Beginnings and Phillips Records
In January 1950, WREC radio engineer Sam Phillips opened the Memphis Recording Service at 706 Union Avenue with his assistant and long time friend, Marion Keisker. Phillips had dreamed of opening his own recording studio since he was a young man, and now that it was a reality he was overjoyed. However, getting the company off the ground was not an easy task. To make money in the beginning, Phillips would record conventions, weddings, choirs, and even funerals. He also held an open door policy, allowing anybody to walk in and, for a small fee, record their own record. Phillips' slogan for his studio was "We Record Anything, Anywhere, Anytime". In June, Phillips and a friend, local DJ Dewey Phillips who was no relation, set up their own record label called Phillips Records. The purpose of the label was to record "negro artists of the south" who wanted to make a recording but had no place to do it. The label failed to make an impact and folded after just one release; "Boogie in the Park" by Joe Hill Louis, which sold less than 400 copies.
After the failure of Phillips Records, Phillips began working closely with other record labels such as Chess Records and Modern Records, providing demo recordings for them and recording master tapes for their artists. It was during this time that Phillips recorded what many consider to be the first rock and roll song, Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88". Some biographers have suggested that it was Phillips' inventive creativeness that led to the songs unique sound, but others put it down to the fact that the amplifier used on the record was broken, leading to a "fuzzy" sound.
Read more about this topic: Sun Studio
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