“The Sun recordings maximized the effective contrast between the hustling rhythm of the bass and acoustic guitar and the ponderous, sparse vocals & lead guitar. Phillips achievement was to keep Cash’s sound at it’s bare essentials, an then fatten it up with the use of slapback echo. Subsequent producers and engineers could never quite recapture that formula. .. Johnny Cash’s three years of recordings for Sun are a wonderful demonstration of just how far a whole can outclass the sum of it’s parts”
~Colin Escott & Martin Hawkins (Good Rockin’ Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock ‘N’ Roll)

I’m visiting SUN Studio again i January, and will post a series of SUN/STAX/Memphis related articles the coming months. This is the first one.

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I guess it’s much the same as with Elvis Presley: Some will always argue that “The Sun years” represents both Cash & Presley’s best recorded material. Personally I feel both artists created great art at Sun… and after Sun.

But there sure is something magical about the SUN sound.

The Sun Sound
The Sun Sound is music of feeling, emotion and passion. The Sun Sound is music that transports you to memories of happiness, friendship and hardship. It’s a timeless sound.

Sam Phillips “rolled tape until he caught magic”, he didn’t watch the clock.. He knew that great art couldn’t be forced…. patience was fundamental.
Sam always knew what he was looking for… authenticity… soul.. and he nailed it over & over. Not every day, not every week, not every month.. BUT over the years his legacy is enormous.

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Here are my 10 favorite Johnny Cash’s songs recorded @ SUN:

1. I Walk The Line
2. Folsom Prison Blues
3. Give My Love To Rose
4. Get a Rhythm
5. Big River
6. Don’t Make Me Go
7. Home of The Blues
8. Guess Things Happen That Way
9. Cry! Cry! Cry!
10. Hey Porter

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I Walk The Line

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you’re mine, I walk the line

Studio Session, April 2, 1956

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Live:

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Folsom Prison Blues

Studio Session, July 30, 1955

Live 1959:

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Give My Love To Rose

Studio Session, July 1, 1957

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Live 1958:

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Get a Rhythm

Studio Session, April 2, 1956

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Live:

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Big River

Studio Session, November 12, 1957

Live 1958:

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Don’t Make Me Go

Studio Session, April 4, 1957

Live:

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Home of the Blues

Studio Session, July 1, 1957

Live at ‘Country Style USA’, a TV program in 1958:

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Guess Things Happen That Way

Studio Session, April 9, 1958

Live

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Cry! Cry! Cry!

Studio Session, Probably May, 1955

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Hey porter

Studio Session, Probably May, 1955

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Spotify playlist:

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Check out:

• Johnny Cash Sun Records discography (wikipedia)
• Johnny Cash profile @ sunrecords.com

-Egil