Digital Booklet - Beyond the Sun

7/28/2019 Digital Booklet - Beyond the Sun

1/11


2/11


3/11

My brothers and I would listen to these records over and over. I remember starting o to school every day

and the last song I heard would be a Jerry Lee Lewis tune. The record player was one o those old ashioned

ones that looked like a suitcase and olded out. It had two little speakers, one on each side, about the size

o a box o Kleenex. We thought it sounded antastic, and scratchy sound or not, the records moved you.

The years went by. They always do. But those songs that I grew up listening to stuck with me. My parents,

always the bohemians, would have parties at the house. These were usually just a bunch o people andsomebody brought some wine and somebody had some ood and everybody got loud and laughed a lot...

but in the middle o the party my brothers and I would be singing and playing guitar and we always played

a bunch o the songs that we grew up listening to.

More years went by. I was in Japan going to college and boxing. I was missing home like crazy, and one day

walking down the street in Kyoto I saw a store selling records and guitars. I walked in and saw an album

called Elvis Sun Sessions. It had a painting o Elvis on the cover (the painting made Elvis look like he might

even be hal Japanese) and I looked at the list o songs on the record and I recognized a couple rom my

olks records. I bought the record and to say it changed the direction o my lie would be precise. I still

have that record. I think I just about wore it out playing it. It was the rst time that I realized that a ll those

Elvis songs I had been listening to had come out o Sun Studio. Years beore when I had been shopping

in the secondhand store (we bought EVERYTHING secondhand) I had ound an old 45 o Elvis on Sun

Records. It was like nding a part o a puzzleI LOVED the music. I listened to Ill Never Let You Go

until the record skipped and then I stacked pennies on the record arm and kept playing it. But as much as

it was instant connection to the music, I really didnt know much about Sun Studio or all the great music

parents had a cupboard at the

house where they kept the records.It wasnt a big stack but it was

all great singers: Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins,Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and a bunch of Elvis.My

that came out o there. Standing in Japan with that record in my hands brought me a lot closer. I loved

the sound o the records. They were simple, straight ahead...I elt like I was in the room listening to

the singers. It changed everything or me. At the time I bought the record I was ghting as a light

heavyweight and had a fat top or sports cut as par t o the boxing team. I immediately struck a bargain

with my coach to let me keep my hair long as long as I was boxing well. I started wearing my hair greased

up, my clothes started being a lot wilder. I sang so much that my Japanese landlady learned the words

to I Forgot to Remember to Forget by osmosis!

(D.) Hitting the bag in Tokyo (it doesnt hit back). (E.) Trying hard to look erocious...I liked everything about boxing except the getting hit part.

(A.) Everybody on the boxing team had a buzz cut but Inagled the coach into letting me grow my hair as long as Iwon! (B.) I was lucky, I was winning and my hair got longer.(C.) Ocial Japanese I.D. (Im pretty sure somewhere onthere it says Boxer, but would rather lead a band).

A. B.

C.

D. E.


4/11

They were as exciting as ever and I was getting better at picking out the songs. Little by little I ound

mysel thinking less about getting a real job when I got out o college and more and more thinking

about where I could nd a great band. I was hooked on music. I didnt really have any big ideas o

ame or ortune but I was just dying to have an electric guitar, a fashy suit, and a real microphone

stand instead o the broom stick taped to the back o a chair that I was using at home. It took a lot

WhenI got back to theStates I was playing

guitar all the time at home and listening toElvis, Jerry Lee, Orbison, Perkins, JohnnyCash...all the singers I grew up with.

A.

B.

(A.) A white sports coat and a Shure microphone.(B.) A secondhand suit, a pawn shop guitar, and Iwas on top o the world! (C.) Any resemblance to theKing is purely intentional!

olooking, but I got the guitar, the microphone stand, and nally the great band I had always been

looking or. We played every honkytonk and bar, and little by little made a name or ourselves. We got

the fashy stage suits (at rst we all had secondhand blue gabardine...it was the only color we could all

nd at the junkstore!). I was writing a lot o songs, and we were recording and putting out records and

the action never stoppedtouring, lming, TVand i you saw us on the records you might not have

known that we were still playing those

Sun Sessions tunes. We would sneak one

or two into our live shows. For years we

closed our live show with a version o

an old Jerry Lee Lewis tune that was my

Dads avorite and mine too, Bonnie B.


