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Sam Phillips (far right) at the console in Sun Studios with (left to right) Elvis Presley, Bill Black and Scotty Moore.
The late Samuel Cornelius Phillips is arguably the one of the most important record producers, period. Don't believe me? Well, from his modest Memphis recording studio, The Memphis Recording Service (also the site of his own record label, Sun Records), he started the careers of many of the Artists that would change the musical landscape, starting in the mid-fifties:
- Elvis Presley
- Johnny Cash
- Jerry Lee Lewis
- BB King
- Carl Perkins
- Roy Orbison
- Howlin' Wolf
...And a shit-ton of others. His was the studio that recorded "Rocket 88," often considered the first Rock and Roll song ever, by a band led by a man now best known for kicking the shit out of Tina Turner.
Phillips has been portrayed often in media, particularly in Biopics such as Walk the Line.