Chris Isaak + Sun Records!!

Chris Isaak's new CD, Beyond The Sun, comes out October 18.

It's a tribute to Sun Records.







AND: Song samples here!!

Quote :

Chris Isaak’s ‘Beyond The Sun’ Pays Tribute to the Roots of Rock ‘n’ Roll – Available October 18th!

Posted on August 9, 2011

Chris Isaak Goes Deep With an LP of Classic Recordings From Sun Records, Paying Tribute to the Roots of Rock ’n’ Roll
Beyond The Sun marks Isaak’s Vanguard Records debut
Available on October 18th this collection includes a standard CD plus a deluxe package with bonus tracks!

Chris Isaak’s longstanding desire to musically salute his inspirations was fast-tracked when he read a 2000 interview with the great Sun Records producer Sam Phillips that appeared in the Oxford American. Near the end of the Q&A, Phillips was asked if any contemporary recording artists grabbed his attention. His response blew Chris away. “I don't keep up with the business like I used to,” said Phillips, “but I love to listen to Chris Isaak. He’s very talented, and his music is so damned honest. It’s incredible.” That pretty much sealed the deal for this Sun worshiper.

The accurately titled Beyond the Sun, Chris Isaak’s Vanguard Records debut is a self-described labor of love. Since he fell in love with his parents’ 45s as a child in Stockton, California, this passionate writer/artist has been obsessed with the glory days of Memphis’ Sun Studios and the visionary artists who got their starts there—including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis—all of them discovered and nurtured by Sam Phillips. Now, at long last, Isaak magically recaptures the transformative brilliance of the classic sides cut by these greats at Sun with Phillips during the mid-’50s, while also getting down to the nitty-gritty of his own deeply rooted musical identity.

Both before and during the sessions, Isaak was inspired to pen some original tunes in the spirit of these sacred texts. One of them, the cranked-up rocker “Live It Up,” is being released as the first single. “When we were doing the record, I kept learning things,” says Chris. “For instance, nothing on those early records has a rock beat—it’s all shuffle and stripper beat. I wrote “Live It Up” to put a rock beat on the record, so that that beat too is represented.”

Produced by Isaak, Beyond the Sun was recorded mostly at the historic Sun Studios in Memphis with his longtime band—bass player Rowland Salley and drummer Kenney Dale Johnson, who’ve been with him from the start, guitarist Hershel Yatovitz, pianist Scott Plunkett and percussionist Rafael Padilla. The album also features a guest performance by the Memphis legend, ‘Cowboy’ Jack Clement. Beyond The Sun will be released in a standard and deluxe package. The deluxe package includes 14 tracks plus 11 additional recordings. A 2 LP vinyl edition of the deluxe package will be available in November.

Beyond The Sun (Standard)
1. Ring of Fire
2. Trying To Get To You
3. I Forgot To Remember To Forget
4. Great Balls of Fire
5. Can’t Help Falling In Love
6. Dixie Fried
7. How’s The World Treating You
8. It’s Now or Never
9. Miss Pearl
10. Live It Up
11. I Walk The Line
12. So Long I’m Gone
13. She’s Not You
14. My Happiness

Beyond The Sun (Deluxe Edition)
1. My Baby Left Me
2. Oh, Pretty Woman
3. Doin' The Best I Can
4. Your True Love
5. Crazy Arms
6. Lovely Loretta
7. Everybody's In The Mood
8. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry
9. Love Me
10. Doncha' Think It's Time
11. That Lucky Old Sun

I read about this on billboard.com, and I will definately be buying the deluxe edition!

I'll be getting this one too!

Though nitpicking "Oh' Pretty Woman" wasn't a Sun record, it was originally released on Monument records...........

The deluxe will be going on my wish list

I dont understand the fascination with Chris Isaaks for some reason.....?? or maybe I should say I dont see him as part of any roots rock culture. I remember the first video was like watching a calvin klein commercial

Chris Isak is quiet good live, judging by some Youtube clips but he's not my cup of tea either. But having said that he does have 4 or 5 songs that I really like. I bought his first album years ago and threw it away, it was such crap.

tvthewiredturtle wrote:

I dont understand the fascination with Chris Isaak... I dont see him as part of any roots rock culture.

Well, it's the look...


...along with the vocal comparisons to Elvis and Orbison. (The guy truly has an incredible voice, great for crooning.) The songs he chooses to cover, too:

Diddley Daddy


Blue Days Black Nights, I'll Go Crazy, Only The Lonely


Blues Stay Away From Me


Then there's "Mr. Lonely Man," an original from his last CD:

tvthewiredturtle wrote:

I remember the first video was like watching a calvin klein commercial

The video for "Wicked Game" was directed by Herb Ritts, an entertainment and fashion photographer who worked mostly in black and white and did, in fact, do some pretty well known ad campaigns for Calvin Klein featuring Mark Wahlberg and Kate Moss...



And unrelated but worth mention, Lord Vincent is right. Isaak is great live - very funny. It's like a concert and a stand up comedy act all in one.

Vinyl?

A 2 LP vinyl edition of the deluxe package will be available in November.

A whole pile of those songs aren't from Sun...none the less. It should be fantastic. Can't wait!

