Sam Phillips - Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison

Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison

Phillips and Elvis Presley opened a new form of music. Phillips said of Elvis: "Elvis cut a ballad, which was just excellent. I could tell you, both Elvis and Roy Orbison could tear a ballad to pieces. But I said to myself, 'You can't do that, Sam.' If I had released a ballad I don't think you would have heard of Elvis Presley."

Although much has been written about Phillips's goals, he can be seen stating the following: "Everyone knew that I was just a struggling cat down here trying to develop new and different artists, and get some freedom in music, and tap some resources and people that weren't being tapped."

Elvis Presley, who recorded his version of Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "That's All Right" at Phillips's studio, met that goal, and became highly successful, first in Memphis, then throughout the southern United States. He auditioned for Phillips in 1954, but it was not until he sang "That's Alright (Mama)" that Phillips was impressed. For the first six months, the flip side, "Blue Moon of Kentucky", his upbeat version of a Bill Monroe bluegrass song, was slightly more popular than "That's All Right (Mama)." 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, Junior Parker, and Billy Lee Riley recorded for Sun with some success, while others such as Jerry Lee Lewis, BB King, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins would become superstars.

Despite this popular regional acclaim, by mid 1955 Sam Phillips's 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. Through the sale of Presley's contract, he was able to boost the distribution of Perkins' song "Blue Suede Shoes", and it became Sun Records' first national hit.

He lost many of his talents in the late 1950s after he sold Elvis' contract and was unable to regain his once prominent position in the Memphis music community.

Phillips is credited with teaching production to Presley who used this knowledge into his career with RCA Victor. Although Steve Sholes was credited as the official producer of Elvis after his move to RCA, it was Elvis who in reality, produced most of the music, using what he had learned from Sam Phillips.

Phillips had an open style and insightful guidance that seemed to allow musicians, especially Presley, to search and feel their way to a point to where they would perform beyond Phillips's and their own expectations. He also seemed to have a sense for when the artist was about to reach the point of their best performance. Phillips recorded looking for a feel, not technical perfection. Phillips told Elvis that the worst thing he could go for was perfection. Phillips was always seeking what he called the perfect/imperfect cut. This meant that it was not technically perfect, but perfectly conveyed the feeling and emotion of the song to the listener and gave the song a living personality, partially due to it being technically imperfect.

Phillips innovated while recording Elvis. Most recordings at the time gave substantially more volume to the vocals. Phillips pulled back the Elvis vocals, blending it more with the instrumental performances. Phillips also used tape delay to get an echo into the Elvis recordings by running the tape through a second recorder head. RCA, not knowing the method that Phillips had used, was unable to recreate the Elvis echo when recording "Heartbreak Hotel". In an attempt to duplicate the Sun Records sound, RCA used a large empty hallway at the studio to create an echo, but it sounded nothing like the echo that Phillips had created at Sun Records.

Elvis did not have a band when he arrived at Sun Records. It was Sam Phillips who decided that little was needed to augment Elvis' vocals and rhythm guitar. Phillips chose two musicians, lead guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black to perform with Elvis. This choice of musicians proved to be inspired as this group along with drummer D.J. Fontana produced some of the biggest hits in rock 'n' roll history, even after Phillips had sold the Presley contract to RCA Victor. These included "Heartbreak Hotel", "Hound Dog", and "Don't Be Cruel".

Phillips's 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's studio. When Elvis Presley walked in unexpectedly, Johnny Cash was called into the studio by Phillips, leading to an impromptu session featuring the four musicians.

Phillips challenged the four to achieve gold record sales, offering a free Cadillac to the first, which Carl Perkins won. The contest is commemorated in a song by the Drive-by Truckers.

By the mid- 1960s, Phillips rarely recorded. He built a satellite studio and opened radio stations, but the studio declined and he sold Sun Records to Shelby Singleton in 1968.