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Sam Phillips
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Sam Phillips was an American record producer from Memphis, Tennessee. In his Memphis Recording Service he recorded Black blues and rhythm and blues musicians in the early 1950s and founded the label Sun Records. His studio was open to musicians who could not get a foothold with the major labels.
Music and breakthrough
Phillips's name is above all linked to Elvis Presley, who made his first records with him at Sun in 1954. After that Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison also came to Sun. Orbison signed in 1956, at the urging of Johnny Cash, when Presley left Sun and Phillips was looking for a replacement. Phillips was known for his raw, direct recording sound, with plenty of echo and little polish, and for his ability to let musicians be themselves.
Influence
In a small studio in Memphis Phillips laid the foundation for rock 'n' roll and rockabilly. In School of Rock he appears as the man at whose studio a song was recorded a few years before he would discover Elvis. He is not the same person as the singer of the same name from California.
Listening
Discography
Studio albums
- 1983Beyond Saturday Night
- 1984Dancing With Danger
- 1985Black and White in a Grey World
- 1987The Turning
- 1988The Indescribable Wow
- 1991Cruel Inventions
- 1994Martinis & Bikinis
- 1996Omnipop (It’s Only a Flesh Wound Lambchop)
- 2001Fan Dance
- 2004A Boot and a Shoe
- 2008Don't Do Anything
- 2011Cameras in the Sky
- 2011Solid State
- 2013Push Any Button
- 2018World on Sticks
- 2019Cold Dark Nights
- 2026Gilmore Girls - Soundtrack from the Original Series (soundtrack)
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 1: The Origins of Pop MusicNL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- Slapback echo Technology
In his small Sun studio in Memphis, Sam Phillips used two tape recorders to make a short echo: the sound was recorded and played back once more a fraction of a second later.