Various Artists
Sun Blues Box: Blues, R&B and Gospel Music in Memphis
Sun Blues Box: Blues, R&B and Gospel Music in Memphis
UPC: 5397102173103
Format: CD (10 disc)
Release Date: Apr 05, 2013
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$187.95 USD
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A companion to The Sun Country Box and The Sun Rock Box, Bear Family's 2013 The Sun Blues Box greatly expands the original 1983 LP box of the same title. That vinyl box concentrated solely on singles released on Sun and its related imprints during the '50s, but this hefty ten-CD box encompasses sides Sam Phillips produced at Sun Studios but licensed out to Chess, Trumpet, and RPM. These cuts, combined with other rarities -- mainly unreleased recordings but also outtakes and such rarities as a Sam Phillips radio spot for a medicine called "Tree of Life" and a clutch of recordings from unknown vocal groups and gospel singers tucked away on the tenth disc -- provides a testament to the considerable achievement Phillips achieved at Sun between 1950 and 1958. Many other studios, producers, and labels were instrumental in the development of recorded electric blues but Phillips at Sun was pivotal in 20th century blues' transition from the country to the city, Sun being an important stop on the road from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago. This is true geographically and aesthetically, as the blues recorded at Sun were often as primitive as those made deep in the Delta, but soon into Phillips' run of blues, the subjects of the songs quickly turned to urban concerns and the sound leaped from the backwoods to the steel and concrete of the city. The first disc, naturally, leans toward primitive Delta blues, but once Howlin' Wolf arrives at the start of the second disc, everything changes. Wolf was Phillips first great discovery and his great, gravelly groan on "Moanin' at Midnight" ushers in much more than the golden age of Sun Blues: licensed to Chess, the recording became a hit and put Chicago blues on a different path, one that would greatly change the sound of popular music, from the blues to rock & roll, and it also made Phillips eager to get another hitmaker into his studio. Shortly thereafter, he cut Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88" with Ike Turner's band -- a jumping single often acknowledged as the first rock & roll single -- and then brought in B.B. King and Rufus Thomas, capturing the sound of not just Memphis blues but the whole swinging south.
Much of this story was told on the original LP box, but the 2013 ten-disc set is drawn on an epic scale, thanks to the inclusion of all the sides Phillips licensed to other labels (although the unreleased rarities are of a high grade and are certainly welcome), singles that fill out the story with necessary detail. What's striking is how vital it all sounds, from the early Wolf and Ike through the Junior Parker, Earl Hooker, Joe Hill Louis, and Walter Horton who come later, to all the one-shots and cult favorites, ranging from the murderous Pat Hare to the inspirational Prisonaires. Phillips always sought musicians who tapped into some primal essence but he wasn't a purist, he was eager to make money out of his discoveries and the way to make money was to live in the modern world, not the past. And that's why the music on The Sun Blues Box feels like the beginning of modern music as we know it: it was recorded just as the blues moved out of the sticks and into the city, and it was recorded when any number of small-time record hustlers could maybe strike it big. Phillips didn't make his money here -- that is documented on the accompanying The Sun Rock Box -- but time and time again he captured lightning in his studio, and that's why The Sun Blues Box isn't simply a history album, it is music that is bracingly, thrillingly alive. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Much of this story was told on the original LP box, but the 2013 ten-disc set is drawn on an epic scale, thanks to the inclusion of all the sides Phillips licensed to other labels (although the unreleased rarities are of a high grade and are certainly welcome), singles that fill out the story with necessary detail. What's striking is how vital it all sounds, from the early Wolf and Ike through the Junior Parker, Earl Hooker, Joe Hill Louis, and Walter Horton who come later, to all the one-shots and cult favorites, ranging from the murderous Pat Hare to the inspirational Prisonaires. Phillips always sought musicians who tapped into some primal essence but he wasn't a purist, he was eager to make money out of his discoveries and the way to make money was to live in the modern world, not the past. And that's why the music on The Sun Blues Box feels like the beginning of modern music as we know it: it was recorded just as the blues moved out of the sticks and into the city, and it was recorded when any number of small-time record hustlers could maybe strike it big. Phillips didn't make his money here -- that is documented on the accompanying The Sun Rock Box -- but time and time again he captured lightning in his studio, and that's why The Sun Blues Box isn't simply a history album, it is music that is bracingly, thrillingly alive. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Tracks:
Disc 1:
1 - Outro
2 - Cool Down Mamma
3 - Schoolboy
4 - Y-M and V Blues
5 - Boogie for Me Baby
6 - Shorty the Barber
7 - Boogie in the Park
8 - Gotta Let You Go
9 - Registration Day Blues
10 - Policy Man
11 - Rats in My Kitchen
12 - Runnin' Around
13 - Doctor Ross Boogie
14 - Country Clown
15 - Cat Squirrel
16 - Little Soldier Boy
17 - Shake 'Em on Down
18 - Down South Blues (aka Lacey Belle)
19 - Texas Hop
20 - Can't Love Me and My Money Too
21 - Flypaper Boogie
22 - Got My Call Card
23 - Scott's Boogie
24 - They Call Me Talking Boy
25 - County Farm Blues
26 - Forty-Four Blues
27 - Rattlesnakin' Mama
28 - Pretty Baby Blues
29 - She's Done Come and Gone
30 - If You Don't Want Me
31 - Last Time
32 - Train Time
Disc 2:
1 - Train Is Comin'
2 - Moanin' at Midnight
3 - How Many More Years
4 - Mr. Highway Man
5 - My Troubles and Me
6 - Getting Old and Grey
7 - My Baby Walked Off
8 - Everybody's in the Mood
9 - Decoration Day Blues
10 - Bluebird Blues
11 - Well That's Alright
12 - Come Back Home
13 - Little Walter's Instrumental
14 - In the Mood
15 - We All Gotta Go Sometime
16 - West Winds Are Blowing
17 - Little Walter's Boogie
18 - Off the Wall
19 - Party Line Blues
20 - Midnight Showers of Rain
21 - Prison Bound Blues
22 - Ridin' in the Moonlight
23 - Take a Little Walk With Me
24 - That Ain't Right
25 - Deep Down in the Ground
26 - Ain't Gonna Tell You No Lie
27 - Love You, Love You Baby
28 - Baby Child
29 - I'm a Good Man
30 - In the Groove Rumba
Disc 3:
1 - Skin and Bones Woman
2 - Rocket 88
3 - I'm Lonesome Baby
4 - Heartbroken and Worried
5 - B. B. Blues
6 - She's Dynamite
7 - Independent Woman
8 - Ridin' the Boogie
9 - My Real Gone Rocket
10 - Tuckered Out
11 - Juiced
12 - Booted
13 - Sam's Drag
14 - Baby Take a Chance With Me
15 - Drop Top
16 - It Ain't No More
17 - T Model Boogie
18 - I Wade Through Muddy Water
19 - Decorate the Counter
20 - Married Woman
21 - You'll Be Sorry Someday
22 - We're All Gonna Do Some Wrong
23 - Hi-Tone Mama
24 - Every Monday Morning Blues
25 - Early in the Morning
26 - Early in the Morning, Baby
27 - Strange Kind of Feeling
28 - Blues Disease
29 - Don't Lay This Job on Me
30 - Hot Fish
Disc 4:
1 - Got Me a Horse and Wagon
2 - Selling My Whiskey
3 - Drivin Slow
4 - Flat Tire
5 - Untitled Blues
6 - Got My Application Baby
7 - Trouble (Will Bring You Down)
8 - She May Be Yours (But She Comes to See Me Sometime)
9 - Seems Like a Million Years
10 - Baker Shop Boogie
11 - Easy
12 - Before Long
13 - Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog)
14 - Walkin' in the Rain
15 - Greyhound Blues
16 - Lonesome Old Jail
17 - Call Me Anything (But Call Me)
18 - Baby, No No!