5/11

and their musicsingersThesejust seem to always be a part o my lie, always there somehowI guess I just love themusic. When I was lming my television show I was really tired and I remember getting a copy oOxford American Magazine. I was saving the magazine to read on a break as a treat because I knew it had

an article about Sam Phillips, the guy who pretty much got rock and roll going. I cant explain all he

did...its too much or the notes rom a singer on the back o a record. You need to listen to his records,

read a couple o books. I have and I still eel like I dont know much, but I do believe he is a bonade

genius, one o those guys who looks and sees how things are going to be, only he is ty or a hundredyears ahead o his time. He ound Elvis. He ound Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Orbison, and Jerry Lee.

I somebody had ound ONE o those artists they would have a claim to ame. But to have built the

studio in the middle o Memphis way back when, to set up your recorder, and to have ound ALL

those singersand got all those amazing perormances. He was really way out there on his own. I

think just about anybody else would have turned away a young, sweaty, mumbling Elvis. Or they

would have tried to turn him into a second rate Dean Martin. But Sam Phill ips put Elvis, Bill Black

(bass), and Scotty Moore (guitar) together. So I nally took a break rom lming and took out the

article about Sam Phillips...he is always un to read. He tells it like he sees it and it is un to hear that

honesty in print just like it is to hear it on his records. But at the end o the article the interviewer

asked Sam what new artists he listened to. When he said my name I just about ell out o my chair.It just elt like all that music that I had grown up listening to, his music, Sun Sessions, those great

artists...it had all come ull circle. I think it meant more to me than any gold record or award I ever

received, because Sam Phillips was rea lly the thread that connected all that music that I had been loving

all o my lie.

B. C.

Sun Studio seen rom Mark Needhams control board...probably the view Sam Phillips knew best. I rock and roll has a home this is the living room!

A.

C.

(A.) The tireless WillBrierre and the manbehind the glass, MarkNeedham. (B.) Singingwhile Sun legends watchrom the walls. (C.) A

moment o refection, shotrom behind the glass othe small ront oce. B.


6/11

bout theArecordingI dont think we ever had more un in the studio. We played, we didnt work.I guess because we all had grown up listening to this music, and because we had been playing it at

soundchecks and backstage or years, or throwing in songs at live shows...we were just having un

playing in the studio. I know that or me I had been singing some o these songs since I was a kid, and

nally hearing them with the whole band playing and the guys singing in the background was just...a

kick. We would rehearse at my house and ater playing all day you would think that everybody wouldbe over it...but it seemed that we kept sneaking back in and playing some more. I remember hearing

the bass start a ri, I could hear it downstairs...and in a ew minutes the piano was joining in and

pretty soon everybody is back at it. And it was the same with recording. I think the only reason we

stopped at the end o each day was we knew we had to get a little sleep. Also Sun Studio is a legendar y

music shrine, tourists would be coming in during the aternoon so we had to take a little break. We

ate a lot o ried chicken and thanks to Matt, our local assistant engineer, we knew the right spots to

hit. As soon as the tours o the studio would slow down we would be chomping at the bit and back

in to record again.

I have to mention, its a great sounding room at Sun, but its a POWERFUL room to anyone who

grew up listening to rock and roll. To think o all the talents that have been in that little room, that

plain, unpretentious little room. I remember we were in the middle o recording a Carl Perkins tune

and I was singing away and thinking how good that room sounded...and I looked up or one secondand on the wall above me was a picture o Carl and his eyeline was looking straight at me and he had

a big grin on his ace. It made me eel good.

