Good Rockin' Tonight - The Legacy of Sun Records [DVD]

Through my mailbox today arrived this wonderful DVD. I have seen it this evening and felt i had to write this review. Being a rock n roller now myself for just over 40 years it was wonderful to see my old heroes from the 50`s. Malcolm Yelvington was there, Carl Mann, Narvel Felts,Sonny Burgess, Scotty Moore, Rufus Thomas,D.J.Fontana to name just a few. A big feature on Billy Lee Riley who correctly pointed out Sam Phillips dropped in favour of Jerry Lee. Billy Lee to me recorded some of the best tracks for Sun. My Gal is Red Hot & Flying Saucer Rock n Roll. If anyone out there has his e mail i would love to tell him so. Going back to Jerry Lee i felt more time could have been spent on him considering as the documentary pointed out his influence towards piano players. W. S Holland who i will regret the rest of my life i never spoke to. In the 80`s my wife and i attended a Johnny Cash concert in Doncaster.U.K. Johnny was late and W.S was pacing the floor worried where he was. He walked past me on several occasions and i regret i never spoke to him. Elvis was the one who opened the door and Carl , Johnny Cash and company passed through..Its wrong to believe rock n roll started their but it sure as hell was a big influence. The Sun never set over Memphis it just faded into history and what a history as this DVD proves..

I really enjoy watching this DVD.However, there are definitely low spots.That being said, and after reading a few other reviews, I still really enjoy this DVD.As many others have said, the ability to see some of the original artists that you may not have ever heard of (sadly) or at the least, wondered whatever happened to them, it is a treat to see these people still play....although sadly there's not enough of that for my taste, but at least there is some.Yes, they got 'big' names to re-record songs from the Sun library. Frankly, if the Sun sound is what attracts you to watch this, there's a couple that will likely make you leave the room. The absolute best I can say about those two or three is - at least they represent the wide variety of more current artists that were influenced by the original Sun artists.What I would highlight is as follows:- Scotty Moore- Page/Plant of Led Zeppelin, the song they chose to cover and why, and how they did it.- Zucchero's cover, it's just a shame there's not a 'full' version of that song recorded (or at least released, that I'm aware of)- and I liked Matchbox 20's rendition of Lonely Weekend. Of course, The Killer playing on it with them makes it look so easy (and frankly, he looks kinda bored while searing on that keyboard part) is worthwhile!- Billy Lee Riley (RIP) - he's there throughout with commentary, even giving Sam Phillips a little what-for over his hit record that was shelved in favor of another artist. Which I might point out, didn't exactly fail for the other artist, but it was interesting to see the producers of this included that little exchange.- and more Scotty Moore- and the stories Sam Phillips tells, harkening back to how it all started and some of the now legendary names and he met, mixed, and came up with stuff. I appreciated at least addressing some of the artists that, at the time of recording this, were sadly no longer among us: Carl Perkins and Elvis, just name a couple.- The inclusion of Johnny Halliday performing Blue Suede Shoes was, I thought, a class act. He made his career (primarily in Europe) doing this kind of music.Certainly not least is the very end, where the studio is full of Sun recording artists playing. It would have been great to be able to see more of that session under a special features section, but sadly it isn't there. Or it's in some easter egg I haven't found...For my personal taste there's a few sections to fast-forward through or outright skip. Whatever that mess was that's fronted by Kid Rock is enemy number one, Live would be the other. Third Eye Blind's 'Cry Cry Cry' to round out the trio. Not that they haven't done stuff I like, but the stuff they for this? Ptui.

Sun Records was started somewhere around 1950 by Sam Phillips, and it was the very first record company for Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Charlie Rich, Sonny Burgess, and Billy Lee Riley, which is quite a collection of Rock and Roll artists! This is another DVD that I just never get tired of watching, and I think I've seen it approaching 100 times thus far! Paul McCartney, of the Beatles, Mark Knopfler, of Dire Straits, Jerry Lee Lewis, J.M. Van Eaton (Jerry Lee Lewis' drummer), Scotty Moore (Elvis' lead guitarist), and DJ Fontana (Elvis' drummer), all play major roles - live, not archival - on this DVD. I only have two complaints about the DVD in that 1. there's a lot of "belly-aching" by Billy Lee Riley towards Sam Phillips, but, perhaps, much of it is justified, and 2. Sam Phillips (deceased 7-30-2003) seems to be "very full of himself," and, too many, may be "over-impressed" with his importance in the development of Rock 'n' Roll. To more than merely a few, he was rather eccentric, and, I might add, well justified! Still, overall, the entire DVD was a great presentation of the early years of Rock 'n' Roll, and I sincerely doubt if anyone would ever regret buying it!

This is a great documentary on the history of Sun Records-not just about The King. Highly recommend this story of Sam Phillips and his contributions to the music world.