Sam Phillips

Sam Phillips, born Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – June 30, 2003), was a record producer who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s. He is most notably attributed with the discovery of Elvis Presley, and is associated with several other noteworthy rhythm and blues and rock and roll stars of the period.

Phillips was a native of Florence, Alabama and a graduate of Coffee High School.

On January 3, 1950, Phillips opened the "Memphis Recording Service" at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, which also served as the studios for Sun Records through the 1950s. In addition to musical performances, he recorded events such as weddings and funerals, selling the recordings.

Phillips recorded what some—notably music historian Peter Guralnick—consider the first rock and roll record: "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, a band led by 19-year-old Ike Turner, who also wrote the song. The recording was released on the Chess/Checker record label in Chicago, in 1951. From 1950 to 1954 Phillips recorded the music of black rhythm and blues artists such as James Cotton, Rufus Thomas, Rosco Gordon, Little Milton, Bobby Blue Bland, and others. Blues legends such as B.B. King and Howlin' Wolf made their first recordings at his studio.

Throughout this same period, Phillips was looking for a white singer with a special "sound". Elvis Presley, who recorded his version of "That's All Right Mama" at Phillips' studio, met that goal, and became highly successful first in Memphis, then throughout the southern United States. While still not known outside the South, Presley's singles and regional success became a drawing card for Sun Records, as singing hopefuls soon arrived from all over the region. Singers such as Sonny Burgess ("My Bucket's Got A Hole In It"), Charlie Rich, and Billy Lee Riley recorded for Sun with some success, while others such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins would become superstars.

Despite this popular regional acclaim, by mid 1955 Sam Phillips' studio experienced financial difficulties, and he sold Presley's contract in November of that year; RCA Records' offer of $35,000 beat out Atlantic Records' offer of $25,000.

Phillips' pivotal role in the early days of rock and roll was exemplified by a celebrated jam session on December 4, 1956 which came to be known as the Million Dollar Quartet. Jerry Lee Lewis was playing piano for a Carl Perkins recording session at Phillips' studio. Johnny Cash was there listening, and Elvis Presley walked in unexpectedly, leading to an impromptu session featuring the four musicians.

Phillips launched radio station WHER on October 29, 1955. Each of the young women who auditioned for the station assumed there would only be one female announcer position like other stations at that time. Only a few days before the first broadcast did they learn of the "All Girl Radio" format. Almost every position at the station was held by a woman.[1]

In 1986 Sam Phillips was part of the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and his pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. In 1987, he was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. He received a Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements in 1991. In 1998, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, and in October 2001 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Phillips died of respiratory failure at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee on June 30, 2003, only one day before the original Sun Studio was designated a National Historic Landmark. He is interred in the Memorial Park Cemetery, Memphis.

He is portrayed by Charles Cyphers in the 1979 film Elvis, Trey Wilson in the 1989 film Great Balls of Fire and by Dallas Roberts in the 2005 film Walk the Line.

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