Sam Phillips facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sam Phillips
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Samuel Cornelius Phillips |
| Born | January 5, 1923 Florence, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | July 30, 2003 (aged 80) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer, Businessman |
| Years active | 1945–2003 |
| Labels | Phillips International, Sun |
| Associated acts |
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Samuel Cornelius Phillips (born January 5, 1923 – died July 30, 2003) was an American record producer. He was the person who started Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. At his studio, he recorded famous musicians like Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Howlin' Wolf. Sam Phillips played a huge part in creating rock and roll music in the 1950s. He helped launch Elvis Presley's amazing career. In 1969, he sold Sun Records to Shelby Singleton.
Phillips also owned and ran radio stations in Memphis, Florence, Alabama, and Lake Worth Beach, Florida. He was one of the first people to invest in the Holiday Inn hotel chain. He also believed in fairness for everyone and helped break down racial barriers in the music industry.
Contents
Early Life and Dreams
Sam Phillips was the youngest of eight children. He was born on a farm near Florence, Alabama. As a child, he picked cotton in the fields with his family and with black workers. Hearing the black workers sing in the fields made a big impression on young Sam. In 1939, he visited Memphis with his family. He snuck away to see Beale Street, which was the center of the city's music scene. He later said, "I just fell totally in love."
Phillips went to Coffee High School in Florence. He led the school band. He wanted to become a lawyer who defended people in court. However, his family faced tough times during the Great Depression. His father died in 1941, so Sam had to leave high school. He needed to take care of his mother and aunt. To support his family, he worked in a grocery store and then a funeral home.
In 1942, Sam, who was 19, met Rebecca "Becky" Burns, who was 17. She would become his wife. They both worked at WLAY radio station in Sheffield, Alabama. Sam was an announcer. Becky was still in high school and had a radio show with her sister called 'The Kitchen Sisters'. They played music and sang. Sam once said, "I fell in love with Becky's voice even before I met her." Becky described meeting Sam: "He had just come in out of the rain. His hair was windblown and full of raindrops. He wore sandals and a smile unlike any I had ever seen." They got married in 1943 and had two children. Their marriage ended in 1960. Becky Phillips passed away in 2012 at age 87.
Starting Sun Records
In the 1940s, Phillips worked as a DJ and radio engineer for WLAY radio station. This station played music by both white and black musicians. This "open format" later inspired his work in Memphis. From 1945 to 1949, he worked as an announcer and sound engineer for radio station WREC in Memphis.
On January 3, 1950, Phillips opened the Memphis Recording Service. It was located at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis. He let amateur musicians record there. This brought in artists like B.B. King, Junior Parker, and Howlin' Wolf. They made their first recordings at his studio. Phillips then sold these recordings to bigger record labels.
Phillips recorded what many music experts call the first rock and roll record. It was "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats. This band was led by 19-year-old Ike Turner, who also wrote the song. The recording was released in 1951 by Chess Records in Chicago. From 1950 to 1954, Phillips recorded music by many artists. These included James Cotton, Rufus Thomas, Rosco Gordon, Little Milton, Bobby Blue Bland, and The Prisonaires.
The Memphis Recording Service was also the studio for Phillips's own record label. He started the Sun Record Company in 1952. Sun Records made more rock-and-roll records than any other label during its 16 years. It produced 226 singles. Phillips recorded many different styles of music. He was especially interested in the blues. He said, "The blues, it got people—black and white—to think about life, how difficult, yet also how good it can be."
Besides music, Phillips also recorded other events. He recorded weddings and funerals, and then sold those recordings.
Discovering Music Stars
Phillips and Elvis Presley helped create a new kind of music. Phillips said that Elvis could sing a slow song (ballad) very well. But Phillips believed that if he had released a ballad, Elvis might not have become famous. He wanted to find new and different artists. He wanted to bring freedom to music and find talent that no one else was noticing. He cared more about the "feel" of the music than about small mistakes.
