Elvis Presley's debut album on Sun Records

Besides four self-financed demos, Elvis Presley is known to have recorded 20 songs at Sun Records studio in Memphis, Tenn. Sun issued half of those as A and B sides of five singles. Soon after the issue of the last single, Sun Records owner Sam Phillips sold Elvis' contract to RCA in late 1955. As part of the deal, RCA obtained all of the tapes of Elvis' recordings. Of the other 10 tunes, two are apparently lost forever, and the rest have been released on various albums over the years.

This is an attempt to look at what a full album might have been had it been issued on Sun.

Sun didn't actually issue an album until Johnny Cash's With His Hot and Blue Guitar in 1956 or 1957 (there's contrasting information). Sun issued a Carl Perkins LP, Dance Album in 1957, and a Jerry Lee Lewis self-titled album in 1958. In creating a Sun album for Elvis, I wanted it to similarly match those three.

Both Cash's and Lewis' albums have a dozen tracks, and both are about 27 and a half minutes long. Perkins' album has only 11 tracks but is about six minutes longer than either of his label mates.

With Elvis' singles, we have 10 tracks, but it comes out to be less than 25 minutes long. So I decided to add two more tracks -- but which of the eight available songs to use? "When It Rains, It Really Pours" was the last song Elvis recorded at Sun, but it's apparent that no one seemed really happy with the result. In fact, Elvis re-recorded the song in 1957. I feel that the best choices of the leftovers are "Trying to Get to You" and "Just Because." The 12 songs come to a little more than 28 minutes, a little longer than either Cash's or Lewis' albums, but still shorter than Perkins'. So my track list is as follows:

SIDE A
1. Mystery Train
2. Blue Moon of Kentucky
3. I Forgot to Remember to Forget
4. You're a Heartbreaker
5. Just Because
6. That's All Right

SIDE B
1. Baby, Let's Play House
2. Milkcow Blues Boogie
3. I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine
4. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone
5. Trying to Get to You
6. Good Rockin' Tonight

I started off the album with "Mystery Train," the A side of Elvis' last single for Sun. Plus it goes with the cover (which I discuss below). The first side ends with the song that started it all. The second side is bookended with "Baby, Let's Play House" and "Good Rockin' Tonight." Overall, this is a rockin' LP -- short by today's standards, but average for the time.

For the cover, I took artwork from the box set A Boy from Tupelo. I think it's great, and it looks a lot like the album covers Sun used for Cash, Lewis and Perkins. I Photoshopped some extra stars for additional song titles and made some other modifications.

Thank you very much.

The Who's "Lifehouse" - Double Album Version

Back in January, I wrote about my idea of a triple album version of The Who's Lifehouse. By most accounts, Lifehouse was originally supposed to be a double album before it was scaled down to the single disc Who's Next in 1971. So this time around I've compiled a double album version that's significantly different, and not just because it's shorter.

The track list for Lifehouse is hotly debated by a lot of Who fans. Pete Townshend continued working on his Lifehouse concept long after Who's Next was completed. Later songs supposedly connected to the idea ended up on 1975's Who by Numbers and 1978's Who Are You. And Townshend has given conflicting information over the years regarding what tracks were originally part of the concept.

To come up with a track list for a double album version, I decided to look at the order the band performed the songs in concert in 1971. The Who had of course played Tommy songs in order on previous tours, so this made sense to me. Specifically, I used the setlist from the opening dates of the band's 1971 U.S. tour:

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-who/1971/the-spectrum-philadelphia-pa-2bdf008e.html

This isn't a perfect solution as the set list mixed in some older songs, and some Lifehouse/Who's Next songs weren't performed at all. However, I felt the set list gave me a good outline to which I added other tracks to complete a track list for the album. The result is actually quite different from a lot of other attempts I've seen (including my own triple album version), but I think it works pretty well.