I know that on most records there are thank yous, but making this record I really dont think it

would be possible to overstate how big a t hanks we owe to the a rtists that paved the way. When I

grew up I wanted to BE these artists. I cut my hair like them, I dressed as fashy as I could! I remember

having alligator shoes with purple and pink socks...I guess I thought the wilder the better. I dont think without

Scotty Moore we would have rock and roll. I still play heavy guitar strings because I read that thats

what Scott y Moore played. I think a nyone who plays rock and roll is indebted to these olks. I you

havent already, I really recommend getting your hands on their Sun Recordings and their early work.

I am the rst to say NOBODY is going to top them at what they did. I dont think I came into this

project trying to outdo those classics, I came into it because I just was dying to sing these songs, and

to maybe spread the word to some who hadnt heard. Its a tribute, a labor o love, the most un I ever

had and a record I wanted to make my whole damn lie!

The band in ront o Sam Phillips Recording where we rst met guitar legend Roland Janes.


7/11

An additional note about Roland Janes : I had no idea I wou ld meet Roland Janes when I, by cha nce

ran into him sitting in the ront oce o, o course, Sam Phill ips recording studio. I have to say at thispoint in my lie I have met a lot o amous people, Presidents and such, but I think I was way more

shook up to actually shake hands with Roland. (I almost thought it wasnt going to happen.) My bass

player and I were walking up to the door o the studio and Rowland (My bass mans name as well)

greeted Roland by saying: Hello, Im Rowland. Mr. Janes, who was on the phone at the moment,

kept talk ing and I heard him say: I have to go, theres another Rowland here and Ill have to drive him

o. I thought we might be getting the bums rush, but thank God our little band mascot, Rodney the

Maltese dog, was with us. I now know that Roland Janes, tough as he might want to appear to be, has

a sot spot or little dogs. He took one look down at Rodney who was wagging his tail and asked: Are

you guys with him? I still think the reason he invited us in was to get to hold Rodney. I dont know

i Roland Janes has thought about that meeting, but I have replayed it in my head a hundred times.

I do that when things turn out the way I dreamed they would. I had been listening to Roland Janes

my whole lie, every time he took a guitar break on a Jerry Lee Lewis record, I would play it over andtry to learn it. Then I took to trying to make my guitar man Hershel learn some o Rolands parts.

When Hershel met Roland there was an AH HA! look on Hershels ace and he said: YOURE the

guy he keeps telling me to listen to! Im sure I was a pest with my questions but Roland took it with

a smile. There was so much I wanted to know, and so ew that knew the answers. I loved the sound o

those classic Sun records so much, like where did you put the microphones? Where did the bass man

stand? How did you mic the drums? DID you mic the drums?...I remember asking Roland how loud

did they play when they were recording back in the day at Sun (As the singer in a rock band this is an

important question, I was going to sing all my vocals LIVE in the room, I had a lot o singing to do

and wanted to know how loud I was expected to belt.) Rolands answer made me gulp and my guitar

player grin. We played as loud as we wanted Rola nd replied, and then he added...o course you have

to remember it was 1956 and we didnt WANT to play very loud. I coulda kissed him.

Jack Clement, or Cowboy Jack Clement as he is known, was also a great help to this project. Jack haswritten so many great songs, timeless songs, and he has been the guy behind the gla ss on a plethora o

classic recordings. I was thrilled that he came down to the recordings and I would have been happy

to hear a story or two but Jack brought a lot more to the project. He brought a Uke, and the Gibson J

200 he used on so many classic Cash records, and more importantly he brings the energy o a 15 year

old. I thought my bass player was looking a little ragged one day, it was only later that I heard he had

tried to keep up with Cowboy Jack the night beore...and ailed. I have to say Jack came in the next day

looking bright and resh. He just brings a good time with him, no holds barred. I remember listening

to playbacks o a take in the studio and suddenly Cowboy Jack is dancing with my manager (She is the

shy type...WE THOUGHT). She tried to get away by saying she didnt dance, and quick as a fash, a

smiling Cowboy Jack handed her a business card Cowboy Jack Clement, Dance Instructor. I think

we could all lea rn a lot rom Cowboy Jack Clement...i we could keep up with him!

