Sam Phillips Research Paper

I chose Sam Phillips for my producer because I love the blues and “rock and roll” and he played and important role in this area of the music industry. Sam Phillips inspires me to be more creative and to think outside the box when creating music. I think that's what music is all about. Sam not only broke down racial barriers in the music industry but really tested the limits of blues and helped and influenced the creation of “rock and roll”. He was a talent scout during the early stage of his career and I think talent scouts care more about music than even some musicians. Sam Phillips grew up on a farm and picked cotton with his family and experienced a lot of singing on the fields, which obviously left a huge impression on him as a younger kid. He was mainly a Musician, Record Label Owner, Producer, and a Talent Scout. Before moving his way into the music industry, his father died young forcing him to drop out of high school and to work at a grocery store and then at a funeral parlor. Soon after those jobs Sam started working as an announcer and a sound engineer for WLAY and WREC radio stations. Then in 1950 Sam opened the Memphis Recording Service, which was initially just to let amateurs perform and drew in many other performers such as B.B King and Howlin' Wolf. The Memphis Recording service also served as
Phillips ended up producing, what is known today as, the first rock and roll song ever, Rocket 88. Jackie played the saxophone and was recorded with Ike Turner's Band. The local success of this band prompted B.B. King, artist signed to Sam's label Sun's Studio, to recommend them to Phillips who later produced several of their songs. After Sam passed this project on to Chess Records he then used this song's success to start Sun Records the next year. Without Sam's ability to mix and combine genres and to properly guide the artist to play something new but sounds good may have never invented “rock and