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There seems little doubt Elvis Presley was one of the greatest singers of the recorded era of music, with a voice equally comfortable and adept at country, blues, rock and gospel. However, he was arguably at his strongest when he was singing rockabilly, that rock and roll prototype he virtually invented. Elvis’s rockabilly days were brief, however, as RCA Records and Col. Tom Parker fed him a steady diet of pop songs. And when a series of tragedies befell heirs apparent such as Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, rockabilly as a commercial genre was on the ropes, to be put away for good by the arrival of the Beatles a few years later.

But the story of rockabilly goes way beyond Elvis and the big names, and some people are making sure that is known. In Jackson, Tenn., businessman and Perkins friend Henry Harrison is building a $10 million International Rock-A-Billy Hall of Fame and already hosts an annual Rockabilly Fest.

Now a handful of releases are shedding light on some of the lesser-known but no less talented early rockabilly cats.

Best known for the song Red Hot, Billy Lee Riley is one of the Sun Records artists whose day in the sun unfortunately was short-lived. That said, Riley has aged better than any rocker in the business, putting the Rolling Stones to shame. He’s fit and in fine voice and touring at age 68. To hear just how good a shape he’s in, check out his new disc, “One More Time” (Sun-Up, Three 1/2 stars). Despite the vintage photos of Riley and his band, the Little Green Men, that adorn the CD booklet, this is not a re-release. Rather, this record was cut live before an audience earlier this year at Sun Studio. Working with a crack session band and a couple of his cronies from the old days, guitarist Sonny Burgess and bassist B. B. Cunningham, Riley turns in superb versions of a dozen late-’50s hits, including Red Hot and Flyin’ Saucer’s Rock & Roll. Sure the original recordings are collected elsewhere, but here they benefit greatly from Riley’s finely aged voice.

Riley’s saxophonist during his Sun days was the great Ace Cannon, who went on to bigger things first at the Hi label, where he recorded the instrumental hit Tuff, and later in Nashville, where he scored with his Grammy-winning cover of Willie Nelson’s Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. On his new disc, “Back to the Beginning” (RMD Music, Two stars), Cannon, like Riley, is looking to the past but without as much success as his old boss. “Back to the Beginning” features the inimitable Cannon take on 15 early rock hits, mostly culled from the Sun catalog, though versions of Lucille and Kansas City also pop up. Unfortunately, except for the fantastic, authentic thump of Joe Fick’s bass (he of the Memphis-based rockabilly torchbearers the Dempseys), the band, which includes on unspecified tracks guitarist Paul Burlison and drummer J. M. Van Eaton, seems to be going through the motions, a problem exacerbated by poor production values and a few outright mistakes.

Women artists were a rarity during rock’s early years, but without a doubt the most significant was Wanda Jackson. Jackson was just a teenager when Elvis hit, and the next year she made her debut as a singer with honky-tonker Hank Thompson. Another year later and she found herself on a bill with Elvis himself. Elvis encouraged the 18-year-old to sing rock and in so doing gave us one of rockabilly’s best singers, male or female. Due in stores Sept. 17 are Capitol reissues of Jackson’s first two records for the label, “Wanda Jackson” (Four stars) and “Rockin’ With Wanda” (Four stars). With the exception of the scorcher Riot In Cell Block #9, most of Jackson’s better-known hits are here, including Fujiyama Mama and Let’s Have a Party, plus a numbers of under-recognized gems.

Also part of the Capitol rockabilly reissue campaign on Sept. 17 are the first two albums from Gene Vincent, “Bluejean Bop” (Three stars) and “Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps” (Three 1/2 stars), with bonus tracks. Although he had only one big hit, Be Bop A Lula, presented here as a bonus track, Vincent was for a time considered a rival to the King’s rockabilly throne, and these discs show why.

Finally, if you want to get the complete picture of the ’50s rockabilly scene, especially here in Memphis, check out Stomper Time Records (http://www.stompertime.com). Named after Memphian Eddie Bond’s old ’50s label, this British company has lately put out a stunning collection of obscure early rockabilly and rock and roll. Besides Bond, the catalog includes compilations from pioneers like Sonny Burgess and Carl Mann and a lot of material from Fernwood Records, a label started here by Jack Clement and Ronald `Slim’ Wallace in 1955 that was home to Scotty Moore during Elvis’s Army years. There’s also a fascinating disc of Jerry Lee Lewis solo piano pieces.