Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'N' Roll

FABULOUS book on my FAVORiTE record company ! Packed with TONS of information and pictures. Covers essentailly every artist that Sam Phillips recorded, white AND black.... Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Howlin' Wolf and MANY MANY MANY more. i LOVE this book !!!

The book is mostly well written. The author does a good job of providing insight in to the person of Sam Phillips; his passion for relatively unappreciated grass roots talent, as well as his drive to discover the illusive “new sound” that would be the next “big hit”. He had a much more personal approach to running his tiny record company, creating a virtual incubator for innovation. This enabled him to capture the sounds that made Sun a legend in a field dominated by the contrivances of mainstream corporations with deep pockets, but narrow perspectives.At times the timeline gets confusing as the author structured the book in a way that compartmentalizes the story into chapters about specific artists. I also found what appeared to be some minor typeset and grammatical errors.The reason for my 4 stars was because this book was a blast read; mainly because I had such a good time using YouTube and Wikipedia to track down some of the original recordings and artists that were featured in the book. Using modern online resources provided the perfect background to the Sun story. I even discovered a new appreciation for some vintage artists that I hadn’t even heard of before such as Joe Hill Louis. I also discovered some more modern recordings that are available on CD such as the 1986 recording of “Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session” with Carl Perkins backed up by Eric Clapton, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Thus, the real value of this book is in the fun you can have in rediscovering the wonderful texture of a bygone era, and the start of a musical revolution.

Nice read if you like that old time rock n roll. Behind the the Curtin look at what was going on with these great artest.

A detailed and informative account of Sam Philips and the Rise & Fall of Sun Records. The focus is limited to their time at Sun Records, with some discussion of their Sun Records career, and so those seeking a full history of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and others will have to look elsewhere. Many of the artists discussed are unfamiliar to me, but there's enough about them to warrant further exploration.

This Book is especially interesting if you were listening to the radio, as I was, in the time period described. Though, Unlike Sam Phillips, I didn't abandon the early R& B artists when Elvis came on the scene. Always felt that Elvis's music was inferior the early R& Bers. There are details, that I didn't know, of the unraveling of Jerry Lee Lewis's first career, when he married his 13 year old cousin. Also mention is made of the relationship between "The Killer" and Jimmy Swaggart. Interesting ancedote about how Johnny Cash came down for the Historic "Million Dollaer quartet" photo, then left immediately. 4 Stars is a little high for this review, but three stars would be a little low.

This is a great book! It tells the story of Sam Phillips and all of the talented musicians he worked with. A good book if you're interested in the birth of rock and roll and the amazing Sun Records. Next thing I knew, I was buying the music of many he took to stardom.

Nicely done, well documented, a real nice record of the story of Sun. Little interesting stories are scattered throughout, and when you read this you will be amazed at the sheer volume and diversity of the music Sam Phillips put out to create a niche in popular music. I recommend.

The b and w photos really made the book stand out as a historical classic

This book is superb. The start of rock n roll with all the warts and ups and downs all there.If you want a fascinating read get this book, you won’t be disappointed.

This is all that you could wish to know about the trials and tribulations of Sun Records and the man who created it. A tough evencutthroat business at times, it was touch and go as to whether we would ever get to hear from the famous roster of artists thatinfluenced so many future stars. A fascinating slice of history.

Purchased this as a Secret Santa gift for a colleague, who has visited Sun Studios and is very much into their Rock N Roll music. This book was well received, and offered a great insight into the history behind the company.

Autothoritive and source material for other books on sun records

An excellent introduction to the legendary Sun records. Good coverage of what the Studio and label achieved during the 50s, supported by a host of photographs designed to illustrate the story.