Sun Records is one of the best known music labels in the world. Started in Memphis in 1952 by Sam Phillips, Sun produced some of the greatest musicians of all time, including Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis.
The music of Sun Records laid the foundation for modern rock & roll. It influenced many younger musicians, particularly the Beatles. The 2010 tribute show, “Million Dollar Quartet” is based on the famous photograph of Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis grouped round Elvis Presley at the piano, the night when the four joined in an impromptu jam at Sun Record's one-room sound studio.
Most of the principles are now dead, but Lincoln Center Out of Doors assembled some of the remaining living Sun artists for a tribute show in New York City on August 13. Even though most are now in their 70s and 80s, these artists still rocked the joint.
Cowboy Jack Clement was born along Highway 61 in Tennessee, the famous road that brought bluesmen from the Mississippi Delta to Memphis. Now 80, he’s not only a performer, but one of the first businessmen to bring song publishing, music and film production and recording studios together into a single entity.
He worked for Sam Phillips at Sun Records and ran the mixing board for sessions with Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich and Jerry Lee Lewis. Elvis Presley opened for Clement at the Eagle’s Nest, a Memphis club. Clement has 25 Gold Records. He is the subject of a documentary film, Shakespeare Was A Big George Jones Fan.
Rudy “Tutti” Grayzell was a pioneering rockabilly musician releasing singles first for Capitol and Starday Records, where he released his signature song, 1956’s “Duck Tail.” Grayzell, now 79, then toured with Elvis Presley, who gave him the nickname “Tutti.” In 1958, Grayzell signed with Sun Records, where he recorded “Judy’ b/w I Think of You.” He’s a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
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Hayden Thompson walked into Sun Records in 1956 and recorded nine songs. One of them, “Love My Baby,” featured then unknown piano player Jerry Lee Lewis playing with reckless abandon. Other members of the classic Sun studio band was Roland Janes’ blistering guitar over a foundation laid by Marvin Pepper and Jammy Van Eaton. Now 74, Thompson is one of the original rockabilly cats who recorded for Sam Phillips in the mid-50's. He’s a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
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Sonny Burgess (left) and the Legendary Pacers began as a boogie woogie group in Arkansas in 1955. They have been playing ever since. The band became rock & roll pioneers and have toured with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Conway Twitty, Patsy Cline, Ronnie Hawkins and Charlie Rich.
The band's first record was "We Wanna Boogie" in 1956 for Sun. The flip side was "Red Headed Woman." Both were written by Burgess. The songs have been described as "among the most raucous, energy-filled recordings released during the first flowering of rock & roll." Burgess was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame of Europe in 1999.
Marty Stuart used to play in the bands of Lester Flatt in the 70’s and Johnny Cash in the 80’s. He’s a four time Grammy winner and star of the Grand Ole Opry. He played with his band, the Fabulous Superlatives.
Stuart showed a recently discovered guitar that belonged to Johnny Cash. It hadn't been played since 1959. Cash used it to record “I Walk the Line.” Stuart played it for the first time at the Sun Records tribute at Lincoln Center.
At the Lincoln Center show, even the fans got into the act. This one with 50's-era haircut and Sun T-Shirt watched everything standing by the stage.