Vault #59: Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley At 706 Union Ave: The Sun Singles 1954-55

Third Man Records, in conjunction with Sony Music Entertainment and the Sun Label Group, is proud to announce its 59th Vault package, Elvis Presley at 706 Union Ave: The Sun Singles 1954-55. Celebrating the seventieth anniversary of these monumental recordings, this collection includes faithful reproductions of all five of Presley’s original 7-inch 45rpm singles on Sun, pressed in a hypnotic yellow and black marble colored vinyl. Additionally, a bonus 7-inch EP of four Elvis songs recorded at Sun which didn’t see release until later are collected in a prime pretty picture sleeve and pressed on yellow and black “sun ray” splattered vinyl. 

To further accentuate the set, Third Man has included two linen-style postcards in the box, one depicting the classic, unassuming facade of the Sun storefront and the other showing, in glorious detail, the beauty of sound absorbing acoustic tile. Also added here is a name-tag styled patch spiritually inspired by the accoutrement of Presley’s truck-driving job at Crown Electric, extolling the titular hook of that first Elvis a-side. And finally, a substantive, milled nickel 45 adaptor, featuring the iconic rooster emblazoned on all those early singles.

The songs recorded by Elvis Presley at Sun Studio survive as a psychic ur-text of rock and roll and its antecedents as a cultural phenomenon. From the initial fool-actin’ of “That’s All Right” from July 1954 through the unimpeachable “Mystery Train” of just one year later, the five singles produced by Sam Phillips with Scotty Moore and Bill Black as trusty guitar and bass accompaniment brim with a primitive, simple perfection

These songs changed the trajectory of the 20th century. It’s best put by the estimable Peter Guralnick when he writes…

“If Elvis Presley had never made another record after his last Sun session in the fall of 1955, there seems little question that his music would have achieved much the same mythic status as Robert Johnson’s blues. The body of his work at Sun is so transcendent, so fresh, and so original that even today you can scarcely listen to it in relation to anything but itself. Like all great art its sources may be obvious, but its overall impact defies explanation.”

Disc one:

That’s All Right b/w Blue Moon Of Kentucky

Disc two:

I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine b/w Good Rockin’ Tonight

Disc three:

Milkcow Blues Boogie b/w You’re A Heartbreaker

Disc four: 

I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone b/w Baby, Let’s Play House

Disc five: 

Mystery Train b/w I Forgot To Remember To Forget

Bonus EP:

Blue Moon - Just Because b/w Trying To Get To You - When It Rains, It Really Pours

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