SIDE A
1. Baba O'Riley
2. Love Ain't for Keeping [electric version with Pete on lead vocals]
3. Pure and Easy [alternate version]
4. Time is Passing
5. Young Man Blues

SIDE B
1. Going Mobile
2. Behind Blue Eyes [alternate version]
3. I Don't Even Know Myself
4. Too Much of Anything
5. Getting in Tune [alternate version]

SIDE C
1. Bargain
2. Baby, Don't You Do It [alternate version featuring Leslie West on guitar]
3. Water
4. Naked Eye

SIDE D
1. Let's See Action
2. Won't Get Fooled Again [original New York sessions version]
3. The Song is Over

One thing of note is that this version only includes songs recorded by The Who. Most Lifehouse recreations include at least a couple of Townsend demos, specifically "Mary" and "Greyhound Girl," and sometimes "Teenage Wasteland." Not here -- this is all Who.

Also, since I've already presented most of these songs on the triple album version, a new double album version gives us an opportunity to use other versions of songs available on the 2003 Deluxe Edition of Who's Next -- see bracketed [ ] comments.

I should note that there are two versions of "Baby, Don't You Do It" featuring Leslie West on guitar. On the 1995 reissue of Who's Next, there's an edited 5:13 version. That better suits the time restrictions of a vinyl album. But if you're of the mind to say, "To hell with time restrictions," by all means use the full 8:21 version from the Deluxe Edition.

I like how the first three sides each kick off with a strong Who's Next track. The final side mirrors the last side of my triple-album version as I think these three songs perfectly end the album.

The cover is simply the original cover art of Who's Next, minus the title.

Here is a YouTube playlist of the album. Enjoy!

Chuck Berry discography, 1960-66

Chuck Berry's 1960s discography with Chess Records is not dissimilar from his 1950s output in that there was a lot of scrambling of songs from different recording sessions. As I did with my previous post on Chuck Berry last month, I try to rectify that here.


ROCKIN' AT THE HOPS
In February 1960, Chuck recorded seven songs. Not enough for an album. But during his next sessions in March and April, he recorded 14 songs. Now we've got too many! For Chuck's first album of the 1960s, we took his Rockin' the Hops album and rearranged it slightly. We'll use the seven songs recorded that year that were originally on the album, and we'll add the rest of the February session. Most importantly, we do not include the songs that had been recorded the previous year, having already used them on our Let It Rock album.

SIDE A
1. Bye Bye Johnny
2. Worried Life Blues
3. Down the Road a Piece
4. Confessin' the Blues
5. I'm Just a Lucky So and So
6. Mad Lad

SIDE B
1. I Got to Find My Baby
2. Our Little Rendezvous
3. Run Around
4. Sweet Sixteen
5. Driftin' Blues
6. Jaguar and Thunderbird


NEW JUKE BOX HITS
New Juke Box Hits from 1961 is almost perfect, but two songs from older sessions are jettisoned, and two newer tunes take their place. Specifically, I removed "Thirteen Question Method" from the first side and replaced it with "I Still Got the Blues"; and on the second side I replaced "Run Around" with "Crying Steel."

SIDE A
1. I'm Talking About You
2. Diploma for Two
3. I Still Got the Blues
4. Away from You
5. Don't You Lie to Me
6. The Way It Was Before

SIDE B
1. Little Star
2. Route 66
3. Crying Steel
4. Stop and Listen
5. Rip It Up


GO GO GO (EP)
In 1963, Chess released a ridiculous album titled Chuck Berry on Stage. It's ridiculous because not only is it not a live album, but someone took Chuck Berry's songs and audience sounds were overdubbed on the tracks. There were six new songs that Chuck had recorded at this time (and were used on the Chuck Berry on Stage album), but they really don't fit on any album. So, I give you an EP. Six new songs plus a re-recorded version of "Brown Eyed Handsome Man." For the cover, I took the Chuck Berry on Stage album and messed with it.

SIDE A
1. Come On
2. Adulteen
3. The Man and the Donkey

SIDE B
1. Go Go Go
2. Trick or Treat
3. All Aboard
4. Brown Eyed Handsome Man


ST. LOUIS TO LIVERPOOL
The Beatles, Rolling Stones and other British Invasion bands were playing and recording Chuck Berry songs, and Chess saw an opportunity to connect to a new young audience, hence the album title. Quite a few changes were needed to make this an album with contemporary cuts. The first two songs on the first side are changed, and three more are changed on the second side. I can't believe Chess and Chuck didn't include "Big Ben" on this album originally as it connects at least a bit to the theme of the album's title. The cover is the same as the original, but I changed the song titles to reflect the track list changes.

