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Chris Isaak’s new album is a covers project titled “Beyond the Sun” which pays tribute to the early rock ‘n’ roll legends who inspired Isaak’s own musical direction, including Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. The title reflects the fact that, while the artists covered began their careers at Sun Records in Memphis, TN, not all song selections are from the Sun days.

Since Isaak began his musical career in the mid-1980s, his retro image and music style has attracted comparisons with the likes of Elvis and Roy Orbison. Even Sun Records boss Sam Phillips picked up on this, citing Isaak as one of the few modern artists who he listened to. With this in mind, it seems fitting that if Isaak was going to release a covers project, it would involve songs from these early greats of rock ‘n’ roll. Also fitting is that Isaak chose to record these covers at the same Sun Records studio that many of the original classic recordings were made at.

A glance over the 25 songs featured on the two-disc deluxe edition of “Beyond The Sun” tells us right away that Isaak is very drawn to Elvis songs. Of the 25 songs, 12 were recorded by Elvis, including the song “My Happiness” which Elvis made an informal recording of in 1953, the classic Sun tracks “Trying To Get To You” and “I Forgot to Remember to Forget,” the early rockers “My Baby Left Me” and “Doncha’ Think It’s Time,” the pseudo-operatic “It’s Now Or Never,” and the 1960s film soundtrack songs “Doin’ The Best I Can” and “Can’t Help Falling In Love.”

Johnny Cash is represented by infectious renditions of his signature hits “Ring Of Fire” and “I Walk The Line.” In selecting Carl Perkins material, Isaak resisted the most obvious options and went for “Dixie Fried” and “Your True Love.”

There are energetic covers of the Jerry Lee Lewis hits “Great Balls of Fire” and first single “Crazy Arms,” as well as a mournful rendition of “That Lucky Old Sun,” which is a Frankie Laine original covered by numerous artists, including Jerry Lee and Johnny Cash.

Chris Isaak – “Beyond The Sun” promo

Chris Isaak often speaks fondly of his meetings with Roy Orbison in the 1980s and has performed a number of his songs on stage and/or on record in the past, including “Leah,” “Only the Lonely” and “Pretty Paper.” On “Beyond The Sun,” Isaak delivers a very credible cover of “Oh, Pretty Woman,” which he had previously performed while playing Roy Orbison on the television series “American Dreams” in 2004. Also from the Roy Orbison songbook is “So Long I’m Gone,” which was recorded by Sun artist Warren Smith in 1957.

In a nod to Sun Records’ early days, Isaak also includes a cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s 1952 recording “Everybody’s in the Mood.”

Isaak breaks the Sun artist rule once by sneaking in a cover of Gene Vincent’s “Lovely Loretta” (Vincent was a Capitol Records artist).

In a recent interview with NPR about “Beyond The Sun,” Isaak said:

Here’s the audio of the full NPR interview:

“Beyond The Sun” is available as a 14-track standard edition or 25-track deluxe edition. With the small difference in price, it’s a no brainer to go for the latter.

“Beyond The Sun” deluxe edition tracklist

CD 1

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.”

CD 2

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 (Over You)”
9. “Love Me”
10. “Doncha’ Think It’s Time”
11. “That Lucky Old Sun.”

The standard edition includes only CD 1.

Chris Isaak does not attempt to reinvent the wheel on “Beyond The Sun.” The emphasis is on fun, not innovation, and it’s very successful in that regard, with enjoyable renditions of a host of classic songs. If you have enjoyed Chris Isaak’s previous work, this album is for you.

You can buy “Beyond The Sun” now in standard, deluxe and vinyl editions:

Title
Beyond the Sun (CD)	Buy Now	Buy Now	Buy Now	Buy Now
Beyond the Sun – deluxe (2 CDs)	Buy Now	Buy Now	Buy Now	Buy Now
Beyond the Sun – vinyl (2 LPs)	Buy Now	Buy Now	N/A	N/A

Chris Isaak talks about “Beyond The Sun” on 95.5 KLOS