SUN RECORDS EXPLORED BY THE DUTCH AS EARLY AS 1969 !!!

... I just had a brief talk with Ernst over the phone asking him what his thoughts are on Uncle Pen? He has talked to many people in The South over the last so many years, asking had they ever heard Elvis performing this song? A lot of other songtitles were mentioned, including Country weepers from the songbook of a then famous lady singer who recorded on the RCA label [ sorry, cant recall her name...] but nobody ever mentioned "Pen". In an indepth interview with Scotty, his reply was a straightforward "No". He added : "The lyrics, mentioning playing a fiddle, never wouldve fitted in the direction, musically, we were heading for during those first 18 months..."
...Uncle Pen, was such a well known song at the time,Scotty said, I would remember doing it back then..

Something that has popped up in my memory, is speaking with Roy Carr,once editor of NME, that had featured the ad for Pen on the Pyramid label, "It was a clever way in getting attention in the media for a new record label". Roy didnt believe there was an Uncle Pen by Elvis...

...Ernst will deal with the Pen mystery in his book on Sun.
He did ask me if somebody out there can tell what take number My Babys
Gone is [ the acetate version] ?? He is, more or less, convinced its out
there, with the other takes of "Im Left Youre Right ", featured on the Sun
Sessions vinyl edition [ with gatefold sleeve] from RCA, as released in the
80s?? If not, hes got to find himself a copy of the Dutch "Please Release
Me" vinyl album...
Anybody out there willing to compare the outtakes of "Im Left" to the "My
Babys Gone" version ?!
The original acetate was sold to the Blues Museum in Memphis Long time ago, and has disappeared since then...

Ernst is doing a lot better, and sends his regards!

According to Sebastian's Elvis Recordings website, the acetate version of "My Baby's Gone" is take 5 of the song, which was originally released from a tape source as take 11 on The Complete Sun Sessions LP and CD in 1987. I think this take also appeared o Sunrsie Disc 1.

Glad to hear that Ernst is feeling better.

BTW, in Roy Carr's Elvis: An Illustrated Discography, there is a good discussion on the unreleased Sun songs. It seems that many of the alleged unreleased songs derive from the Jukebox folio. Some of the songs, such as That's The Stuff You Gotta Watch, were pitched by Steve Sholes to Elvis in late 1955, so that's probably why they were added to the folio.

Please release me is an LP with then unreleased songs/different versions of songs from movies and TV appearances.
My baby's gone was on a single.

I wanna be a rock and roll star coupled the Please release me LP and the single plus some more then rare tracks.

I always wonder how people can scan an LP sleeve when all I can do is scan A4-size maximum?!

... Give me a hanky, quick! Great to see these old bootcovers again!
I feel tears coming up... Thank you, Woodly! I think they should be
seen on display in the Trophy Room.... "The Roots of All Boots". Sniff...

... John, sorry for being slow in gettin back here to answer your questions.Some days my energy level is so low [ due to my health problems
that have played up in recent years ] that I cant get myself together in doing
any work or type a few simple lines...
Should Ernst require your help on MBG, Im sure he will contact you in the
future, when hes back being his old self.

I dont think "Ask Ger" is very much essential with so much know-how among
you on this mb. Lots of you know more than I do! Foremost I have always
been a collector of photographs and magazine/ newspaper clippings, while
Ernst and Brian really set their teeth into dates, musicians, locations, etc...

I will be getting a scanner shortly, and be able to share rare photos and personal stories/ memories with those interested on this board. Both stories
I did during this last week seem to be popular, I like to continue doing these,
instead of answering specific questions... Have a good weekend folks!

Keep up the good work, Ger. And all the best with your health.
Sometimes I wonder if being an Elvis fan is bad for one's health.
Several of our friends died at a much too young age and quite a few seem to have health problems.
Can I still change to be fan of someone else or is it too late?

Just to confirm others' posts. Please Release Me was on sale at the Luxemboug Convention in late summer of 1970, both as an LP and as a single. My Baby's Gone was not on the LP. It was on the single only, b/w a very 'alive' sounding Baby Let's Play House (master).

I Wanna Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star LP was on sale in London very soon afterwards (I seem to remember, at a special screening of Charro) and was essentially a pirated copy of PRM.

Steve Morse

Thanks for the great Infos and scans.
I remember these 2 Boot LP's back in 78. Very nice ones.

Luuk, I took photographs with my digi camera. I do sometimes scan LPs by each quarter and then join them up. There is an A3 scanner, but mighty expensive.

Ger, steady now, and by the way, my name is John, and even more by the way, does Ernst need a copy for My Baby's Gone???? I'm sure not! And even more by the way, what happened to ASK GER part 3?

Since I have an old camera that uses films......
Perhaps one day I step into 2005 and get myself a digital camera.
Anyway, I always wondered how people could scan an LP-sleeve when I can only scan the A4 part of an LP sleeve.......

I guess that even if the lost tapes from Sun are discovered they will be beyond a playable condition and we'll still be none the wiser.

But never say never.....

I guess that even if the lost tapes from Sun are discovered they will be beyond a playable condition and we'll still be none the wiser.

But never say never.....

Steve, I have some 1957ish reels of Scotch 111 which apparently is exactly what Sam used (111 was pretty much unchanged from 1948-1977 or so. Hmm, 1977.). Even stored horribly over the years, they stay in pretty good shape. 111 was "Acetate" type, now slightly brittle if too much stress is put on them during play - they might break cleanly and can be spliced easily right on the break - no problem, especially on a 15ips recording.

I just want to rule out any doubts - if any previously unknown Sun Scotch 111 tapes are discovered, they will be playable.

picture here of Scotch 111 tapes........
(toooo wide to post on thread]

http://members.aol.com/kentamj000/scotch12.jpg

GG, that's a 1970s vintage box.

Here's a box from 1962-1970ish (picture stolen from ebay):



Here's a 1957 catalog page with a mini picture of a 1954-1961 vintage box, also prices for 111 versions:



Obviously the packaging (and the reel design) changed, and "Silicone Lubricated" (and length in meters) was added in the 1960s, to no major effect.

There was an Elvis song book from the 1950s(maybe hill and range) that had Uncle Penn and Saturday night something and that is what probably started people looking for something that might not have existed.

It would seem that this publication was not to blame for the original rumour of 'Uncle Pen', although it can be considered as the main source for the other rumoured songs.

This is courtesy of "Long Lonely Highway" (by a well known "Dutch" poster on this very MB)

Some more (Old) info on 'Uncle Pen':-

Uncle Pen: (SUN December 8 1954) In 1982 RCA said that Elvis recorded it in late 1955 (?) at Sun. They had session notes but couldn't find a tape. A studio recording was supposed to be released in 1955 on a bootleg single, in and around the Niagra Falls area, on the Pirate Co label, and even reached number one on some local radio stations.
It was also advertised that Uncle Pen would be released on June 23 1967 but then put back to June 30 1967, on a single by the Pyramid label (IA 1596) (New Musical Express - May 13 1967) (Elvis Monthly # 92).

Also uncle pen was supposed to be released on the 1965 Elvis for everyone album!but RCA for some unknown reason released Harbour lights instead?

I wonder about that...

I love seeing a nearly 5-year old thread, Goch!, even if it's in this ghetto for oldsters.

Some great old names here, too.