SIDE A
1. Nadine
2. Crazy Arms
3. No Particular Place to Go
4. You Two
5. Promised Land
6. You Never Can Tell

SIDE B
1. Big Ben
2. The Things I Used to Do
3. Liverpool Drive
4. Fraulein
5. O Rangutang
6. Brenda Lee


CHUCK BERRY IN LONDON
In another attempt to jump on the British Invasion bandwagon, Chuck invaded Britain and recorded eight of the tracks in London. The other six tracks originally on this album were recorded in Chicago, so the album title is a little misleading. Originally, this album had 14 tracks, but that's a stretch with some songs included that weren't from this period. Since most of Chuck's albums have 12 tracks, I kept this one with that number as well. I removed the track "Night Beat," which was recorded in 1957, and I've no idea why it was decided to include it here. Other tracks removed include "His Daughter Caroline," "Butterscotch" and "The Song of My Love."

The single version of "Chuck's Beat" has been added. The full-length version is on the album Two Great Guitars, a jam album Chuck recorded with Bo Diddley.

SIDE A
1. My Little Love-Light
2. She Once Was Mine
3. After It's Over
4. I Got a Booking
5. Little Girl from Central
6. You Came a Long Way from St. Louis

SIDE B
1. St. Louis Blues
2. Jamaica Farewell
3. Dear Dad
4. Chuck's Beat
5. Why Should We End This Way
6. I Want to be Your Driver


FRESH BERRYS
Fresh Berrys was released in November 1965, and it was indeed fresh. All the songs had been recorded over two days, Sept. 1 and 2. This, in my opinion, is the only Chuck Berry album Chess Records got right during the period 1955-1965. As such, I didn't change anything.

SIDE A
1. It Wasn't Me
2. Run Joe
3. Every Day We Rock and Roll
4. One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)
5. Welcome Back, Pretty Baby
6. It's My Own Business

SIDE B
1. Right Off Rampart Street
2. Vaya Con Dios
3. Merrily We Rock and Roll
4. My Mustang Ford
5. Ain't That Just Like a Woman
6. Wee Hour Blues


VIVA ROCK AND ROLL
In April 1966, Chuck recorded his last songs for Chess Records before switching to Mercury Records. Chuck would return to Chess two years later. During his absence, Chess released one compilation album, but there were enough songs to issue one more studio LP. However, to do so we have to include both his most recent tracks as well as a few leftovers from 1965. I created this "all-new" album, and I really like the cover. Found this picture on the web and knew right away this was the cover.

SIDE A

1. Ramona Say Yes
2. I'm in the Danger Zone
3. Sad Day, Long Night
4. Go Bobby Soxer
5. Butterscotch
6. Shake, Rattle and Roll

SIDE B

1. Viva Rock and Roll
2. Lonely School Days
3. His Daughter Caroline
4. The Song of My Love
5. Honey Hush
6. Little Marie
Bonus: Spending Christmas

NOTE:
 Information about Chuck Berry's recording sessions was provided by
    The Chuck Berry Database at http://www.crlf.de/ChuckBerry/cbdb
    © 2018 by Dietmar Rudolph, Fred Rothwell, Morten Reff

Count Five - "Cartesian Jetstream"

Just a quickie this week.

A few weeks back I created a "new" album for the Count Five, Carburetor Dung. The title came from an essay by writer Lester Bangs in which he fantasized that instead of breaking up after only one album, the band had gone on to record five more, each one better than the last.

In that same spirit, I give you Cartesian Jetstream, an EP with all the remaining Count Five tracks that weren't on the band's debut or my imagined Carburetor Dung.

SIDE A
1. So Much
2. Enchanted Flowers
3. Coconuts

SIDE B
1. Mailman
2. God Alone (Above)
Bonus Track: Psychotic Reaction [alternative version]

For a cover, I Googled "Cartesian Jetstream," and this diagram came up. So I took that and added the band's name and album title.

Alas, there are no other recorded songs that I know of to create Ancient Lace and Wrought-Iron Railings or Snowflakes Falling on the International Dateline, the other two Count Five albums from Bangs' essay.

Next week's entry will be significantly longer.