19 - Take a Little Chance
20 - Time Has Made a Change
21 - Baby Please
22 - Just Walkin' in the Rain
23 - Feelin' Good
24 - Fussin' and Fightin' Blues
25 - Save That Money
26 - Tiger Man (King of the Jungle)
27 - Mystery Train
28 - Love My Baby
29 - Come Back Baby
30 - Chicago Breakdown
31 - Wolf Call Boogie
Disc 5:
1 - Harmonica Jam
2 - Reward for My Baby
3 - Love for My Baby
4 - Too Blue to Cry
5 - Lucy Done Moved
6 - Sweet Home Chicago
7 - Rumble Chillen
8 - Hoo Doo Man (Memphis Al)
9 - When I Am Gone (She Treats Me Mean and Evil)
10 - Dorothy Mae
11 - Keep Your Arms Around Me
12 - I'm a Poor Boy
13 - She May Be Yours (Sweetest Gal in Town)
14 - Hydramatic Woman
15 - Tiger Man
16 - Shine Boy
17 - Mistreatin' Boogie
18 - Worry You Off My Mind
19 - Reap What You Sow
20 - 44 Blues
21 - Come See Me (aka My Love Has Gone)
22 - Feelin' Bad
23 - My Baby
24 - Straighten Up Baby
25 - Cotton Crop Blues
26 - Hold Me in Your Arms
27 - Cheating and Lying Blues (aka I'm Gonna Murder My Baby)
28 - Bonus Pay
29 - Harpin' on It
30 - Blue and Lonesome
31 - Baby's Gone and Left Me
32 - High
Disc 6:
1 - Blue Man
2 - Long Gone Raymond
3 - My Baby Left Me
4 - I'm Back Pretty Baby
5 - Somebody's Been Carryin' Your Rollin' On
6 - Love Is a Gamble
7 - Old Brother Jack
8 - Blues Train
9 - Ugly Woman (Peg Leg Baby)
10 - Dead Letter Blues
11 - Johnny's Dream
12 - Beggin' My Baby
13 - Somebody Told Me
14 - I Love My Baby
15 - Carry My Business On
16 - Standing in the Courthouse Crying
17 - If You Love Me
18 - Alone and Blue
19 - She's My Queen
20 - Re-Beep
21 - Lookin' for My Baby
22 - Rode That Train (Lookin' for My Baby)
23 - Homesick for My Baby
24 - Steel Guitar Rag
25 - Blue Guitar
26 - Drive
27 - Move On Down the Line
28 - Hucklebuck
29 - Believe I'll Settle Down
30 - Pinetop's Boogie Woogie
31 - Gonna Leave You Baby
32 - I Feel So Worried
33 - I Feel So Worried
Disc 7:
1 - So Long Baby Goodbye
2 - Gee I Wish
3 - News Is All Around Town
4 - Hey Now
5 - Way After Midnight
6 - Hart's Bread Boogie
7 - Sittin' at the Bar
8 - Sittin' at the Window
9 - Sittin' Drinkin' and Thinkin'
10 - Snuggle
11 - Bourbon Street Jump
12 - Shim Sham Shimmy
13 - When It Rains It Pours
14 - Move Baby Move
15 - Red Hot
16 - Satisfied
17 - Something for Nothing
18 - Little Fine Healthy Thing
19 - Baby I'm Coming Home
20 - Walked All Night
21 - Don't Dog Me Around
22 - Mean Mean Woman
23 - Stay With Me Baby
24 - Who's Been Drinking My Wine
25 - Sorry Little Baby
26 - Got to Put You Down
27 - Bring Your Love Back Home
28 - Ain't That Right
29 - That's What You Do to Me
30 - I Found a New Love
31 - I'm Gonna Shake It
32 - Let's Get High
33 - Go Ahead On
Disc 8:
1 - Baby Please Don't Go
2 - Just Walking in the Rain
3 - Prisoner's Prayer
4 - Don't Say Tomorrow
5 - There Is Love in You
6 - Gonna Have to Let You Be
7 - Don't Do That
8 - Sitting by My Window
9 - New Orleans
10 - Shoobie Oobie
11 - Mean Old Gin
12 - Blue Nights
13 - Gonna Break That Lock
14 - I Want My Baby Back
