Album Description
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Personnel includes: Carl Perkins (guitar); Jerry Lee Lewis (piano).
Producer: Sam Phillips.
Compilation producer: Bill Inglot.
Recorded at Sun Studios, Memphis, Tennessee between 1955 and 1957. Includes liner notes by Art Fein.
Personnel: Carl Perkins (vocals, guitar).
Liner Note Author: Art Fein.
Recording information: 12/1955-12/1957.
While Carl Perkins recorded many fine records and enjoyed a long and successful career after he left Sun Records, there's no arguing that the sides cut during his tenure with Sam Phillips are his best-known and most influential work; it's all but impossible to imagine the rockabilly revolution of the 1950s happening without hits like "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Boppin' the Blues," and literally thousands of rock guitarists from George Harrison to Lou Reed first had their heads turned around by his trademark licks. Original Sun Greatest Hits compiles 16 of Perkins' best and best-known recordings for Sun, and you could hardly ask for a better introduction to the man's music. From the hillbilly blues of "Sure to Fall" to uptempo rockers like "Matchbox," "All Mama's Children," and "Honey Don't" and lesser-known gems like the down-home delinquency of "Dixie Fried" and the well-oiled sartorial splendor of "Put Your Cat Clothes On," every song is a winner, and Perkins' ringing guitar lines, warm and playful vocals, and loose but emphatic interplay with his band are a joy to hear. If you're only going to own one Carl Perkins album, Original Sun Greatest Hits is certainly the one to get. ~ Mark Deming
Rockabilly Valhalla, and as fine a one-CD Perkins best-of as will ever be offered to the public. Recorded between 1955-57, ORIGINAL SUN GREATEST HITS more than lives up to its title, containing all of Perkins best-known songs (either on his own or through celebrated covers), plus a couple of rarities that resurfaced during the late '70s/early '80s rockabilly revival. The hits, of course, include the anthemic "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Boppin the Blues"; the covers include three classics memorably remade by the Beatles, "Matchbox," "Honey Don't," and "Everybody's Tryin to Be My Baby." Pick hits amongst the rarities: the self-referential shuffle "Perkin's Wiggle" and "Put Your Cat Clothes On," in which Carl's guitar duels with Jerry Lee Lewis's pumping piano.
