All about this artist
Biography:
Born 1923, Florence, Alabama, USA. Although harbouring ambitions as a criminal lawyer, Phillips was obliged to drop out of high school to support his family. In 1942 he took up a post as disc jockey at station WLAY in Muscle Shoals, before moving to WREC in Memphis as an announcer four years later.
In 1950 he opened Sam's Memphis Recording Studio at 706 Union Avenue and although initial work largely consisted of chronicling weddings and social gatherings, Phillips' main ambition was to record local blues acts and license the resultant masters. Howlin' Wolf, Bobby Bland, Ike Turner, B.
B. King and Roscoe Gordon were among the many acts Phillips produced for independent outlets Chess, Duke and RPM. Their success inspired the founding of Sun Records in February 1952, a venture which flourished the following year when Rufus Thomas scored a notable R&B hit with "Bear Cat".
Success was maintained by "Little" Junior Parker and Billy "The Kid" Emerson, while Phillips looked to expand the label's horizons by recording country acts. His wish to find a white singer comfortable with R&B was answered in 1954 with the arrival of Elvis Presley.
The singer's five singles recorded with Phillips rank among pop's greatest achievements, and although criticized for allowing his protégé to sign for RCA Records, the producer used the settlement fee to further the careers of Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and, later, Jerry Lee Lewis.
Phillips' simple recording technique - single track, rhythmic string bass and judicious echo - defined classic rockabilly and for a brief period the label was in the ascendant. The style, however, proved too inflexible and by the beginning of the 60s new Memphis-based studios, Stax and Hi Records, challenged Sun's pre-eminent position.
Phillips also became increasingly distracted by other ventures, including mining concerns, radio stations and, more crucially, his share of the giant Holiday Inn hotel chain. In 1969 he sold the entire Sun empire to country entrepreneur Shelby Singleton, thus effectively ending an era.
Sam Phillips is nonetheless still revered as one of the leading catalysts in post-war American music and, if nothing else, for launching the career of Elvis Presley.
