December 4, 1956 - 706 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee. Approximately a year after Sam Phillips sold Elvis Presley's recording contract to RCA Victor for a reported $35,000, Elvis came back to Memphis for a visit. He stopped in at the old Sun studio to see his friends and former "stablemates," and walked in on the tail end of a Carl Perkins recording session. Jerry Lee Lewis was there in the role of session pianist, having not yet cracked the big time.
This CD, released by RCA Victor in 1990, captures a portion of the jam session that ensued. The story has it that Sam was behind the glass in the control room as the guys began to jam, and just set the tape recorder running to "capture the moment" as a souvenir.
Sam was no slouch when it came to publicity, so he phoned up Johnny Cash to come by and then contacted the local paper, the Memphis Press-Scimitar, to send over a reporter and photographer. Though Johnny doesn't appear on the recording, he's certainly prominent enough in the photos with Elvis, Carl, and Jerry Lee - thus the Million Dollar Quartet.
The tape of the session remained "in the can" through the sale of Sun to Shelby Singleton, who licensed much, if not all, of the catalog to the Charly label in Europe for reissue. During Charly's "mining" of the Sun catalog, a portion of the session came to light, which was issued in 1981 as "Charly/Sun" LP #1006 The Million Dollar Quartet, and which contained almost all gospel/spiritual music. Several years later, additional material was discovered, resulting in the 1987"Charly/Sun" 2 LP set #CDX 20 The Complete Million Dollar Session, which was simultaneously issued as a CD in Europe, and replicated for US distribution in the form of this CD in 1990.
The highlight of the session occurs when Elvis tells the guys about seeing Billy Ward and the Dominoes in Las Vegas. Jackie Wilson was the lead singer of the Dominoes at the time, and Elvis relates that "this colored feller" was doing an imitation of him (Elvis) performing Don't Be Cruel. Elvis then proceeds to imitate Jackie's imitation - a blast! [It's only a pity that no one seems to have been at the sound board in Vegas taping Jackie's performance for posterity.]
Call it "Fun In The Sun (Studio)", if you like. I just call it "three guys havin' some fun."
Enjoy!!
Tracks:
1. You Belong To My Heart
2. When God Dips His Love In My Heart
3. Just A Little Talk With Jesus
4. Jesus Walked That Lonesome Valley
5. I Shall Not Be Moved
6. Peace In The Valley
7. Down By The Riverside
8. I'm With A Crowd But So Alone
9. Farther Along
10. Blessed Jesus (Hold My Hand)
11. As We Travel Along The Jericho Road
12. I Just Can't Make It By Myself
13. Little Cabin Home On The Hill
14. Summertime Is Past And Gone
15. I Hear A Sweet Voice Calling
16. Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong
17. Keeper Of The Key
18. Crazy Arms
19. Don't Forbid Me
20. Too Much Monkey Business
21. Brown Eyed Handsome Man (1:00)
22. Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind
23. Brown Eyed Handsome Man (1:42)
24. Don't Be Cruel (1:41)
25. Don't Be Cruel (:37)
26. Paralyzed
27. Don't Be Cruel (:24)
28. There's No Place Like Home
29. When The Saints Go Marchin' In
30. Softly And Tenderly
31. Is It So Strange
32. That's When Your Heartaches Begin
33. Brown Eyed Handsome Man (:20)
34. Rip It Up
35. I'm Gonna Bid My Blues Goodbye
36. Crazy Arms
37. That's My Desire
38. End Of The Road
39. Black Bottom Stomp
40. You're The Only Star In My Blue Heaven
41. Elvis - closing comments
