The Sun Sessions
Compilation album by Elvis Presley
Released	March 21, 1976
Recorded	July 1954 – July 1955
Studio	Sun (Memphis)
Genre	Rockabilly,rock and roll
Length	39:47
Label	RCA Victor
Producer	Sam Phillips
Elvis Presley chronology
Elvis: A Legendary Performer Volume 2 (1976) The Sun Sessions (1976) From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee (1976)

The Sun Sessions is acompilation album by American singerElvis Presley, issued byRCA Records in 1976. The album contains Presley's earliest commercial recordings, made inMemphis, Tennessee, forSun Records in 1954 and 1955. RCA issued the album in the UK in 1975 under the titleThe Sun Collection. The album featuresliner notes byRoy Carr of theNew Musical Express.The Sun Sessions features most of thetracks Elvis recorded for Sun Records and produced bySam Phillips, the head of Sun Studios.The Sun Sessions reached number two on theBillboard Country Albums and number 1 on theCashbox Country Albums charts.

In 2002,The Sun Sessions was chosen by theNational Recording Registry of theLibrary of Congress to be included in its archives given their importance to the development of American popular music. In 2003, the album was ranked number 11 onRolling Stone's list ofThe 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, although its place in future revisions of the list was supplanted bySunrise, a similar, larger compilation.The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll included two tracks from the album: "Mystery Train" and "That's All Right."

The album features most of thetracks Elvis recorded at Sun studio and were produced bySam Phillips, the head of Sun Studios. Elvis began his singing career with Sun Records label in Memphis.^[1] Phillips signed Presley after hearing a song that he had recorded for his mother on his birthday.

Phillips said that Presley was rehearsing with his band,Scotty Moore andBill Black, when Presley started singing the song, a blues song written byArthur "Big Boy" Crudup. Phillips said that the version of the song was what he was looking for when he signed Presley, and turned the tape recorder on.

Elvis recorded more than 20 songs at Sun, including some private recordings. Of these, 15 appear on this album.

Missing songs:

• "Harbor Lights"
• "Tomorrow Night"
• "When It Rains, It Really Pours"
• "I Got a Woman" (tape lost)
• "Satisfied" (tape lost)
• The earlier private recordings

In 1987, RCA Records releasedThe Complete Sun Sessions which included all 15 tracks previously issued on The Sun Sessions plus "Harbor Lights", "Tomorrow Night", "When It Rains, It Really Pours", and 14 other outtakes. Although the album claims to contain theComplete Sun recordings, the collection was still missing "I Got a Woman", "Satisfied" and the earlier private recordings.

The Sun Sessions was released in March 1976 and reached No. 76 on the pop and No. 2 on the country charts.

The single "Baby, Let's Play House" combined with "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" reached No. 5 on the country charts in 1955. Aware that Elvis was rapidly building a reputation for his live performances, RCA Victor bought out Presley's contract with Sun Records for $35,000.

The single"That's All Right" did not chart in the US when released in 1954, and it was never issued as a single inGreat Britain during Presley's lifetime. In 2004, the song became the focus of attention when it was the subject of a great deal of publicity because of the 50-year anniversary. There was a special ceremony on July 6, 2004, featuringIsaac Hayes,Justin Timberlake and Scotty Moore which was beamed live to 1200 radio stations. The song went top five in the UK and Canada and also charted in Australia.The Sun Sessions was also re-released in 2004 (in Japan only) to celebrate the anniversary.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]
Sputnikmusic	5/5[5]

AfterThe Sun Sessions was released,Village Voice criticRobert Christgau hailedThe Sun Sessions as "the rock reissue of the year", writing in that along withChuck Berry's Golden Decade, its songs represented the wellspring of rock music.^[6] He later included it in his "basic record library" of essential albums from the 1950s and 1960s, published inChristgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).^[7]

In 2003, the album's 1999 extended 2CD reissue was ranked No. 11 onRolling Stone magazine's list ofthe 500 greatest albums of all time,^[8] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list,^[9] and dropping to number 78 in the 2020 reboot of the list.^[10] In 2001, theTV channelVH1 named it the 21st greatest album of all time.^[11] Music scholar Michael Campbell called it "quintessential rockabilly" with Presley's voice "the magical element" drawing on country and rhythm and blues but confined to neither,^[12] whileAllMusic critic Cub Koda said "what we ultimately have here is a young Elvis Presley, mixing elements of blues, gospel and hillbilly music together and getting ready to unleash its end result – rock & roll – on an unsuspecting world."^[2]

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll included two tracks from the album: "Mystery Train" and "That's All Right." In 2002,The Sun Sessions were chosen by theNational Recording Registry of theLibrary of Congress to be included in its archives given their importance to the development of American popular music. This album is the very first Elvis album to feature "I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine", which was only previously issued as a single. After more than 20 years,The Sun Sessions marked the song's official debut on LP.^{[citation needed]}

Note

• The last six tracks are original Sun recordings, but were not issued until 1956 on Presley'sfirst album for RCA Victor. They were never released on the Sun label.

• Elvis Presley –vocals,acoustic guitar,piano on "Trying to Get to You"
• Scotty Moore –electric guitar
• Bill Black –double bass
• Jimmie Lott –drums on "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" (erroneously attributed toD.J. Fontana)
• Johnny Bernero – drums on "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" and "Trying to Get to You" (erroneously attributed to D.J. Fontana)

• The Sun Sessions atDiscogs (list of releases)

• Sun Records compilation albums
• Elvis Presley compilation albums
• 1976 compilation albums
• RCA Records compilation albums
• Albums produced by Sam Phillips
• Albums recorded at Sun Studio

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