Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00:00 Just a little talk with Jesus. Remember that?
00:00:02 I once was lost in sin, but Jesus took me in. Then a little light from heaven filled my soul. He made my heart in love, and wrote my name above.
00:00:22 Well, just a little talk with my Jesus gonna make it right. Let's have a little talk with Jesus. Tell him all about our troubled lives. You'll hear our famous cry, and he will answer.
00:00:38 Well, when you feel a little fire will burn, and you know a little fire's burnin', you will find a little talk with Jesus makes it right.
00:00:48 You may have doubts and fears, your eyes be filled with tears. Oh, now my Jesus is a friend who watches day and night.
00:01:10 Well, he wrote my name above, and he made my heart in love. Well, just a little talk with my Jesus gonna make it right.
00:01:30 I'll be getting started right over there in that section of the gallery, and I only need about a foot of space along the glass up here, so I can move along these booths to tell you about the Birth of Suck Records.
00:01:42 And I will give all of you plenty of time to look around upstairs before we head down into the studio.
00:01:48 So, at that point in time, I was working as a broadcast engineer for WREC, broadcasting out at the Peabody Hotel.
00:01:56 However, there was a problem with this job for Sam, because WREC was an easy listening station, and Sam Phillips hated pop music.
00:02:07 He thought that it was boring and unoriginal. What Sam loved was the blues that he heard coming off of Beale Street.
00:02:14 So in 1950, he took a lease out on a unit right next door and opened the Memphis Recording Service. And those are all my special effects.
00:02:25 I hope you enjoy them.
00:02:27 Now Sam, he begins recording anything, anywhere, anytime using this Bell Recordophone that we have indicated right here.
00:02:35 He's recording things like weddings, proms, beauty pageants, funerals, literally anything to make a buck.
00:02:42 This portable device is just a stepping stone until Sam is able to upgrade to two single-track Ampex tape machines and an RCA record player.
00:02:51 With bigger and better equipment, Sam is able to begin recording bigger and better things.
00:02:57 People like Riley B. King, who you would probably know better as BB King, or Sam's own personal favorite artist, Howlin' Wolf,
00:03:06 who Sam would actually say that the day that he died was his greatest discovery here.
00:03:12 Sam also often would say that Howlin' Wolf had this voice that could reach right down into the center of a person's soul and send shivers down their spine.
00:03:22 This is Howlin' Wolf with his song, "How Many More Years."
00:03:25 [music]
00:03:31 How many more years do I got to let your dog be around?
00:03:41 How many more years do I got to let your dog be around?
00:03:50 I'd sooner rather be dead than sleeping six feet in the ground.
00:03:58 [music]
00:04:09 Now around the same time that Howlin' Wolf shows up here, a band from Clarksdale, Mississippi, finds out about the Memphis recording service from BB King.
00:04:18 This band's name was Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, and it actually included young Ike Turner on the piano.
00:04:26 One of the songs that Ike and Jackie would record together here is notable, because many rock and roll historians consider it to be the very first rock and roll song ever recorded.
00:04:36 It's called "Rocket 88."
00:04:38 A big reason that this is considered to be the first rock and roll song is actually because of an accident that happened as the band was unloading their gear to come into the studio and record that night.
00:04:50 It had been raining all day as they were traveling up from Clarksdale, and when they got to the studio, they were taking their guitar amplifier out of the trunk when they slipped, dropping the only guitar amp on the premises and damaging the speaker cone.
00:05:04 After a bit of brainstorming, Sam has this idea to run next door to where the cafe is now.
00:05:10 Right below us, there used to be a restaurant called Taylor's.
00:05:14 He gets some sandwich paper from Taylor's, and then they take this sandwich paper, they ball it up, and they shove it around the speaker cone to keep the health in place.
00:05:23 When they turn the amplifier on, the sound that they're getting from the guitar is immediately fuzzy and distorted.
