Sons of Sun- The Sam Phillips Story.
Written by Kieran Carroll from an original idea by musician and singer
John Kennedy. Directed by Louise Fisher Originating Director Neil Gooding.
Featuring the songs of Sun Record Company artists Howlin’ Wolf, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison
and Jerry Lee Lewis. White Eagle Club. The Polish Club. Saturday May 21. 2016
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
They say if you can remember the
Sixties you weren’t there. I do remember the Sixties and I was there, but it’s
the Fifties that I remember more vividly. It was the time of Elvis, of Roy
Orbison and Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. Bill Haley and
The Comets had already changed my world and Rock ‘n Roll left crooners out in
the cold, although Johnny Ray still took me walking in the rain.
I knew the names and I sang their
songs, but what I didn’t know was the one man who made it all happen. He could
have been a lawyer if his father hadn’t died and the Great Depression hadn’t
forced him to drop out of school with one dream dashed, but another still
shining brightly in Memphis. Sam Phillips loved the Blues and the new music,
bursting forth from the sounds of Gospel and the Blues and if he hadn’t dropped
out, the world might never have heard of Sun Records and the sounds of Elvis (Jailhouse Rock), Perkins (Blue Suede Shoes), Jerry Lee Lewis (Great Balls of Fire), Cash (In Them Old Cotton Fields Back Home) or
Orbison (Only The Lonely). Phillips
was ahead of his time. He took on black musician Howlin’ Wolf (Wolf’s At The Door) when the South was
still in the grip of segregation. He set up WHER, the first all=female radio
station to play Sun’s songs. And he made the stars that shone most brightly in
Rock ‘n Roll Heaven.
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| Matt Charleston as Sam Phillips in Sons of Sun - The Sam Phillips Story. Photo by Dusk Devi Vision |
Sitting comfortably on a couch on
the stage of the Polish Club’s White Eagle Hall, I wondered why nobody had
thought of telling the Sam Phillip’s story before. Even though the show has
been on the road apparently for the past three years, this was the first time
that I had heard of Sons of Sun- The Sam
Phillips Story, written by prolific award winning Melbourne Writer Kieran
Carroll as the support act for musician and vocalist John Kennedy, of Love Gone Wrong, and his backing
guitarists. I am more accustomed to musicals where the music tends to support
the script, or at least be a companion. In Sons
of Sun, Carroll’s carefully researched and informative narration and
interactive scenes serves chiefly to provide the links to Kennedy’s soulful,
swelling sounds of the Blues and the thrusting force of Rock ‘n roll rhythms
and lyrics of youth rebellion. Kennedy’s trio is a powerhouse of nostalgia and
uncanny impressions. Loud and wailing, filling the club with Fifties sounds,
Kennedy’s vocals, backed by guitarists, Paul Scott and Murray Cook, pulsate
with energy, full blasted sound and song that seduces the audience into foot
tapping, body jiving motion.
On the miniscule stage and with
amps at full volume, the miked actors still have to burst forth to top the
sounds, and Carroll’s script at times struggles above the music and the actors
seem cramped into a tight performance area to play out the action of the
script, largely consisting of narration by Ben Maclaine, and scenes between
Phillips (Matt Charleston) and Victoria Beck who takes on several roles, like
Maclaine, including Phillips’s partner and Muse Marion Keisker. Carroll’s concise and effective script
reveals Phillips’s tough childhood, his entry into the music industry, his
early labels and finally his work with Sun Records and the discovery of a shy
Elvis, black Howlin’ Wolf, the Perkins Brothers, Cash and Orbison and the
erratic, loose cannon and wild man of rock ‘n roll, Jerry Lee Lewis. Maclaine acts
out all the iconic male singers, while Kennedy takes us through thirty five
songs, with snatches only of classic hits such as Peace in the Valley, Blue
Suede Shoes, Walk The Line, Walking in the Rain, Ooby Dobby and many more. I’m in Seventh
Heaven and a boy back in my home with the radio on.
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| Ben Maclaine as Carl Perkins. Matt Charleston as Sam Phillips Victoria Beck as Marion Kreisker. |
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| Murray Cook, John Kennedy and Paul Scott in Sons of Sun - The Sam Phillips Story |
If the success of any performance
is to be gauged by the audience involvement, then the audience were soon into
the swing of the music, jiving on the floor during the numbers and absorbed in
the dramatic re-enactment of Phillips’s struggles and successes. The touring
club circuit version is a sure-fire hit.
Unfortunately, Canberra only had
a one night stand. If you were a Fifties guy or chic, then watch out for the
return of Sons of Sun. You’ll have a
night’s entertainment that will have you jiving to your car as you sing the
songs out loud all the way home..