15 - Baby Don't Leave Me
16 - I Wonder Why
17 - This Misery
18 - Where Shall I Be (When That First Trumpet Sou)
19 - (The Lord Gave Me) Wings for My Soul
20 - There's a Man in Jerusalem
21 - Forgive Me Lord
22 - He Never Left Me Alone
23 - Blessed Be the Name
24 - Softly and Tenderly
25 - My God Is Real
26 - Amazing Grace
27 - Gospel Train
28 - Look to Jesus
29 - Every Night
30 - I'm Sealed
31 - Lady Called Mother
Disc 9:
1 - Workin' on a Building
2 - (Have You Ever Had) Trouble
3 - You're Gonna Cry
4 - Runnin' Around
5 - Skin and Bones Woman
6 - Little Walter's Boogie
7 - That Ain't Right
8 - Sweet Home Chicago
9 - Off the Wall
10 - Believe I'll Settle Down
11 - Ugly Woman
12 - Dead Letter Blues
13 - Johnny's Dream
14 - Wolf Call Boogie
15 - Way After Midnight
16 - Gee I Wish
17 - News Is All Around Town
18 - Rode That Train/Lookin' for My Baby
19 - I Feel So Worried
20 - So Long Baby Goodbye
21 - Left Job Boogie
22 - Walked All Night
23 - Baby I'm Coming Home
24 - (I Know) You Don't Love Me
25 - Down & Out (aka How Long Will It Last)
26 - You Ain't the One
27 - Matchbox (aka I'm Gonna Forget About You)
Disc 10:
1 - John the Revelator
2 - Tree of Life [Advertising Spot]
3 - I Am Bound for Canaan Land
4 - Play the Game Baby
5 - Ida Mae
6 - South Side Blues
7 - Move Me No More
8 - No Right Blues (Deep Blue Sea Blues)
9 - Outside Friend
10 - Beale St. Shuffle
11 - On Account of You
12 - Juicehead
13 - Oh Baby
14 - Detroit Arrow Blues
15 - Work With Her Boy
16 - Hip Shakin' Mama (Shy Guy's Back in Town)
17 - Oh Baby
18 - Lord Stop the War
19 - Leaning on the Lord
20 - Walk in the Light
21 - Never Grow Old
22 - I'll Search Heaven
1 - Outro
2 - Cool Down Mamma
3 - Schoolboy
4 - Y-M and V Blues
5 - Boogie for Me Baby
6 - Shorty the Barber
7 - Boogie in the Park
8 - Gotta Let You Go
9 - Registration Day Blues
10 - Policy Man
11 - Rats in My Kitchen
12 - Runnin' Around
13 - Doctor Ross Boogie
14 - Country Clown
15 - Cat Squirrel
16 - Little Soldier Boy
17 - Shake 'Em on Down
18 - Down South Blues (aka Lacey Belle)
19 - Texas Hop
20 - Can't Love Me and My Money Too
21 - Flypaper Boogie
22 - Got My Call Card
23 - Scott's Boogie
24 - They Call Me Talking Boy
25 - County Farm Blues
26 - Forty-Four Blues
27 - Rattlesnakin' Mama
28 - Pretty Baby Blues
29 - She's Done Come and Gone
30 - If You Don't Want Me
31 - Last Time
32 - Train Time
Disc 2:
1 - Train Is Comin'
2 - Moanin' at Midnight
3 - How Many More Years
4 - Mr. Highway Man
5 - My Troubles and Me
6 - Getting Old and Grey
7 - My Baby Walked Off
8 - Everybody's in the Mood
9 - Decoration Day Blues
10 - Bluebird Blues
11 - Well That's Alright
12 - Come Back Home
13 - Little Walter's Instrumental
14 - In the Mood
15 - We All Gotta Go Sometime
16 - West Winds Are Blowing
17 - Little Walter's Boogie
18 - Off the Wall
19 - Party Line Blues
20 - Midnight Showers of Rain
21 - Prison Bound Blues
22 - Ridin' in the Moonlight
23 - Take a Little Walk With Me
24 - That Ain't Right