00:05:30 Sam would later say that he loved the way this made the guitar sound, comparing it to the sound of a saxophone.
00:05:37 That's important because it makes Rocket 88 one of the very first songs to feature distorted electric guitar.
00:05:44 Guitar distortion, of course, would go on to become a mainstay and staple of modern rock and roll music.
00:05:50 Here's Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, and the person you're hearing at the piano is Ike Turner.
00:05:57 [Music]
00:06:16 You women have heard of jalopies, you've heard the noise they make, but let me run a loose, my name's Rocket 88.
00:06:23 Yes, it's straight, just one way, everybody likes my Rocket 88, big old riding style, rollin' all along.
00:06:33 [Music]
00:06:41 [Music]
00:07:01 [Music]
00:07:29 Alright everybody, what you were listening to, that was Blue Suede Shoes, that was Carl Perkins, that's Carl right there, up there, looking down.
00:07:36 He wrote that song, he was one of the rare singer-songwriters, I guess, back in that day.
00:07:42 A lot of people just recorded everyone else's music.
00:07:44 Elvis never wrote a song, which is a little interesting bit of trivia, but he did cover Blue Suede Shoes, which a lot of people think that's an Elvis song.
00:07:52 So that next summer in 1954, another artist, who was already signed to Sun, this guy's name's Scotty Moore.
00:07:58 He was up here discussing his band, his current band with Sam Phillips.
00:08:02 His band was Doug Poindexter and the Starlight Wranglers, which is a really cool name.
00:08:07 Wrangled the stars.
00:08:08 But it's like six guys, six guys on stage, that's a lot of guys.
00:08:11 So Scotty was up here with Sam, they're talking about maybe him doing something else.
00:08:15 And Marian, who is listening to this conversation, she sticks her head in the room and tells them to call that Elvis Presley kid who keeps coming in and wanting some work.
00:08:23 So Scotty does, why not?
00:08:25 He gets his phone number, he calls up Elvis's house, he ends up talking to his mom, and later on, him and Elvis jam out at home.
00:08:32 Scotty likes him, he's not sure how well he likes him because Elvis is really nervous.
00:08:36 But he decides that the kid is worth giving a real chance, a real session.
00:08:40 And they schedule for July 5th of 1954 in this room there in the picture along with Bill Black over that window.
00:08:48 That's Elvis's first real band.
00:08:50 Scotty Moore is on the left up there.
00:08:52 He's my all-time favorite guitarist.
00:08:54 He's a huge influence to the Rolling Stones.
00:08:56 So he's still important in modern music, all of this is.
00:08:59 Scotty just turned 81 about three or four weeks ago.
00:09:03 So he's still rocking.
00:09:04 He would have been standing on that X on the ground.
00:09:07 This is his spot.
00:09:08 Sam Phillips pointed this out to us.
00:09:10 So Scotty Moore is right there playing the guitar.
00:09:12 Bill Black, he's on the stand-up bass in the background up there.
00:09:15 You can't really see him that well, but he was the funny one on stage.
00:09:19 He's the one that made people laugh in the audience by spinning the bass around, which he did here.
00:09:23 And he carved a hole out into the floor.
00:09:25 That's where he stayed.
00:09:27 So that's Scotty, that's Bill, and this is Elvis right here.
00:09:30 As you can hear, he kept his back to the window because Sam made him too nervous.
00:09:34 When he looked at him, he saw him scowling over his shoulder.
00:09:37 And that first time that they're up here, he was very nervous, definitely.
00:09:41 This is what he's been waiting for for a full year to happen.
00:09:44 And so when he finally gets up, he is just so stiff that he can't give Sam what he wants.
00:09:49 And what Sam wants is for Elvis to just cut loose.
00:09:52 But he can't.
00:09:53 So Sam, who's in the back, he's getting very, very frustrated with this session as the hours progress.
00:09:58 Towards the end of it, he hasn't gotten anything good.
00:10:00 He's about to send them home, and he just walks outside.