Phillips met Presley through his helper, Marion Keisker. She was a well-known radio personality in Memphis. On July 18, 1953, 18-year-old Presley came to the studio. He wanted to record a song for his mother's birthday. Keisker thought she heard something special in his voice. She turned on the tape recorder. Later, she played it for Phillips. With Keisker's encouragement, Phillips slowly decided to record Elvis.
Presley recorded his version of Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right" at Phillips's studio. This song made him very successful, first in Memphis, then across the southern United States. Elvis auditioned for Phillips in 1954. But it was not until he sang "That's All Right (Mama)" that Phillips was truly impressed. Phillips took the song to Dewey Phillips, a disc jockey at WHBQ 560. Dewey played it on his Red, Hot & Blue show. For the first six months, the other side of the record, "Blue Moon of Kentucky", was even more popular. This was Elvis's fast version of a Bill Monroe bluegrass song.
Even though Elvis was not yet famous outside the South, his songs and regional success made Sun Records popular. Many hopeful singers came to Sun Records from all over the area. Singers like Sonny Burgess, Charlie Rich, Junior Parker, and Billy Lee Riley recorded for Sun. Others, like Jerry Lee Lewis, B.B. King, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins, became huge stars.
Phillips's important role in early rock and roll was shown by a famous jam session. This happened on December 4, 1956. It became known as the Million Dollar Quartet. Jerry Lee Lewis was playing piano for a Carl Perkins recording session at Phillips's studio. Elvis Presley walked in unexpectedly. Phillips then called Johnny Cash into the studio. This led to a spontaneous music session with all four musicians. Phillips challenged them to be the first to sell a million records. He offered a free Cadillac to the winner, which Carl Perkins won.
By the mid-1960s, Phillips recorded less often. He built another studio and opened radio stations. But the original studio became less active. He sold Sun Records to Shelby Singleton in 1969. In 1977, Sam's sons, Knox and Jerry, were working with John Prine at Phillips Recording Studio. Sam Phillips joined them to help with recordings for the album Pink Cadillac.
WHER Radio Station
Phillips started radio station WHER on October 29, 1955. Each young woman who auditioned for the station thought there would only be one female announcer. This was normal for other stations at that time. Only a few days before the first broadcast did they learn about the all-female format. It was the first all-female radio station in the United States. Almost every job at the station was held by a woman.
Smart Business Moves
Phillips became very wealthy through smart investments. He was one of the first people to invest in Holiday Inn. This was a motel chain that was planning to grow across the country. He got involved with Holiday Inn soon after selling Elvis Presley's contract to RCA for $35,000. He made much more money from Holiday Inn over the years. He also created two other record labels: Phillips International Records and Holiday Inn Records. He also owned the Sun Studio Café in Memphis.
Phillips and his family started Big River Broadcasting Corporation. This company owns and runs several radio stations in the Florence, Alabama area. These include WQLT-FM, WSBM, and WXFL. He also started radio station WLIZ in Lake Worth Beach, Florida in 1959.
Awards and Honors
In 1986, Phillips was one of the first people to be put into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His important work in rock and roll has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He was the first person inducted who was not a performer. 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. In October 2001, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2012, he was part of the first group inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.
Later Life and Legacy
Phillips died at age 80 from respiratory failure at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis. This was on July 30, 2003. It was just one day before the original Sun Studio was named a National Historic Landmark. It was also just over a month before the death of former Sun Records star Johnny Cash. Phillips is buried in the Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis.
Sam Phillips in Movies and TV
- Paul Eiding played Phillips in The Twilight Zone episode "The Once and Future King".
- Trey Wilson played Phillips in Great Balls of Fire!, a movie about Jerry Lee Lewis released in June 1989.
- Phillips was played by Gregory Itzin in the Quantum Leap episode, "Memphis Melody".
- Phillips was played by Dallas Roberts in the film Walk the Line.
- Phillips was played by Tim Guinee in the CBS miniseries Elvis.
- In October 2016, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio would play Sam Phillips in a movie based on Peter Guralnick's book, Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll.
- Phillips was played by Chad Michael Murray in the CMT drama series Sun Records.
- Phillips was played by Josh McConville in the 2022 Elvis Presley movie Elvis.
See also
In Spanish: Sam Phillips para niños