I am writing these notes in the back o a bus waiting or the show to star t in a ew minutes. Kenney just

came in and we got talking about the record and I told him what I was writing, and more importantly,

what I was hoping. Im hoping that Roland and Cowboy Jack and Jerr y Lee and all the great players

that led the way might listen to these recordings some time and smile. Not because we are such hot

shots, but because I hope they can hear how much we ell in love with the music they gave us all.Sam Phillips and his crew put a message in a bottle and it changed everything. I love this quote rom

Sam: Whatever time you spend making music is never wasted. I I sell a million or never sell one, I

consider the time spent making this record as some o the best spent days o my lie. I you love doing

something, i you get to do what you love with good riendsI call that lucky.

Troublemakers! (Kenney Dale, Scotty, Cowboy Jack, Chris, Roland Janes, Hershel, Roly)


8/11

About the bandI am always thankul or being surrounded by musicians that play better than I ever will. On thisrecord, more than ever, it was really amazing to just stand in a little recording studio and hear the

band ll the room with music, everybody working together, looking at each other all the time. (At

one point I remember bringing a shav ing mirror down to set on the piano so the piano player could

look behind him and not miss anything). The pressure when you do a live recording all together

is that one mistake on anybodys part screws up the whole shebang. You would think that having

that pressure on would have made these sessions a strain, but I dont think I have ever seen a band

more relaxed and enjoying themselves. I have listened back to the recordings, usually there is a little

chatter on the tape that we clean o beore the public is presented the nished product. I listened

back and on so many o the tunes on these records there is laughter or somebody making a joke

beore or ater a take. I think being able to connect with the music right there in the room, to know

we were all going all out on each take...to be so close to one another in that room...the un and the

music was just all around us.

(A.) Roly with dark glasses ater a night out withCowboy Jack. (B.) Whether playing his good guitar or abeat up practice guitar we ound at the studio, Hershelmade it all sound great. (C.) The King o Rock n Rolland the King o the Congas...Raael Padilla.A.

B.

C.

(A.) Scotty Fireball Plunkett having way too muchun on the piano. (B.) They call him the Pan HandlePounder but Kenney also has a sot touch.D.

E.

All dressed up or our picture at Sun but the stage clothes came o when we started recording.


9/11

The Lead InstrumentalistsI started this project by saying to my piano player and my guitar man that the one thing I wantedto do was to get this right, not to do a bar band version where you kind o slough through the

songs and dont do the work to notice the details. Everybody in the band was really immersed in this

music...I wanted us to know the originals so well that we could let go and play it ourselves...and in

our own way. I never thought we should ollow anything note or note, but I wanted to make sure

we KNEW the music. Once we knew it we could let it go and just PLAY! And I am proud to say that

Hershel took the guitar playing and tore it up, he goes rom slow, pretty ballads to blistering ast rock

and roll and he never missed a lick. Scotty was holding down the piano and B-3 and I dont think

I can imagine a guy bringing more to the party. Im the singer, usually I listen to the vocals when I

listen back to a record (its the way singers are), but when I listen to these recordings I nd mysel

looking orward to the solos, the guitar on Trying To Get To You or Scottys let hand boogie piano

playing on Im Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry. I think they really nailed it!

Theres a hole in the foor rom Bill Blacks bass peg so the bass is always in the right spot.

We let with a clear conscience and tangled cords.

Writing lyrics between takes, an old Sun tradition.

The Rhythm SectionWhen most o us listen to records we hear the voca list, t hen the piano or guitar leads. But, like thesong says, it dont mean a thing i it aint got that swing. This kind o rock and roll calls or a very

dierent kind o playing than most o the rock and roll we are used to hearing today. It is loose,

light, it swings, it shufes. I you listen to the

rhythm playing on early Sun Sessions...well,

a lot o musicians react by laughing, smiling,

scratching their heads and asking how did they

DO that? I think Kenney, Roly, and Raael

really put together the right touch or this

record. They make it sound easy...and it aint.

