Sam Phillips

Samuel Cornelius Phillips, the man who started Sun Records and discovered the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, died on July 30 of respiratory failure. He was 80.
Phillips’ first job in the music industry was as a radio engineer and disc jockey for stations in Decatur, Ala., and Nashville, Tenn. He settled in Memphis in 1952 and founded Sun Records. His goal was to record raw, up-and-coming blues and hillbilly singers and share their music with the world. The company’s motto was: “We Record Anything, Anywhere, Anytime.”
Two years after he launched the Sun label, Phillips gave a young singer from Tupelo, Miss., his big break. That singer, Elvis Presley, produced his first album with Sun Records, and released the singles “That’s All Right (Mama)” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky.”
Phillips sold Presley’s contract in 1955 to RCA for $35,000, and focused his attention on producing other artists, including Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Conway Twitty. That same year, the Carl Perkins’ song, “Blue Suede Shoes,” became Sun’s first certified million-seller.
In 1969, Phillips sold Sun Records to Shelby Singleton and returned to the business of running radio stations in Memphis and Alabama. In his later years, Phillips was inducted into the Rock and Roll and Country Music Halls of Fame.
• Listen to an NPR Interview With Phillips