Sun Records

{{Short description|American independent record label}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{About||the jazz rock label established by Frank Wright|Sun Records (jazz)|the TV series based on the label|Sun Records (TV series)|all other Sun Records|Sun Records (other companies)}}

{{Infobox record label
| name        = Sun Records
| image       = Sunrecords.jpg
| parent      = [[Primary Wave (company)|Primary Wave]]
| founded     = {{start date and age|February 1952}}
| founder     = [[Sam Phillips]]
| distributor = [[Virgin Music]]
| genre       = [[Rock and roll]], [[country music|country]], [[blues]], [[rockabilly]]
| country     = [[United States]]
| location    = [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], Tennessee
| website     = {{URL|sunrecords.com}}
}}

'''Sun Records''' is an American [[independent record label]] founded by producer [[Sam Phillips]] in [[Memphis, Tennessee]] on February 1, 1952.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CoIUC42u91g/|title=Instagram|website=Instagram.com}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sunrecords.com/history|title=History – Sun Record Company|website=Sunrecords.com|language=en-US|access-date=August 26, 2019}}</ref> Sun was the first label to record [[Elvis Presley]], [[Charlie Rich]], [[Roy Orbison]], [[Jerry Lee Lewis]], [[Carl Perkins]], and [[Johnny Cash]]. Prior to that, Sun had concentrated mainly on [[African Americans|African-American]] musicians because Phillips loved [[rhythm and blues]] and wanted to bring it to a white audience.

On January 28, 2021, Sun Records was acquired by [[Primary Wave (company)|Primary Wave]] for $30 million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/primary-wave-buys-legendary-sun-records-in-30m-deal-including-masters-for-johnny-cash-jerry-lee-lewis/|title=Primary Wave buys legendary Sun Records in $30m deal, including masters for Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis|date=January 28, 2021|website=Musicbusinessworldwide.com|access-date=June 9, 2021}}</ref>

==History==
Sam Phillips opened his [[Sun Studio|Memphis Recording Service]] studio on January 3, 1950, at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/sun-records-studio-18-musical-milestones-196715/|title=Sun Records Studio: 18 Musical Milestones|last=Betts|first=Stephen L.|date=February 17, 2017|magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> It was founded with the financial aid of [[Bullet Records|Jim Bulliet]], one of many record executives for whom Phillips had scouted artists before 1952.<ref>Ward, Ed. ''Rolling Stone History of Rock Music''</ref>

In March 1951, Phillips produced "[[Rocket 88]]" by [[Jackie Brenston]] and his Delta Cats, who were actually [[Ike Turner]] and his [[Kings of Rhythm]]. Because of Turner's [[Delta blues]] connections, he was contracted by Phillips as a talent scout and he was effectively an in-house producer.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Earl Hooker, Blues Master|last=Danchin|first=Sebastian|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|year=2001|isbn=978-1578063079}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/arts/music/13turner.html|title=Ike Turner, Musician and Songwriter in Duo With Tina Turner, Dies at 76|last=Pareles|first=Jon|date=December 13, 2007|website=The New York Times}}</ref> Turner brought fellow musicians [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[Bobby Bland|Bobby "Blue" Bland]], [[Little Milton]], [[Billy "The Kid" Emerson]] and [[Roscoe Gordon]] to record for Phillips.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Takin' Back My Name: The Confessions of Ike Turner|url=https://archive.org/details/takinbackmynamec00turn|url-access=registration|last1=Turner|first1=Ike|last2=Cawthorne|first2=Nigel|date=1999|publisher=Virgin|isbn=9781852278502|location=London|language=en|oclc=43321298}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Ike Turner: King of Rhythm|last=Collis|first=John|publisher=Do-Not Press|year=2003|isbn=978-1-904316-24-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/iketurnerkingofr0000coll}}</ref>

The success of "Rocket 88" helped fund the creation of Sun Records which Phillips founded in February 1952.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.culturesonar.com/rocket-88-one-of-the-pioneering-songs-of-rock/|title="Rocket 88": One of The Pioneering Songs of Rock|last=O'Toole|first=Kit|date=August 8, 2019|website=CultureSonar|language=en-US}}</ref> Before creating Sun, Phillips licensed recording to [[Chess Records]] for release. But by 1952, his relationship with the [[Chess Records#Chess brothers' company|Chess brothers]] was strained and he had disputes with the [[Bihari brothers]] at [[Modern Records]]. Initially, Phillips didn't want to create a record label. He said, "I was forced into it by those labels either coming to Memphis to record or taking my artists elsewhere."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Salem|first=James M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bNIN6UB5G_EC&q=beale+streeters|title=The Late, Great Johnny Ace and the Transition from R & B to Rock 'n' Roll'|date=2001|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-06969-7|pages=41|language=en}}</ref>

The original Sun Records logo was designed by John Gale Parker Jr., a resident of Memphis and high school classmate of Phillips. Sun Records shared the same building as Sun Studio (formerly Memphis Recording Service). There, Phillips discovered and first recorded such influential musicians such as Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis. Presley's recording contract was eventually sold to [[RCA Victor]] for $40,000 (US${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|40000|1955}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}) in 1955 to relieve Sun's financial difficulties. Sun record producer and engineer [[Jack Clement]] discovered and recorded Jerry Lee Lewis while Phillips was away on a trip to Florida in 1956.

