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MP3 Dante's Bop - Brand New Day - Sun Sessions
14 MP3 Songs
COUNTRY: Traditional Country, ROCK: 50''s Rock
Details:
Back in 1950, Sam Phillips started the Memphis Recording Services, Sun Studios, in Memphis Tennessee. He was always searching for plain, unvarnished, rootsy musical performances by local musicians. At first, he made a little noise locally with some blues and country artists that he recorded. In 1954 he hit the jackpot when he discovered a young Memphis musician named Elvis Presley. Elvis recorded his first hit, That’s Alright Mama, at Sun Studios. Other artists who started their recording careers at Sun were Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison. Folsom Prison Blues, Whole Lotta Shakin, and Blue Suede Shoes, were all recorded in the primitive little Sun Studios on Union Street in Memphis.
In Spring of 2005, I was on vacation in Memphis with my wife, Donna. We were in Memphis for a couple of reasons. The first being to look at real estate in that part of Tennessee. The second being to visit Graceland and pay our respects to Elvis.
Donna, suggested that we take the Sun Studios tour. She is very much the tour guide. At that time my knowledge of the significance of Sun Studios in modern music was minimal. We went on the tour. I didn''t expect much, just some memorabilia and a gift shop. To my surprise, the tour was incredible. The studio, due to good luck, is in the exact same condition as when Sam Phillips closed the doors in 1960 and moved up the street to a new facility. In 1985 the studio was reopened and place on the Historic Register. Tours are ran through the day, each ending up in the actual studio where Elvis, Johnny Cash, and the rest got their start. I was very impressed as nothing has been changed or updated since the 50''s. At the end of the tour the guide mentioned that it is still a working studio available evenings for an hourly fee. Upon hearing this I said to my wife, that I should get Dante''s Bop down here to record. She said, go for it.
Within the next 12 hours I contacted everyone in the group and told them of the plan. We eventually settled on 3 nights in July for the session.
We than worked through the next four months composing new songs for the upcoming session in Memphis. All of the original compositions have been penned with an ear towards the old Sun sound. Simple changes, simple lyrics, and simple but heartfelt performances. When we went into Sun Studios in late July, we recorded all of songs in the manner that Elvis and the other greats, recorded in the Fifties. No overdubs, no click tracks, just live performances captured on tape. Even the vocals were recorded at the same time as the music.
In addition to Nora, Kevin, Tom and myself, we also brought along a good friend of ours, Michael Lee. Michael is a huge fan of Elvis, and understood the significance of what we were trying to do. He is featured on one of our original songs, as well as a couple of bonus tracks.
Everyone worked very hard during the sessions. The engineer, James Lott and his assistant Matt were outstanding. They immediately locked into what we were trying to accomplish.
The weather was hot, the hours long, but the feeling of being right there where it all began overcame all of these discomforts. I really feel that the performances on this album capture some of the essence of what is Sun Studios and its mark on popular music. I hope that you will enjoy listening to the songs as much as we enjoyed playing them. And maybe, you too, will get a little taste of what it must have been like when the King was still alive.
Jerry Unger, Dante’s Bop
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