(THE BARE BONES, ALMOST-COMPLETE ALBUM INDEX)

NOTE: ellipses in title names like "...Present" indicate omission of "The Three Suns" from the original title (i.e. "The Three Suns Present"); ALSO: this discography only addresses the Suns' RCA and post-RCA output. Earlier 78 singles and sets on labels like Varsity and Majestic and RCA 78 singles/sets that never made it to 45 or 33 1/3 RPM editions are NOT included. If you're a 78 collector who can provide extensive discography information in this area, or you're someone who has any additions or corrections to these other categories, please contact me.

RCA PRE-12" ALBUMS

Until the 12" 33 1/3 format gained dominance in the late 1950s, collections of songs were issued as collections of 10" 78RPM singles (P- prefix), or boxed sets of 7" 45RPM singles (WP- prefix). When microgroove technology developed, new albums were issued, and often old albums reissued, as 10" 33 1/3 "long play" discs (LPM- prefix), or 7" 45 RPM "Extended Play" discs with two songs per side (EPA- prefix for a single 7" in a cardboard single picture sleeve, and EPB- prefix for a double 7" in a cardboard gatefold picture sleeve). To make all this even more confusing, many of the first RCA 12" Three Suns LPs were actually repackagings of the earlier albums under new titles.

EARLY RCA 12" ALBUMS

THE LIVING STEREO ERA

The following albums were released in both monaural and stereo editions. Mono copies have an LPM catalog number prefix, and stereo copies have an LSP prefix. Movin' 'n' Groovin' was part of RCA's deluxe Stereo Action series (LSA prefix).

RCA COMPILATIONS

These are collections of singles, album cuts, etc. released by RCA Victor, its Camden budget label, or non-U.S. RCA-related labels.

TITLE	LABEL, CATALOG #	YEAR	NOTES
self-titled (Gold Standard Series)	RCA Victor EPA-5021	1958	7" four-song "hits" EP
Dizzy Fingers (Gold Standard Series)	RCA Victor EPA-5061	1958	7" four-song "hits" EP
Twilight Time	RCA Victor LPC-110	196?	"Compact 33 Double" 7-inch format
The Happy-Go-Lucky Sound	Camden CAL-454	1958
Lead, Kindly Light: 12 Favorite Hymns	Camden CAL-472	1959	includes tracks from LPM/EPB-3174
At the Candlelight Cafe	Camden CAL-513	1959
Continental Affair	Camden CAL-573	1959?
Sweet and Lovely	Victor LS-5013		Japanese release; same cover art as LPM-1219
Here Come the Suns	Victor LS-5083		Japanese release
Various: A Gershwin Holiday	RCA Victor VPM/VPS-6011	1963	2-LP V.A. set of Gershwin tunes; incl. 4 non-LP Albertine-arranged Suns tunes
The Best of...	RCA Victor LPM-3447, LSP-3447(e)	1966	(e) = electronically simulated stereo
Golden Album (a.k.a "Screen Films Selection")	Victor SRA-5009	1966	Japanese compilation of movie themes; gatefold w/ 6 pg. 12x12 booklet of movie stills and liner notes
This Is...	RCA Victor VPS-6076	1971	2-record set
Mean To Me	Camden ACL1-0085	1973	tracks from LSP-2617, LSP-2904, and LSP-2963
Pure Gold	RCA Victor LPM-344, 3anl1-1779(e)	1976	partial overlap of contents with LPM-3447

NON-RCA BUDGET LABEL COMPILATIONS

Most of these come from a pool of a couple dozen or so pre-RCA recordings and overlap in content. Some have identical contents to albums released with different covers under the same or different titles by other budget labels. Look for more details in the expanded Non-RCA compilation discography page -- coming eventually!

The 16 Greatest Hits album on Musicor is actually new, post-RCA, stereo recordings with Morty, Vinnie Bell, and Fred Mendelsohn as the three Three Suns, and is easily the pick of the lot. An abbreviated version of it (10/16 songs, partial front cover art, and even the label company name) was reissued as Twilight Time: Greatest Hits on MusicO Records.

OTHER RELATED ALBUMS

These apocryphal Three Suns records include additional RCA albums recorded by Al Nevins & His Orchestra separate from the Suns, as well as budget-label Three Suns knock-off bands. Yup, while nowhere near the magnitude of, say, the Beatles knock-offs, these guys were once popular enough to spawn their own blatant guitar/organ/accordion trio imitators. Just to make issues more confusing, the Twilight Three tracks sound identical to the recordings of the same songs that appear all over the above budget LPs ("Barcarolle," etc.), suggesting that perhaps not all of the performances on the budget collections even were the Suns.