00:10:02 He tells them to take a break and just chill out in here.
00:10:05 And it's actually a good thing because when he walks away, they don't stop playing their music.
00:10:10 Scotty and Bill, they keep doing the country music that they enjoy and are comfortable with.
00:10:14 But Elvis breaks off. He starts doing blues songs.
00:10:17 That's what he plays in the neighborhood with his friends.
00:10:19 But they blend it together.
00:10:21 And when Sam comes back in here, they're covering a blues song by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup.
00:10:26 It's called "That's All Right."
00:10:28 Sam likes it. So he records it.
00:10:30 He sends it over to this guy right here.
00:10:32 It's Dewey Phillips. He is not related to Sam, but they were really good friends.
00:10:36 Dewey was a radio DJ.
00:10:38 At that point in time, he had the hottest show in the South.
00:10:41 It was on WHBQ. It was downtown in the Hotel Shiska.
00:10:45 And it was called "Red, Hot, and Blue."
00:10:47 This was a wild radio show.
00:10:48 All the kids in town loved him.
00:10:50 And he debuted Sam's music often to see what the audience thought.
00:10:54 Another guy that started in this room is Johnny Cash, the man in black.
00:10:58 Are you guys Cash fans?
00:10:59 Yep.
00:11:00 Okay, good.
00:11:01 John was actually the most consistent hit maker for Sun Records.
00:11:05 He did "Boston Prison Blues" here, "Hey Porter" here, "Cry, Cry, Cry," and "I Walk the Line."
00:11:12 [music]
00:11:40 Thank you.
00:11:41 Rock and roll.
00:11:42 That's all I do on the guitar.
00:11:44 Okay.
00:11:45 Let's move on to the Million Dollar Quartet.
00:11:48 Do you guys know this picture?
00:11:50 It's a big Broadway right now, which I haven't seen, so you're off the hook.
00:11:53 But it was December 4th of 1956 in this room.
00:11:57 And it's probably the most interesting recording session that ever took place in the world,
00:12:01 but definitely right here.
00:12:03 It started out with Carl Perkins.
00:12:04 He's in the middle with the guitar, the police raid shoes.
00:12:07 He was up here recording "Matchbox," and Jerry Lee Lewis, who's on the left behind him,
00:12:13 he wasn't famous.
00:12:14 He was a session piano player here at Sun that time.
00:12:17 He had only re-released his first record about three days before.
00:12:21 It was called "Crazy Arms."
00:12:22 So he's up here with Carl.
00:12:24 And Elvis has already been with RCA for about a year at this time.
00:12:28 He's already gotten that first movie under his belt, so at this point he's really big.
00:12:32 And he should not be anywhere near Sun Records.
00:12:35 So he walks in the front door, and Sam Susan, he gets on the phone with the newspapers.
00:12:39 He calls them down here to get some pictures.
00:12:41 That's the Memphis Press Center.
00:12:42 Gets them down here.
00:12:43 He calls in Johnny Cash because it takes a better picture like that.
00:12:47 The newspapers get their story, and they leave.
00:12:50 These guys end up hanging around for a little bit.
00:12:52 And of course, they end up playing some music, but they break out into a full-fledged jam session.
00:12:57 And it turns out it's the only time in history that they ever play together.
00:13:02 And Sam recorded the entire thing in secret.
00:13:05 It was really good.
00:13:06 He didn't tell them that they were being recorded because he didn't want to get sued by RCA.
00:13:11 And the entire session in whole wasn't released until, I think, 2003 on RCA's label.
00:13:17 So it's still pretty recently just put out there.
00:13:19 I'm going to play you guys a little bit of it.
00:13:21 And because they don't know they're being recorded, they're goofing off a little bit.
00:13:25 Elvis is going to prove this to you.
00:13:26 He's actually on this song, "Don't Be Cruel."
00:13:29 He was impersonating an artist who was covering his song.
00:13:32 He thought that this other guy sounded better than him.