25 - Deep Down in the Ground
26 - Ain't Gonna Tell You No Lie
27 - Love You, Love You Baby
28 - Baby Child
29 - I'm a Good Man
30 - In the Groove Rumba
Disc 3:
1 - Skin and Bones Woman
2 - Rocket 88
3 - I'm Lonesome Baby
4 - Heartbroken and Worried
5 - B. B. Blues
6 - She's Dynamite
7 - Independent Woman
8 - Ridin' the Boogie
9 - My Real Gone Rocket
10 - Tuckered Out
11 - Juiced
12 - Booted
13 - Sam's Drag
14 - Baby Take a Chance With Me
15 - Drop Top
16 - It Ain't No More
17 - T Model Boogie
18 - I Wade Through Muddy Water
19 - Decorate the Counter
20 - Married Woman
21 - You'll Be Sorry Someday
22 - We're All Gonna Do Some Wrong
23 - Hi-Tone Mama
24 - Every Monday Morning Blues
25 - Early in the Morning
26 - Early in the Morning, Baby
27 - Strange Kind of Feeling
28 - Blues Disease
29 - Don't Lay This Job on Me
30 - Hot Fish
Disc 4:
1 - Got Me a Horse and Wagon
2 - Selling My Whiskey
3 - Drivin Slow
4 - Flat Tire
5 - Untitled Blues
6 - Got My Application Baby
7 - Trouble (Will Bring You Down)
8 - She May Be Yours (But She Comes to See Me Sometime)
9 - Seems Like a Million Years
10 - Baker Shop Boogie
11 - Easy
12 - Before Long
13 - Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog)
14 - Walkin' in the Rain
15 - Greyhound Blues
16 - Lonesome Old Jail
17 - Call Me Anything (But Call Me)
18 - Baby, No No!
19 - Take a Little Chance
20 - Time Has Made a Change
21 - Baby Please
22 - Just Walkin' in the Rain
23 - Feelin' Good
24 - Fussin' and Fightin' Blues
25 - Save That Money
26 - Tiger Man (King of the Jungle)
27 - Mystery Train
28 - Love My Baby
29 - Come Back Baby
30 - Chicago Breakdown
31 - Wolf Call Boogie
Disc 5:
1 - Harmonica Jam
2 - Reward for My Baby
3 - Love for My Baby
4 - Too Blue to Cry
5 - Lucy Done Moved
6 - Sweet Home Chicago
7 - Rumble Chillen
8 - Hoo Doo Man (Memphis Al)
9 - When I Am Gone (She Treats Me Mean and Evil)
10 - Dorothy Mae
11 - Keep Your Arms Around Me
12 - I'm a Poor Boy
13 - She May Be Yours (Sweetest Gal in Town)
14 - Hydramatic Woman
15 - Tiger Man
16 - Shine Boy
17 - Mistreatin' Boogie
18 - Worry You Off My Mind
19 - Reap What You Sow
20 - 44 Blues
21 - Come See Me (aka My Love Has Gone)
22 - Feelin' Bad
23 - My Baby
24 - Straighten Up Baby
25 - Cotton Crop Blues
26 - Hold Me in Your Arms
27 - Cheating and Lying Blues (aka I'm Gonna Murder My Baby)
28 - Bonus Pay
29 - Harpin' on It
30 - Blue and Lonesome
31 - Baby's Gone and Left Me
32 - High
Disc 6:
1 - Blue Man
2 - Long Gone Raymond
3 - My Baby Left Me
4 - I'm Back Pretty Baby
5 - Somebody's Been Carryin' Your Rollin' On
6 - Love Is a Gamble
7 - Old Brother Jack
8 - Blues Train
9 - Ugly Woman (Peg Leg Baby)
10 - Dead Letter Blues
11 - Johnny's Dream
12 - Beggin' My Baby
13 - Somebody Told Me
14 - I Love My Baby
15 - Carry My Business On
16 - Standing in the Courthouse Crying
17 - If You Love Me
18 - Alone and Blue
19 - She's My Queen
20 - Re-Beep
21 - Lookin' for My Baby
22 - Rode That Train (Lookin' for My Baby)
23 - Homesick for My Baby
