Explores the factors — musical and cultural — that led to the birth of American rock 'n' roll music in the early 1950s. Covers in detail the genres, styles and people that converged to create this new music.
Memphis: Part 1
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Music's Big Bang: The Genesis of Rock 'n' Roll
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A tale of three cities: Memphis
The delivery room of rock 'n' roll
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Professor David CarlsonExecutive Director of the Center for Media Innovation + Research and Cox/Palm Beach Post Professor of New Media Journalism
College of Journalism & Communication: Center for Media Innovation
[MUSIC]
Welcome back as we visit the final destination in our tale of three cities.
Today, it's Memphis, Tennessee, and
really one Memphis artist stands out above the rest.
I'm guessing you know who I mean, but first things first.
The city of Memphis, the city of night music, the city of the blues,
the city of rock and roll, the city of great barbecue and fried chicken.
[MUSIC]
We'll begin this week with a question for you.
By the way, I want to state first that wonderful song was written and
performed by Dan Penn, who we'll meet a little later, probably next week.
Anyway, I wanna begin this week with a question for you.
Who made the first true Rock 'n' Roll record?
Now, the keyword in that question is made.
It's frankly a matter of opinion.
It's been debated long and hard by scholars in several books and
on several multi-disk CD releases.
But in our class, the answer is not Robert Johnson.
It's not Elvis Presley.
It's not Chuck Berry.
It's this guy, Sam Phillips.
Why?
Because it's not just a singer or a musician who makes a record.
It takes more than musicians to make records, rock and roll or otherwise.
What about producers who oversee and
take charge of recording sessions on top of having to find good talent?
In that regard, Sam Phillips is the man.
He played a role as important as anyone's in the popularity of rock and
roll in the early 1950s.
He was part of the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for
his pioneering contribution to the genre.
Phillips was a producer, a label owner, and a talent scout throughout the 1950s.
He is most notably credited with the discovery of Elvis Presley and
many other significant rock and roll stars of the period, as we shall see.
Phillips opened the Memphis Recording Service
at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee.
This place would eventually be known as Sun Studio.
And we call this place the delivery room of rock and roll because some
of the most essential rock and roll records were recorded at this studio.
It is registered as a US National Historic Landmark, and it's a tourist
destination in Memphis along with Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley.
Now, it was not just Sam Phillips.
Another person also made history at this delivery room of rock and roll.
Her name was Marion Keisker.
She was the assistant to Sam Phillips at the studio.
She was actually most responsible for discovering Elvis Presley and
was the first person to record him.
Phillips worked for four years as an announcer and
sound engineer before launching the Memphis Recording Service in 1950,
and then, his own label, Sun Records in 1952.
Sam Phillips had an incredible ear for talent.
So these records, and I wanna make this clear,
the records were recorded at the Memphis Recording Service.
But they were released by other labels because the Sun label was not
founded until 1952.
So basically, Sam would make a record, release it to another label.
That label would distribute it, and Sam would get some of the money.
Now, here's another name you might want to remember,
because many people consider Ike Turner's meeting
with Sam Phillips the most important moment in rock and roll history.
But here's a fact that may confuse you.
Although the song they recorded was put together by Ike Turner,
he being the leader of the band called the Kings of Rhythm,
it was released under the name of Jackie Brenston.
That was sort of a marketing scheme to put the singer's name on the front
of the record.
Jackie Brenston,
saxophone player for
the Kings of Rhythm sings on this track.
[MUSIC]
Well, if you notice that that record has sort of a distorted sound,
you have a good ear.
The legend of how that sound came about goes like this.
The speaker the band had was damaged on the way to Memphis.
Ike Turner was heartbroken and thought the session would have to be canceled.
But Sam Phillips, being an adventurous guy,
said, hey, plug it in, let's hear what it sounds like.
And the damaged speaker created that distorted sound.
Phillips loved it, and the product became this, the song.
It's a perfect candidate for the first rock and roll song cuz it's about cars,
booze, and women.
The rest is history.
It was recorded at the Memphis Recording Service,
passed on to Chess Records in Chicago, and released on Chess.
It became a huge hit for Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, really for Ike Turner,
even though his name wasn't on the record.
B.B. King also was first recorded by Sam Phillips.
Had it not been for some of his early hits recorded at the Memphis Recording Service,
B.B. King might not be the legend he is today.
His breakthrough hit came in 1951, recorded by Sam Phillips,
and released by RPM Records in Los Angeles.
It's called Three O'Clock Blues.
[MUSIC]
Keep in mind that this is a time period in which it was not easy for
black artists to be recorded at all, to find someone to record them.
So the word began to spread wildly and fast about Sam Phillips in Memphis.
So lots of people started coming by Sam's place.
Howlin' Wolf, before moving to Chicago, recorded this song at the Memphis studio.
Moanin' at Midnight is his first record, recorded by Sam Phillips, and
passed onto Chess Records in Chicago.
[MUSIC]
These hits were a pretty good success for a young entrepreneur.
So the big question to Sam Phillips was by then, why don't I start a record
company instead of passing these recordings on to other labels?
But it was a big risk.
He had already tried out a company named Phillips Records on a small scale
before opening the Memphis Recording Service.
But now, something was different.
Some things had changed.
He had learned how to find talent.
And in some cases, talent was finding him.
So he gave it another shot, and the year was 1952.
He would name his record company Sun,
because he said it meant a new day, a new opportunity.
So Memphis Recording Service became known as Sun Studio.
And it became the little label that changed history.
Sun and Chess were the twin towers of independent labels back in the 1950s.
I know it sounds kind of strange when I call these indie labels.
But while there were a few artists who were signed to big labels
from the very beginning, many, in fact most, started out as independent artists.
Elvis was an indie artist, as we will see.
Now, the first several signings of Sun Records were not bad, not bad at all.
Rufus Thomas, who was a Memphis-area guy, had this hit.
And by the way, this is not an answer to the Elvis Presley version.
The original Hound Dog was done by Big Mama Thornton in 1952,
and then by Elvis in 1956.
We'll hear both of those shortly.
This one was called Bear Cat, 1953.
>> You know what you said about me don't you woman?
[MUSIC]
>> Well, even a male quartet, the Prisonaires,
was signed to Sun Records in the initial stage, and yes, they were prisoners.
They were inmates at a Tennessee prison.
[MUSIC]
The label would later sign some legendary names in rock and roll.
In fact, Sam Phillips signed a who's who of rock and roll.
Look at these names, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison.
Man, that's awesome.
But the biggest signee of the label was none other than the King of Rock 'n' Roll.
When we come back, Elvis Presley, the King of Rock 'n' Roll.
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