolving urgent cash flow challenges?? He never publicly regretted the trade and he often asserted Howlin' Wolf to be the greater talent. Our survey touched all those bases and more, well known like Little Milton and Jerry Lee Lewis as well as lesser know spirits like Eddie Snow. Phillips' problem however as time went on was not being able to replace Presley, Johnny Cash, Lewis and others with big names to keep the tills ringing. He sold the label to Shelby Singleton in the late Sixties. His blues legacy was rich and we only touched it lightly last night.
News also came through that Jerry 'Boogie' McCain had died at the age of 81, a master of amplified harmonica who gigged ceaselessly and never made a poor record. We went to his earliest hits on Rex as well as his later period career with the Music Maker organisation. In between he made several fine albums for Ichiban. His discography shown on Wikipedia is scant but in reality there's plenty of really good projects out there to sample his work. The tributes elsewhere remember him with much fondness and he never got the full acclaim his talent deserved.
Music Maker is also the home of Shelton Powe whose new album gave us our gospel spot and we took two more dips into the story of American studios courtesy of Ace. Those couple of hours flew past and I felt incredibly privileged to share my choice of Sun Blues with you last night. I'm planning some more special shows and I hope you'll want to come along - I'm back next week which only makes sense if you're there as well so until then take care of yourselves and tale care of those that take care of you
Track.Title | Track.ArtistSort | Index | Album.Title | Album.ArtistSort | Label |
Good Rockin' Tonight | Elvis Presley | 11 | King Of Rock'n'roll : Complete 50's Masters | Elvis Presley | RCA |
I'm Gonna Forget About You (Matchbox) | Ike Turner | 25 | Sun Blues Box : 1950-1958 | Various Artists | CHARLY |
Shake A Tail Feather | James & Bobby Purify | 3 | Memphis Boys: The Story Of American Studios | Various Artists | ACE |
Wife Woman And Hoochie | Clay Hammond | 5 | I Kissed Her Gone | Clay Hammond | Desert Sounds |
Boogie is My Name | Jerry McCain | 1 | Boogie Is My Name | Jerry McCain | |
Courtin' in a Cadillac | Jerry McCain & His Upstarts | 13 | It's Your Voodoo Working: The Best Of Excello | Various Artists | universal music operations |
Crazy 'bout That Mess | Jerry McCain | 12 | Strange Kind Of Feelin' | Various Artists | ALLIGATOR // TRUMPET |
Selling My Whiskey | Jackie Boy & Little Walter | 1 | 50 Golden Years : Sun Record Company | Various Artists | FABULOUS |
Tiger Man | Joe Hill Louis | 7 | The Sun Story - Vol.1 | Various Artists | INSTANT |
T-Model Boogie | Rosco Gordon | 22 | Sun Blues Box : 1950-1958 | Various Artists | CHARLY |
Feelin' Bad | Little Junior's Blue Flames | 147 | 50 Golden Years : Sun Record Company | Various Artists | FABULOUS |
The Hucklebuck | Earl Hooker | 22 | Sun Blues Box : 1950-1958 | Various Artists | CHARLY |
Lookin' for My Baby | Little Milton | 18 | Sun Blues Box : 1950-1958 | Various Artists | CHARLY |
Jelly Roll King | Frank Frost | 155 | 50 Golden Years : Sun Record Company | Various Artists | FABULOUS |
Cotton Crop Blues | James Cotton | 24 | Sun Blues Box : 1950-1958 | Various Artists | CHARLY |
Sweet Home Chicago | David 'Honeyboy' Edwards | 13 | Sun Records - Ultimate Blues Collection | Various Artists | VARESE |
Tiger Man (King of the Jungle) | Rufus Thomas Jr. | 18 | Sun Blues Box : 1950-1958 | Various Artists | CHARLY |
Just Walkin' in the Rain | Prisonaires, The | 29 | 50 Golden Years : Sun Record Company | Various Artists | FABULOUS |
Don't Dog Me Around | Eddie Snow | 14 | Sun Blues Box : 1950-1958 | Various Artists | CHARLY |
Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' on | Jerry Lee Lewis | 32 | 50 Golden Years : Sun Record Company | Various Artists | FABULOUS |
Baby Let's Play House | Elvis Presley | 14 | King Of Rock'n'roll : Complete 50's Masters | Elvis Presley | RCA |
Bluebird Blues | Howlin' Wolf | 18 | Sun Blues Box : 1950-1958 | Various Artists | CHARLY |
Suspicious Minds | Mark James | 11 | Memphis Boys: The Story Of American Studios | Various Artists | ACE |
This Train | Shelton Powe | 5 | Gountry Blues & Gospel | Shelton Powe | Music Maker |
She's Tough | Jerry McCain | 10 | The Ace Story - Volume 3 | Various Artists | Ace Records |
Steady | Jerry McCain | 23 | Tuff Enough - Ace (Ms.) Blues Masters Vol.3 | Various Artists | WESTSIDE |
Can't Find My Way Home | Snakes-n-Angels | 13 | Back 2 The Weasel Ranch | Snakes-n-Angels | cdb |
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