This 1986 Mercury release is more than just a CD, it is the record of an historic event.
In September of 1985, a mobile recording unit pulled up in front of a closed storefront on Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee. Almost to the day, it had been 27 years since the storefront had been a lively site, in the forefront of gutsy blues, down-home hillbilly, and one of the true "birthplaces" of the music that was known as "rock 'n' roll."
The street address was 706 Union, which, beginning in late 1949, became the home of the Memphis Recording Service, and, by 1952 was the address of Sam Phillips' Sun Records, a "maverick" label that recorded many local blues and hillbilly artists while Sam was looking for the talented individual who would bring him fame and fortune. The "Sun" story is familiar territory - B.B. King, The Prisonaires, Little Junior's Blue Flames - and a teenaged white truck driver for Crown Electric who had a "feel" for the blues.
After Sam discovered and developed Elvis to the point where he was marketable, and sold him off to RCA Victor for $35,000, Sam was on his way. The price of Elvis' contract gave him the seed money he needed to develop other acts who would hit the national charts like lightning.
Sam moved Sun out of 706 Union in September of 1958 to fancier "digs" on Madison, but the foundation of rock 'n' roll was firmly set down at 706. Now, some 27 years later, the talents who followed right behind Elvis were back at 706 for a "homecoming," arranged by Memphis producer Chips Moman. Sam's antiquated recording equipment was long gone, but the studio, with its strangely-fashioned cieling and acoustic-tiled walls was still in about the same condition it had been when Sam moved out. So the "Sun feel" was still there - acoustics never duplicated anywhere else.
The "Alumni of 706" - Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis - came home to celebrate their "roots," along with a number of other talented musicians who wanted to join in the tribute. This music is not "706 in '55," it is "706 plus 30 years of additional Memphis talent." It has all the '55 feel of the 706 studio, augmented by a horn section that is right out of Stax/Volt - the other label to come out of Memphis in the early 1960s, with, among other great talents, Booker T and the MG's (Memphis Group), who later became known as the "Memphis Horns."
The "Alumni" are joined in the finale by such talents as June Carter Cash, Jack Clement, John Fogerty, the Judds, Rick Nelson, and Mr. Sam Phillips himself - all singing "background."
Memphis music at its finest. By some of its greatest practitioners. And the beginning of the revival of the Sun Studio - which is now both a tourist attraction by day and an active recording studio by night with an international clientele.
Apparently out of print, but worth seeking out.
Tracks:
1. Birth Of Rock And Roll - Carl Perkins
2. Sixteen Candles - Jerry Lee Lewis
3. Class Of '55 - Carl Perkins
4. Waymore's Blues - the Ensemble - Cash/Orbison/Lewis/Perkins
5. We Remember The King - Johnny Cash
6. Coming Home - Roy Orbison
7. Rock And Roll (Fais Do Do) - Lewis/Cash/Orbison
8. Keep My Motor Running - Jerry Lee Lewis
9. I Will Rock And Roll With You - Johnny Cash
10. Big Train (From Memphis) - the Ensemble plus
