Sam Phillips, founder of Sun Records, dies

Sam Phillips, the man who first recorded Elvis Presley, dies at 80.

http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/obituaries/article/0,1426,MCA_443_2148231,00.html

Phillips also recorded Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Charlie Rich, among others.

R.I.P.

Thanks for the good ear!

artists long before he recorded Elvis and his work would have been pioneering if there had been no Elvis but "only" all the black and white blues and rhythm and blues artists he recorded. (In 1954, Sam Phillips sold Elvis' contract to RCA for $40,000.)

Here's a comment from Peter Guralnick, an Elvis biographer, about Sam Phillips:

"Against all the odds and societal strictures, he set up a studio that initially recorded nothing but blues and rhythm and blues," Guralnick said. "People who had no voice, he gave them a chance to be heard. The music he gave changed the world."

Sam's former wife, Becky Phillips made a statement about how her husband operated his studio at a time when the races were segregated by law, not just by custom. According to her, the doors of the studio were

"open unconditionally - period. A person could be black, white, down on his luck, big or little," she said. "A person's color was determined by what was in his heart and soul . . . He wasn't afraid of telling the truth about talent. If you didn't have it, he never hesitated to tell you."

Because of that philosophy, Sam recorded great music: "Before Elvis ever walked into Sun Studio, Phillips had recorded Howlin' Wolf, Rufus Thomas and Little Junior Parker among others."

I went to high school in Memphis so Sun Records is important to me. Rufus Thomas was then a DJ on WDIA, which was and probably still is, a great radio station to listen to if you love blues and R&B as much as I do. Memphis is a great town for music and Sam Phillips was a big part of making it that way.

R.I.P., Sam, you did good work.