1. Burn Brightly and Fade Fast: The Story of Sun Records
- Author:
- KC Harris and Christopher McKenna
- Publication Date:
- 04-2021
- Content Type:
- Case Study
- Institution:
- Oxford Centre for Global History
- Abstract:
- Rock ‘n’ roll owes its origins to a one-room converted auto repair shop in Memphis, Tennessee and a man named Sam Phillips. As a talent scout, producer, and record-label operator, Sam Phillips defined the genre of rock ‘n’ roll and, consequently, the evolution of popular music in the 20th century through his label Sun Records.1 From his tiny recording studio in Memphis, Phillips discovered Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, B.B. King, and many more famous performers. Situated at a geographic and cultural crossroads in Memphis, between Nashville, the home of country music, and Chicago, the capital of the Blues, Sun Records codified the new sound of rock ‘n’ roll, which bridged racial, economic, and generational divides in the 1950s and 60s.
- Topic:
- History, Capitalism, and Music
- Political Geography:
- United States