A legendary American label, operating out of Memphis, Tennessee. Sun was formed by Sam C. Phillips in 1952, as a result of difficulties he'd been experiencing while trying to get the records that he'd made at his Memphis Sound Studios released through other companies. The label was responsible for discovering Elvis Presley and for developing a new sound, 'Rockabilly': a fusion of white Country and black R'n'B. Presley's success attracted other young country singers to Sun - singers such as Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Charlie Rich, who went on to become household names. Initially Phillips had concentrated on issuing Blues records; he soon abandoned the Blues and devoted his efforts to Rockabilly, to great effect. Eventually, however, the company's stars began leaving. They were not adequately replaced, and by 1963 Sun's best days were over. It was moribund by 1968, and in 1969 it was sold to Shelby S. Singleton Jr, who reissued and licenced its back-catalogue zestfully. The British versions of the Sun label date from this latter, reissue, period. 'Record Retailer' of the 4th of July 1970 reported that Singleton had signed a three-year deal with Philips Records, and as a result his 'Sun' and 'SSS' labels made their first appearances in this country - previously Sun material had been licensed to Decca and had been issued on the London label. Philips group records were generally given six-figure catalogue numbers beginning with a '6', at this time; Sun singles followed the convention and were numbered in the 6094-000s. The first five came out in a batch, on the 23rd of October; after that the rush slowed to a trickle, and only four more were issued before the agreement expired. Most have paper labels (1), but at least two - the one shown (2) and Johnny Cash's 'I Walk The Line' (6094-008; 9/71) - can also be found in injection moulded form; presumably those were re-pressings. According to 'Music Week' of the 1st of December 1973 Singleton's agreement with Philips was to expire in the summer and there was a rush on to issue unreleased material from the vaults, so it looks as though the initial deal was extended by a year.
In the Spring of 1976 reissue specialists Charly Records picked up the rights to Sun. Much of the material that they released was issued on the main Charly label (q.v.), but a few singles came on their version of Sun (3). Charly issues shared their parent's CYS-1000 numbering and were distributed by Lugton or by Pye for the most part, with Spartan taking over from Pye towards the end of the decade. Neither of the British versions of Sun are commonly encountered, though the Charlys seem to be the commoner of the two.
('Both Sides Now'; www.bsnpubs.com)
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.