If you read the article, there are originals too. Its a tribute, not strictly Sun songs... thus the title Beyond the Sun. The samples have me pretty excited, I agree its going to be great (though I wish he'd get over wanting to put keyboardy sounds in rock and roll.)

Andi wrote:

A 2 LP vinyl edition of the deluxe package will be available in November.

Thanks! Chris is king.

True enough Andi, and I completely agree about the goofy keyboard. LOVE his Christmas album, but could sure do without the "organ".

thanks Lord Vincent... still doesnt convince me to appreciate it all. its mostly because of things he said on tv series he had years ago. he should just play music and not speak.

tvthewiredturtle wrote:

its mostly because of things he said on tv series he had years ago.

Really? You're gonna drop that and then not explain?

Andi wrote:

tvthewiredturtle wrote:

its mostly because of things he said on tv series he had years ago.

Really? You're gonna drop that and then not explain?

in staying with the guidelines of avoiding religious, political, geo-political, and general gossip this is all I will say

Went to the Chris Isaak show on Saturday at the Belly Up Tavern, and bought this record (vinyl).

This was my fourth time seeing Isaak, it was great finally getting to be right at the stage to see all the stage banter and musical interplay up close. We got bamboozled on sound, though.

Isaak and his entire band use in-ear monitors. There are monitors and amps on stage... but nothing coming out of them. I guess they're only there for backup in case the in-ears malfunction?? All the sound for the audience was coming out of overhead speakers pointed towards the back of the room, so it was going over our heads. There were no speakers directed at the first four rows and we couldn't hear anything coming directly off the stage! The venue was sold out and packed hard, so moving backwards would've been impossible save for an emergency. It was very perplexing, the bass amp and Chris' amp were mic'ed but the guitarist, Herschel Yatovitz, had two Fender Twin Reverbs side by side, un-mic'ed, directly in front of us. The lights were glowing on them but we were not being hit with 200 watts, or 100 watts of sound... we weren't being hit with any sound at all, as a matter of fact. Because of the small venue, the drums were behind a plexiglass drum shield. This cut down on the banter between Chris and Kenney Dale Johnson, which was a shame, since it's often such a predominant part of the show... the shield also unfortunately made for a mental and visual shield that prevented one from paying as much attention to the drumming as one might have.

The show was tight, well rehearsed and well executed, with some brief funny bits (like when they brought out an upright piano to the front of the stage for "Great Balls of Fire" - during Scott Plunkett's piano solo, artificial flames sprouted out of the top of the piano and smoke poured off the thing... it was pretty cute.) The usual Chris Isaak stand-up comedy routine, the walk through the crowd, these things were axed along with sound for those of us at the front. (Herschel did actually hop off the stage into the middle of the crowd for a brief walk, though Chris did not.) Isaak was in perfectly flawless voice, I've never heard anything different from him.

I've only listened to one of the two records. Isaak's voice always derails me, it's SO DAMN GOOD. This record sounds to me like something he should've made a long time ago, but I'm glad he's finally done it now. It's not raw rock and roll, it's very polished. Depending on your mood this could be a good thing or a bad thing. For me right now it's a Good Thing.

EDIT: also wanted to add, for the Sun stuff both live and recorded Rowland Salley is using some kind of electric upright bass (those skinny little things). It's a nice attempt but it really doesn't hit the mark as far as I'm concerned when it comes to the bass sound these songs should have. It truly does sound like an amalgam of an upright and an electric, which to me just sounds inauthentic and wrong. Quite ably played, though.

I am not a huge Chris Isaak fan but I think he's a very talented musician.
I like a few songs from each and every album and he only gets better and better, I could only say good things about him.

I also had the chance to see him perform live here in Spain (the day before one of his guitar player's guitars were stolen...) and folks, what a show!!! It was at a 1,000 seater theatre, and the way he performed and interacted with the audience, was something out of this wordl. By the third or fourth song, he already had the whole audience in the bag; he even ventured to wander along the theatre aisle, talking girls out to dance with him, shaking hands with everyone... the set was perfect and after the show, though I didn't do it, he signed autographs to everyone who wanted and gave a friend of mine a couple of guitar picks.

This Sun album, is nothing outstanding, but sure it's valid and very well done, adding some vibe to some old songs that, otherwise, people like me would never enjoy this much nor even have the chance to know they exist.

Chris Isaak & Brian Setzer brotherly tour, one day???

Hey Andi,
because of your posting and show review i finally purchased the new Chris Isaak record "Beyond the sun".
And this one of the best record (besides all BS records) i bought for a while.

Thank you!

Ha! I find it hilarious that a somewhat harsh critique made you go out and buy the record, but glad I put a couple extra bucks in Chris Isaak's pocket!

I've listened to both records now, still not crazy about the bass sounds, but I've come to like the silly organ parts - especially after seeing the live show. I really do like this record, need to burn it to CD so I can have it in my car!!

I was courios about it.
And i don`t think it`s a sun records tribute it`s more tribute to all the good and legendary musicians from that period.

In the end it`s a good record and entertains me.

Chris is on Siriusxm Elvis radio hosting from Graceland right now.

Chris is just AMAZING







....and the Chris Isaak Show was H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S!!!!


By the way, he appears to be a great guy, and shows love and respect for his fans at every show.