The Sun Sessions

With the new album still in the assembly stage, RCA released for the first time a collection of what many would consider not just the pinnacle of Elvis’ career but the very apogee of rock ‘n’ roll: his Sun recordings. The album – the first of three decades’ worth of revised and expanded versions – was prompted by the success of a virtually identical U.K. compilation. The effect was, ultimately, almost as far-reaching as the release of those first five Sun singles twenty-one years earlier: the world finally was let in on the true secret of Elvis Presley’s genius, at no cost to his record company. The album initially sold a respectable enough 200,000 copies, and while over the years it has never challenged the commercial success of any number of catalog staples, it has proved one of the cornerstones of Elvis’ enduring artistic reputation.