Sam Phillips

==The Memphis Recording Service and Sun Records==
[[File:SunStudioSamPhillipsAvenue.JPG|thumb|left|200px|Sun Studio, 706 Union Avenue, Memphis]]
In the 1940s, Phillips worked as a [[DJ]] and [[radio engineer]] for station [[WLAY (AM)]], in [[Muscle Shoals, Alabama]]. According to Phillips, the station's "open format" (of broadcasting music by white and black musicians alike) would later inspire his work in [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]]. Beginning in 1945, he worked for four years as an announcer and sound engineer for radio station [[WREC]], in Memphis.

[[File:Demo record produced at Memphis Recording and Sound Service, Eunice Irby composer and performer.jpg|thumb|78 demo record from Sam Phillips studio in Memphis]]On January 3, 1950, Phillips opened the Memphis Recording Service, at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis.{{sfn|Palmer|1982|p=219}} He let amateurs record, which drew performers such as [[B.B. King]],{{sfn|Palmer|1982|p=220}} [[Junior Parker]], and [[Howlin' Wolf]],{{sfn|Palmer|1982|p=234}} who made their first recordings there. Phillips then sold the recordings to larger labels.

Phillips recorded what the music historian [[Peter Guralnick]] considered the [[first rock and roll record]]: "[[Rocket 88]]", by [[Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats]], a band led by the 19-year-old [[Ike Turner]], who also wrote the song.{{sfn|Palmer|1982|p=222}}<ref>Guralnick, Peter (2015). ''Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll.'' New York: Little, Brown. {{ISBN|978-0-316-04274-1}}.</ref> The recording was released in 1951 by [[Chess Records]] in Chicago. From 1950 to 1954 Phillips recorded music by [[James Cotton]], [[Rufus Thomas]], [[Rosco Gordon]], [[Little Milton]], [[Bobby Blue Bland]], the [[The Prisonaires|Prisonaires]] and others.{{sfn|Palmer|1982|p=225}}

The Memphis Recording Service also served as the studio for Phillips's own label, [[Sun Records|Sun Record Company]], which he launched in 1952. Sun Records produced more rock-and-roll records than any other record label of its time during its 16-year run, producing 226 singles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/sam-phillips |title=Sam Phillips: Inducted in 1986. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum |publisher=Rockhall.com |date=April 15, 2013 |access-date=September 8, 2015}}</ref> Phillips recorded different styles of music, but he was interested in the blues: "The blues, it got people—black and white—to think about life, how difficult, yet also how good it can be. They would sing about it; they would pray about it; they would preach about it. This is how they relieved the burden of what existed day in and day out."<ref>Olsen, Eric P. "Founding Father: Sam Philips and the Birth of Rock and Roll." ''The World and I''. Washington, May 2001. p. 76.</ref>

In addition to musical performances, Phillips recorded events such as weddings and funerals, selling the recordings.