Some of the other artists who recorded for Sun were [[Rufus Thomas]] (who recorded solo and with his daughter [[Carla Thomas]]), Tex Weiss, [[Charlie Rich]], [[Bill Justis]], [[Conway Twitty]] (who at that time recorded under his real name, Harold Jenkins), [[Barbara Pittman]] and the Miller Sisters.<ref>Davis, Hank. "Overlooked Sun Records Female Artists Finally Get their Day in the Sun." Goldmine November 1, 2002: 69. ProQuest. Web. February 17, 2015.</ref>

In [[The Lovin' Spoonful|the Lovin' Spoonful]] song "Nashville Cats", [[John Sebastian]] used poetic license when he referred to Sun as the "Yellow Sun Records from Nashville".<ref>Email from John Sebastian, "So, Carptrash (okay, so I changed this)…The quote is correct.But I was incorrect…for a while. As you probably know, Sun records was originally in Memphis. Mistake on my part. But later, Sun does get a spot in Nashville. So I don’t look too bad.  js"</ref>

[[File:SunRecord45.jpg|thumbnail|left|180px|"[[Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On]]" by Jerry Lee Lewis]]

In 1969, [[Mercury Records]] label producer [[Shelby Singleton]] purchased the Sun label from Phillips. Singleton merged his operations into Sun International Corporation, which re-released and re-packaged compilations of Sun's early artists in the early 1970s. It later introduced [[rockabilly]] tribute singer [[Jimmy "Orion" Ellis]] in 1979, with Orion taking on the persona of [[Elvis Presley]].

The company remains in business as Sun Entertainment Corporation, and currently licenses its brand and classic hit recordings (many of which have appeared in [[Compact disc|CD]] [[boxed set]]s and other compilations) to independent reissue labels. Sun Entertainment also includes SSS International Records, [[Plantation Records]], Amazon Records, [[Red Bird Records]], [[Blue Cat Records]] among other labels the company acquired over the years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sunrecords.com/licensing |title=Sun Records Licensing &#124; Sun Record Company |publisher=Sunrecords.com |date=December 4, 1956 |access-date=July 13, 2013}}</ref> Its website sells collectible items and compact discs bearing the original 1950s Sun logo.

Sun Records is located in [[Memphis, Tennessee|Nashville]], Tennessee. It has been mainly a reissue label since the 1970s but signed country musician [[Julie Roberts]] to a recording contract in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.roughstock.com/blog/julie-roberts-first-artist-to-sign-with-sun-records-in-40-years/ |title=Julie Roberts First Artist To Sign With Sun Records in 40 years &#124; New Country Music, Listen to Songs & Video |publisher=Roughstock.com |date=June 19, 2013 |access-date=July 13, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429093311/http://www.roughstock.com/blog/julie-roberts-first-artist-to-sign-with-sun-records-in-40-years/ |archive-date=April 29, 2014 }}</ref>

The music of many Sun Records musicians helped lay part of the foundation of late 20th-century <!--[[popular music]] and--> [[rock and roll]] and influenced many younger musicians, including the [[The Beatles|Beatles]]. In 2001, [[Paul McCartney]] appeared on a tribute [[compilation album]] titled ''Good Rockin' Tonight: The Legacy of Sun Records''. The 2008 tribute ''[[Million Dollar Quartet (musical)|Million Dollar Quartet]]'' is based on the famous photograph of Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis grouped round Elvis Presley at the piano, the night when the four joined in an impromptu jam at Sun Records' one-room sound studio, the "[[Million Dollar Quartet]]" of December 4, 1956.

[[Sun Records (TV series)|A TV series about the label]] ran for eight episodes on [[CMT (American TV channel)|CMT]] from February to April 2017.

In August 2022, Sun Records issued a 70th Anniversary Compilation album. The album features contributions from ten of the industry's top music supervisors and includes tracks from artists from the Sun catalogue including [[James Cotton]], [[Linda Martell]], [[Roy Orbison]], [[Johnny Cash]], [[The Dixie Cups]], The Imperial Wonders, Rufus Thomas Jr., and Barbara Pittman.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hollabaugh |first=Lorie |date=August 16, 2022 |title=Sun Records Celebrates 70th Anniversary With Specially Curated Album Compilation. |url=https://musicrow.com/2022/08/sun-records-celebrates-70th-anniversary-with-specially-curated-album-compilation/ |access-date=August 16, 2022 |website=Musicrow.com}}</ref>

In November 2022, [[Peter Guralnick]] and [[Colin Escott]] released ''The Birth of Rock ‘N’ Roll: The Illustrated Story of Sun Records and the 70 Recordings that Changed the World'', a history of Sun Records illustrated by 70 records.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Memphis Flyer|url=https://www.memphisflyer.com/mystery-train-the-unpredictable-70-year-saga-of-sun-records|title=Mystery Train: The Unpredictable 70-Year Saga of Sun Records|first=Alex|last=Greene|date=November 22, 2022}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of record labels]]
* [[Elvis Presley's Sun recordings]]
* [[Johnny Cash's Sun recordings]]
* [[Roy Orbison's Sun recordings]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}}
* [http://www.sunstudio.com Sun Studio official site]
* [http://www.706unionavenue.nl Chronology, session files, discography (1950–1959)]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Sun Records| ]]
[[Category:Culture of Memphis, Tennessee]]
[[Category:History of Memphis, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Companies based in Memphis, Tennessee]]<!--established in-->
[[Category:Record labels based in Nashville, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Record labels established in 1952]]
[[Category:American country music record labels]]
[[Category:American independent record labels]]
[[Category:Rhythm and blues record labels]]
[[Category:Blues record labels]]
[[Category:Record labels based in Tennessee]]
[[Category:Historic Rock and Roll Landmarks]]