Listen to the guys on the breakdowns in My

Baby Let Me. Thats what Im talking about,swinging loose and happy...and then on other

songs slowing down and switching beats rom a

straight beat to shufe in the middle o a tune

some CRAZY stu going on!

IWe hope you like this record as much as we do.

I have tried to mix in the heartbreakers with the

rockers and even a ew that I wrote mysel. Wecalled the record Beyond the Sun, because the music

starts at Sun Studio and just keeps growing and

going. I think Mr. Phillips would have liked that.

He probably oresaw itMe and Mr. Phillips.

Adding my 2 cents to the million dollar quartet.

have alwayswanted to makethis record


10/11

CHRIS ISAAKVocals, Rhythm GuitarKENNEY DALE JOHNSON Drums, VocalsROWLAND SALLEY Bass, VocalsHERSHEL YATOVITZ Guitar, VocalsSCOTT PLUNKETT Piano, OrganRAFAEL PADILLA Percussion

1. RING OF FIRE(June Carter Cash, Merle Kilgore) Song o Cash Music (ASCAP) Painted Desert Music Corp. (BMI)

2. TRYING TO GET TO YOU(Rose McCoy, Charlie Singleton) Elvis Presley Music; Rockland Music /BMG Sapphire Songs (BMI)

3. I FORGOT TO REMEMBER TO FORGET(Charlie Feathers, Stanley Kesler) Edward B Marks Music Company (BMI)

4. GREAT BALLS OF FIRE(Otis Blackwell, Jack Hammer) Mijac Music & Unichappell Music, Inc. (BMI)Chappell & Co., Inc. & Mystical Light Music (ASCAP)

5. CANT HELP FALLING IN LOVE(Luigi Creatore, Hugo Peretti, George David Weiss) Gladys Music; BMG Ruby Songs (ASCAP)

6. DIXIE FRIED(Howard Grin, Carl Perkins) Carl Perkins Music, Inc./Hi Lo Music, Inc.; Wren Music Co., Inc. (BMI)

7. HOWS THE WORLD TREATING YOU(Chet Atkins, Boudleaux Bryant) Sony/ATV Acu Rose Music (BMI)

8. ITS NOW OR NEVER(Eduardo DiCapua, Wally Gold, Aaron Schroeder) A. Schroeder Intl. Inc.Rachels Own Music/Gladys Music/BMG Ruby Songs (ASCAP)

9. MISS PEARL(Jimmy Wages) Hi Lo Music, Inc. (BMI)

10. LIVE IT UP(Chris Isaak) C. Isaak Music Publishing Co. (ASCAP)

11. I WALK THE LINE(Johnny Cash) House o Cash, Inc./Bug Music/Hill & Range Songs (BMI)

12. SO LONG IM GONE(Sam Phillips) Hi Lo Music, Inc. (BMI)

13. SHES NOT YOU(Jerry Leiber, Doc Pomus, Mike Stoller) Elvis Presley MusicBMG Ruby Songs/Sony/ATV Tunes, LLC (BMI)

14. MY HAPPINESS(Borney Bergantine, Betty Peterson) Happiness Music Corp. (ASCAP)

DISC 1 DISC 2 1. MY BABY LEFT ME

(Arthur Crudup) Unichappell Music, Inc. & Crudup Music (BMI)

2. OH, PRETTY WOMAN(William Dees, Roy Orbison) Barbara Orbison Music Company/Orbi Lee PublishingR Key Darkus Publishing/Evergreen Copyrights/Sony/ATV Acu Rose Music (BMI)

3. DOIN THE BEST I CAN(Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman) Elvis Presley Music/BMG Sapphire Songs (BMI)

