The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Alphabet continues today with a look at one. When we say one, we could mean a ‘one of a kind’ or ‘one in a million.’ If you were to talk about legendary Sun Records founder and Elvis manager Sam Phillips, you would be right on both counts. Sam is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the ‘Non Performer’ category and was inducted in 1986.
Samuel Cornelius Phillips was born Jan. 5, 1923 in Florence, Alabama. Sam’s father died in 1941, forcing Sam to drop out of high school to support his family. Sam worked in Memphis radio in the early days, eventually leasing an old upholstery building to open up a new business, designed to be a recording studio called Memphis Recording Service. Sam’s early success came at recording funerals and weddings, but he always wanted to record singers and bands.
Sam Phillips will be forever known as Elvis Presley’s manager, but was solely responsible for the careers of Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins as the Sun Records CEO. Over 225 singles were released on the Sun Label over 60 years of business.
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