Carl Mann – Mona Lisa

Just seventeen years of age when his Rockabilly-styled revival of Nat ‘King’ Cole’s ‘Mona Lisa’ sold a million copies in 1959, CARL MANN was among the last of Sam Phillips/Sun Records’ R&R discoveries.

Yet perhaps because he was younger and enjoyed success in a more commercially accessible style, Mann was never accorded quite the same iconic status as other Sun Rock & Rollers.

Nonetheless the body of work he recorded for Sam Phillips was hugely impressive, and his reputation took a further upswing when he came to the UK and Europe for R&R and Rockabilly festivals in the late 1970s.

This compilation anthologises his releases on Sun’s Phillips International subsidiary between 1959-62, preceded by a one-off 45 he’d cut for a local label, a couple of years earlier.

Also included are a further ten sides he recorded at Sun, which were not originally released.

1. GONNA ROCK AND ROLL TONIGHT [with The Kool Kats]
2. ROCKIN’ LOVE [with The Kool Kats]
3. MONA LISA
4. FOOLISH ONE
5. LOOK AT THAT MOON
6. PRETEND
7. ROCKIN’ LOVE (version 2)
8. TAKE THESE CHAINS FROM MY HEART
9. SOME ENCHANTED EVENING
10. I CAN’T FORGET YOU
11. SOUTH OF THE BORDER
12. CRAZY FOOL
13. THE WAYWARD WIND
14. I AIN’T GOT NO HOME (LP version)
15. I’M BLUER THAN ANYONE CAN BE
16. BABY I DON’T CARE
17. AIN’T YOU GOT NO LOVIN’ FOR ME
18. SERENADE OF THE BELLS
19. I’M COMIN’ HOME
20. IF I EVER NEEDED YOU
21. ISLAND OF LOVE
22. WALKIN’ AND THINKIN’
23. BORN TO BE BAD
24. I’M WALKING THE DOG
25. STOP THE WORLD AND LET ME OFF
26. I DON’T CARE
27. DON’T LET THE STARS GET IN YOUR EYES
28. UBANGI STOMP
29. IF I COULD CHANGE YOU
30. I AIN’T GOT NO HOME (single version)
31. WHEN I GROW TOO OLD TO DREAM
32. MOUNTAIN DEW
33. EVEN THO’