4. YOUR TRUE LOVE(Carl Perkins) Carl Perkins Music, Inc./Wren Music Co. (BMI)

5. CRAZY ARMS(Ralph Mooney, Charles Seals) Songs o Universal, Inc./Sony/ATV Tree Publishing (BMI)

6. LOVELY LORETTA(Chris Isaak) C. Isaak Music Publishing Co. (ASCAP)

7. EVERYBODYS IN THE MOOD(Chester Burnett) Arc Music/BMG Platinum Songs (BMI)

8. IM GONNA SIT RIGHT DOWN AND CRY(Howard Biggs, Joe Thomas) Angle Music/Songwriters Guild o America (BMI)

9. LOVE ME(Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI)

10. DONCHA THINK ITS TIME(Clyde Otis, Willie Dixon) Elvis Presley Music/BMG Sapphire Songs (BMI)

11. THAT LUCKY OLD SUN(Haven Gillespie, Beasley Smith) Beasley Smith MusicHaven Gillespie Music Publishing Co./Larry Spier Music, LLC (ASCAP)


11/11

PRODUCED BY Chris IsaakADDITIONAL PRODUCTION, RECORDING, & MIXING Mark Needham

ASSISTANT RECORDING & MIXING Will Brierre

ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS Cowboy Jack Clement, Lee Thornburg, David Woodord, Waddy Wachtel

ADDITIONAL VOCALS Michelle Branch (appears courtesy o Reprise Records), Ashley Monroe

(appears courtesy o Warner Bros. Records), Jon Joyce, Richard Wells, Craig CopelandSTUDIOS Sun Studio, Memphis The Ballroom Studio, Los Angeles The Sunset Studio,

San Francisco East West Studios, Los Angeles Westlake Studios, Los Angeles

ASSISTANT ENGINEERS Matt Ross-Spang, Ben ONeil, Marcus Johnson

MASTERED BY Stephen Marcussen/ Marcussen Mastering

MANAGEMENT Sheryl Louis and Howard Kauman/ HK Management

PHOTOS BY Sheryl Louis ART DIRECTION & DESIGN Carrie Smith

I would like to thank all the artists who led the way: Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, RoyOrbison and Elvisthe legendary Cowboy Jack Clement, the always tasteul Roland Janes and all theincredible musicians who walked through the doors at 706 Union Ave. The depth and talent o those earlymusicians is amazing and without them this record would not be possible. When I was starting out I had apicture o Scotty Moore and a picture o Jerry Lee Lewis, I still recall the photos. Scotty was leaning backin a clean pressed shirt and looking very much the gentleman while tearing it up on the guitar. Jerry Lee wasshirtless, a wild eyed rebel being led into a paddy wagon. From the range o the music they gave us I havea eeling these men were a mixture o both images, rebels and yet gentlemen. I you tried to learn the soundo rock and roll and let out these artistsI just dont think you could do it. They wrote the book. The musicthey came up with has inspired ever since. And Sam Phillips brought it all to us on a platter

THANKS TO Stacie Surabian, Jamie Young, Penny Lambert, Marsha Haney, Gloria Balanay, DougCasper, John Schorr, Caryl McGowan, Keith Sarkisian, Brad Goodman, Michelle Bernstein, WME, GibsonGuitars, Shure Microphones, Anne Symon, Jaime Castaneda, Erik Jacobsen, Ilene Feldman, James Austin,Brian Diaz, Liz Rosenberg, and Rodney who always gives 100 percent.

SPECIAL THANKS TO Kevin Welk, Dan Sell, Bill Bentley and everyone at Vanguard RecordsI think this is the start o a beautiul riendship. Also, I oer a special thanks to Mark Needham, who bringsso much to the party. He can play it, record it, try it your way or the right way, or just leave it alone. It is sogreat to have all that talent sitting in the studio and covering you.

THIS RECORD IS DEDICATED TO MY FOLKS JOE & DOROTHY

They have great taste in music and they let me play their records night and day.They never told me to get a real job or not to do what I love so much

The work is always easier with a good riend.

Its only about 50 eet rom the recording studio to the dinerand in the middle o the night they let us serve ourselvesRoly turned out to be a pretty good soda jerk!

Date post:	03-Apr-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	christian-campos
View:	221 times
Download:	0 times

Digital Booklet - Beyond the Sun

Documents