#50 The Sun Sessions by Elvis Presley
The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time
- 2025 Album Rank
- 50
- 2011 Album Rank
- 42
- Total Points
- 1091.5
- Year Released
- 1976
- Billboard 200 Chart Peak
- 76
- Weeks at #1
- N/A
- RIAA Sales Certification
- 500,000 (Gold)
The Sun Sessions Album Details
Released in 1976, The Sun Sessions compiles the legendary 1954-1955 recordings Elvis Presley made at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, before he signed with RCA. These formative tracks capture the birth of rock and roll, where country, blues, gospel, and rhythm & blues collided to create something entirely new. Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley pioneered the rockabilly sound with a raw energy and vocal style that broke racial and musical boundaries.
The album includes genre-defining cuts like That's All Right, Blue Moon of Kentucky, Good Rockin' Tonight, and Baby Let's Play House. What makes these tracks historic isn't just their musical innovation but the cultural shift they represented, a white Southern singer interpreting Black musical traditions with sincere respect and explosive charisma. The Sun Sessions remains one of the most influential documents in rock history, capturing the moment the genre was set ablaze.
Interesting Facts about The Sun Sessions
- Elvis's first single, That's All Right, was recorded on July 5, 1954, almost by accident. During a break, Elvis started fooling around with Arthur Crudup's blues tune. Producer Sam Phillips heard it, hit "record," and history began.
- Blue Moon of Kentucky, the B-side to that first single, was originally a slow waltz by bluegrass legend Bill Monroe. Elvis, Scotty Moore, and Bill Black transformed it into a lively rocker, and Monroe reportedly liked it.
- Sam Phillips founded Sun Records with the mission of finding a white artist who could sing Black music with authenticity. When he heard Elvis's voice on a demo, he sensed he had found exactly that.
- The trio that recorded most of these sessions, Elvis, Scotty Moore, and Bill Black, were dubbed the "Blue Moon Boys." They had no drummer, yet their rhythmic interplay was so tight it often felt like one was present.
- One of the most haunting tracks, Blue Moon, features Elvis's eerie, falsetto-heavy vocal with minimal accompaniment. It was unlike anything else in the Sun catalog and showed his vocal versatility even early on.
- Milk Cow Blues Boogie opens with a slow, mournful intro before abruptly shifting into a fast-paced boogie. The fake-out became one of Elvis's signature tricks in live shows later on.
- The sessions at Sun were casual, often recorded with minimal overdubs and little separation between instruments. This rawness contributed to the intimate, urgent sound that defined the early rockabilly aesthetic.
- Sun Records only released five official singles by Elvis before selling his contract to RCA for $35,000 in 1955, a record-breaking amount at the time. RCA reissued many of the Sun tracks after his national breakout.
- Baby Let's Play House was one of Elvis's most assertive early recordings. His use of echo, hiccupy vocal phrasing, and commanding delivery pointed toward the swagger he would soon perfect.
- When The Sun Sessions was released in 1976, it brought renewed critical focus to Elvis's pre-fame years.
The Sun Sessions Tracklist
- That's All Right
- Blue Moon of Kentucky
- I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine
- Good Rockin' Tonight
- Milkcow Blues Boogie
- You're a Heartbreaker
- I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone
- Baby Let's Play House
- Mystery Train
- I Forgot to Remember to Forget
- I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')
- I Love You Because
- Trying to Get to You
- Blue Moon
- Just Because
- I Love You Because