24 - Steel Guitar Rag
25 - Blue Guitar
26 - Drive
27 - Move On Down the Line
28 - Hucklebuck
29 - Believe I'll Settle Down
30 - Pinetop's Boogie Woogie
31 - Gonna Leave You Baby
32 - I Feel So Worried
33 - I Feel So Worried
Disc 7:
1 - So Long Baby Goodbye
2 - Gee I Wish
3 - News Is All Around Town
4 - Hey Now
5 - Way After Midnight
6 - Hart's Bread Boogie
7 - Sittin' at the Bar
8 - Sittin' at the Window
9 - Sittin' Drinkin' and Thinkin'
10 - Snuggle
11 - Bourbon Street Jump
12 - Shim Sham Shimmy
13 - When It Rains It Pours
14 - Move Baby Move
15 - Red Hot
16 - Satisfied
17 - Something for Nothing
18 - Little Fine Healthy Thing
19 - Baby I'm Coming Home
20 - Walked All Night
21 - Don't Dog Me Around
22 - Mean Mean Woman
23 - Stay With Me Baby
24 - Who's Been Drinking My Wine
25 - Sorry Little Baby
26 - Got to Put You Down
27 - Bring Your Love Back Home
28 - Ain't That Right
29 - That's What You Do to Me
30 - I Found a New Love
31 - I'm Gonna Shake It
32 - Let's Get High
33 - Go Ahead On
Disc 8:
1 - Baby Please Don't Go
2 - Just Walking in the Rain
3 - Prisoner's Prayer
4 - Don't Say Tomorrow
5 - There Is Love in You
6 - Gonna Have to Let You Be
7 - Don't Do That
8 - Sitting by My Window
9 - New Orleans
10 - Shoobie Oobie
11 - Mean Old Gin
12 - Blue Nights
13 - Gonna Break That Lock
14 - I Want My Baby Back
15 - Baby Don't Leave Me
16 - I Wonder Why
17 - This Misery
18 - Where Shall I Be (When That First Trumpet Sou)
19 - (The Lord Gave Me) Wings for My Soul
20 - There's a Man in Jerusalem
21 - Forgive Me Lord
22 - He Never Left Me Alone
23 - Blessed Be the Name
24 - Softly and Tenderly
25 - My God Is Real
26 - Amazing Grace
27 - Gospel Train
28 - Look to Jesus
29 - Every Night
30 - I'm Sealed
31 - Lady Called Mother
Disc 9:
1 - Workin' on a Building
2 - (Have You Ever Had) Trouble
3 - You're Gonna Cry
4 - Runnin' Around
5 - Skin and Bones Woman
6 - Little Walter's Boogie
7 - That Ain't Right
8 - Sweet Home Chicago
9 - Off the Wall
10 - Believe I'll Settle Down
11 - Ugly Woman
12 - Dead Letter Blues
13 - Johnny's Dream
14 - Wolf Call Boogie
15 - Way After Midnight
16 - Gee I Wish
17 - News Is All Around Town
18 - Rode That Train/Lookin' for My Baby
19 - I Feel So Worried
20 - So Long Baby Goodbye
21 - Left Job Boogie
22 - Walked All Night
23 - Baby I'm Coming Home
24 - (I Know) You Don't Love Me
25 - Down & Out (aka How Long Will It Last)
26 - You Ain't the One
27 - Matchbox (aka I'm Gonna Forget About You)
Disc 10:
1 - John the Revelator
2 - Tree of Life [Advertising Spot]
3 - I Am Bound for Canaan Land
4 - Play the Game Baby
5 - Ida Mae
6 - South Side Blues
7 - Move Me No More
8 - No Right Blues (Deep Blue Sea Blues)
9 - Outside Friend
10 - Beale St. Shuffle
11 - On Account of You
12 - Juicehead
13 - Oh Baby
14 - Detroit Arrow Blues
15 - Work With Her Boy
16 - Hip Shakin' Mama (Shy Guy's Back in Town)
17 - Oh Baby
18 - Lord Stop the War
19 - Leaning on the Lord
20 - Walk in the Light
21 - Never Grow Old
22 - I'll Search Heaven