Hi folks, I just wanted to let you know that the track "I Love You Because" in this CD is the original version as recorded at Sun Studios. The famous master take which has been the subject of controversy here at amazon is the version released by RCA after Elvis left the Sun label. RCA edited the song by making a split of takes 2 and 4, leaving out the spoken part. Hence, if you want the RCA version, buy the remastered Elvis Presley (1956) album. Don't be fooled by people who haven't really purchased this CD and haven't taken their time to read the great booklet that brings all this information. This IS indeed the ultimate Elvis Sun Sessions masters album. Top quality!!!

We could mope about RCA's money machine al we want to. We could complain that this is the Nth re-release of Elvis' Sun recordings. Bitch about how this is probably not the end of it. Yes, this is reissue one-million and one. And yes, there are probably going to be others. Let's just focus on the music.

The Sun recordings were truly Elvis' greatest recordings ever. They earned him his legendary status while he was alive. His later RCA works pales in comparison. It was at RCA where Elvis would soon be grinded in the commercial machine until he would (almost) be no better than Pat Boone. Sure he recorded some great sides at RCA, but it takes a lot digging in the enormous amount of movie fluff and comeback albums to discover them. Elvis often sounded bored and tiresome after he arrived at RCA.

Here we get Elvis at his most impressive. At times the music is oozing with pure sexual energy. At others it is moving and melancholic. Always it's committed, raw and full of energy. The fact that he managed to accomplish this with very little instrumentation is stellar. Some fifteen years down the road rock 'n roll would need towers of amplifiers to create the same exiting buzz.

Aside from the obviously legendary tracks, the sound on this disc is unbelievable. Every single one of them sounds like they have been recorded yesterday. Although the crisp sound does strip it of some of its romance and nostalgia, you could suddenly imagine That's All Right Mama shooting up the charts once more. Making this truly the "definite" definite Sun recording. No matter what RCA will decide to fire at us in the future. Stick with this one!

The remastered sound on this album is truly a godsend, giving rock n roll conisieurs a much more vivid, amplified Elvis, Scotty Moore, and Bill Black and bringing the music to justice before a jury of Elvis fans desperate for a thorough remastering. This album is as close as one can come to experiencing the King like he was sitting on the end of his bed and playing in your living room with the bop power of Bill Black and Scotty Moore's fretboard scaling storming right behind like a couple horses keeping pace. The alternate take of I Love You Because is actually a plus, as the original can be found remastered on the 1956 Elvis Presley album release, his first with RCA. Get this album over the over-stocked Sunrise and feel the power of this amazing group of musicians, and you will understand why these recording are so seminal and immediate to the core of rock n roll and global music of the last 100 years.

Sam Phillips leaves the earth, and we get another generation closer to the master tapes, courtesy of his son Knox. "Sunrise" was disappointing - same sound quality as the 50's box - so this more than makes up for it. And yes, it IS unforgivable for BMG/RCA to not include the master take of "I Love You Because". Still, this is a must have.

This collection is a rock and roll timepiece! It contains songs recorded by Elvis for Sun Records in 1954 and 1955. The early recordings before he hit the big time. Each is a classic! Included are his first hits like "Blue Moon of Kentucky", and songs that made the Country Singles chart in 1955, "Baby Let's Play House", "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone", and "Mystery Train". Also included is an alternate take of "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone". This is CD is a must not just for Elvis fans but any student of Rock and Roll. These songs are the bricks that make-up the foundation of R&R!