The World's Best Labels and Studios

Part Two of this article concentrates firstly on Elvis Aaron Presley and the impact of his arrival at Sun Studios. We’ll deal with his biography in a separate article. We’ve already discussed how he wandered into the studio one day with a plan to record a tune for his mother and, after some frustrating starts, finally got a recording of a different song played on a local radio station.

Elvis’ black sounding voice was just what Sam Phillips, the owner, had been looking for and

Colonel Parker & Elvis

soon radio stations all over the Southern United States were asking to play his records. Phillips soon realised that a small studio/label like Sun did not have the experience or manpower to deal with what was turning into a music phenomenon. He turned to Colonel Tom Parker, a manager of some experience who persuaded Phillips that Elvis needed to join a bigger label. Although Phillips was not enthusiastic about the idea, and apparently Elvis was not either, the contract was eventually sold for the incredible amount of $40,000 in 1955 to RCA Victor.

Phillips claimed he put this price tag on the contract to discourage potential buyers but Jack Clement, a sound engineer at Sun says that Phillips was in serious debt and needed the money to pay these off. Nevertheless he also invested in other Sun artists including Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Some continued success in the following years meant a move to bigger premises at 639 Madison Avenue but as Phillips gradually became interested in radio broadcasting the studio and label business was left to decline and in 1968 it released it’s final single. The following year Shelby Singleton of Mercury Records bought the label and incorporated it into a new company, Sun International,which concentrated on re-releasing original Sun recordings. He moved this company to Nashville.

For enthusiasts though, the story didn’t end there – in 1987 the original building was reopened as a recording studio and tourist attraction for Elvis fans. It also recorded albums for, among others, U2 and Paul McCartney. It’s also now recognised as a National Historic Landmark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa0WNP3Zwwo

U2 at Sun Studios

One can only write about so many recording studios before alighting on one of the most influential in the United States.  Sun Studios, located in Memphis, Tennessee provided the backdrop for some of the most famous artists ever to record popular music as we shall see.

Sun Studios was started by recording engineer Sam Phillips at 705 Union Avenue, Memphis in 1952.  Phillips had already had one failed attempt at a recording studio and record label, Phillips Records, but this setback did not deter him from trying again.  He was involved in the recording of what many credit as the first genuine rock & roll single, Jackie Brenston’s Rocket 88.  His day job as a sound engineer had given him many contacts in the recording business and some of the first artists to record at Sun Studios were such lumineries as B.B. King and Howlin’ Wolf.

Sam Phillips struggled financially during the early days of Sun Studios and the accompanying record label.  Artists were paid royalties less than than the industry standard and Phillips spent much of his time driving around the country persuading radio stations to showcase Sun Studios recordings.  Fear of another failure led to Phillips to alcoholism and he was briefly locked in a mental institution and, according to some, given electric shock therapy.

The studio’s luck began to change in August 1954 when Elvis Aaron Presley walked off the

Elvis (seated) at Sun Studios

street into the building to record his own single.  Phillips and his receptionist Marion Keisker realised that Presley had a unique quality about his voice.  The studio had previously concentrated on black musicians but here was a young white man who had a black sounding singing voice.  We’ll look at Elvis in detail in another article but after some tweaking with his style they finally released “That’s All Right” as his first single and it was played on a local radio show where it was enthusiastically received by the audience.

Part Two follows……