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• Record producer Sam Phillips, the head of Sun Records in the 1950s, was an important figure in the early era of rock and roll. He is credited with discovering Elvis Presley.

• Fast Facts

  1. Born January 5, 1923 in Florence, Alabama
  2. Died: June 30, 2003
  3. Full Name: Samuel Cornelius Phillips
  4. Part of the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986

• Background

  Phillips started his career as a radio DJ in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, an early "open format" station (meaning that it played music from both white and black musicians). He opened his own recording studio in 1950 in Memphis, Tennessee, where he recorded what is widely considered to be the first rock and roll record: "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, a band that featured a young Ike Turner. In 1952, Phillips founded Sun Records

• Influence and Discoveries

  After recording some early tracks with Elvis, Phillips would go on to record with many more notable early rock and roll performers, including Charlie Rich, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and BB King.

  Phillips company did not see any genuine financial success, however, until the 1955 Carl Perkins song "Blue Suede Shoes," which became a nationally-popular hit.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Sun Records | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum | Elvis Presley | Johnny Cash | Jerry Lee Lewis | B.B. King | Conway Twitty | Muddy Waters | Ike Turner | Roy Orbison | Country Music Awards Fashion

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