00:13:35 See if you can figure out who he's talking about.
00:13:37 It's in this room, December 4th of 1956.
00:13:40 [music]
00:13:42 This guy in Los Angeles, Billy Ward and his dominoes.
00:13:48 There's a guy out there who was going to take over the band, "Don't Be Cruel."
00:13:52 Much better than that record of mine.
00:13:54 Oh, no, wait, wait, wait now.
00:13:56 It's this way. He was real slender.
00:13:58 He was talking about Jackie Wilson.
00:14:00 He got up there and he said--he had a little snow with me.
00:14:04 He started off. He said--
00:14:08 What kind of key did I do it in?
00:14:10 What key did I do "Don't Be Cruel" in?
00:14:12 A, B.
00:14:13 He said, "Hey, you know I can be found"--wait a second--
00:14:18 "Staying home all day long."
00:14:22 "You can't come around to me, so have these things."
00:14:27 "I can't afford to be alone."
00:14:30 [music]
00:14:34 All right.
00:14:35 That's Elvis trying to sound like a guy trying to sound like Elvis.
00:14:38 And that is not him playing the piano.
00:14:40 That is Jerry Lee Lewis.
00:14:43 Jerry Lee is the only one from that picture still alive.
00:14:46 And he's very much still living.
00:14:48 He's still a rock star to this day.
00:14:50 Still playing shows. Still getting married.
00:14:53 14-year-old.
00:14:55 And my sister-in-law just recently.
00:14:57 But he had the two biggest hit records in history.
00:15:00 Four Sun records. He recorded them right in this room.
00:15:03 Number two recorded in a single take.
00:15:06 That's a whole lot of shaking going on.
00:15:08 My all-time favorite Sun song.
00:15:10 And his number one hit record ever for the label is "Great Balls of Fire."
00:15:14 [music]
00:15:15 You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain.
00:15:17 You bite your love, drive my man insane.
00:15:20 You broke my will, but what a thrill.
00:15:23 You're the nest of greats, just great balls of fire.
00:15:26 All that you love, all that you want is what's mine.
00:15:29 You came along and you killed my heart.
00:15:32 I changed my mind, it's worth the fight.
00:15:35 [music]
00:15:37 You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain.
00:15:40 You bite your love, drive my man insane.
00:15:43 You broke my will, but what a thrill.
00:15:46 You're the nest of greats, just great balls of fire.
00:15:49 All that you love, all that you want is what's mine.
00:15:52 You came along and you killed my heart.
00:15:55 I changed my mind, it's worth the fight.
00:15:58 You're the nest of greats, just great balls of fire.
00:16:01 Kisses and pain.
00:16:03 [music]
00:16:05 It was good.
00:16:07 Oh, baby.
00:16:09 Well, I'm off to love you like a lover should.
00:16:13 Are you all right?
00:16:16 So kind.
00:16:17 I could tell this world that you're mine, mine, mine, mine.
00:16:20 I'd choose my nails and I'd put all my fun.
00:16:23 I'd be all over the place, oh, it's fun.
00:16:26 Come on, baby.
00:16:27 It doesn't make sense.
00:16:29 In this group, it's just great balls of fire.
00:16:32 [music]
00:16:35 [music]
00:16:37 Oh, yeah.
00:16:56 Kisses and pain.
00:16:58 Ooh.
00:17:00 It was good.
00:17:02 Oh, baby.
00:17:04 Well, I'm off to love you like a lover should.
00:17:08 Are you all right?
00:17:10 So kind.
00:17:11 I could tell this world that you're mine, mine, mine, mine.
00:17:14 I'd choose my nails and I'd put all my fun.
00:17:17 I'd be all over the place, oh, it's fun.
00:17:20 Come on, baby.
00:17:22 It doesn't make sense.
00:17:23 In this group, it's just great balls of fire.
00:17:26 [music]
00:17:28 [laughter]
00:17:30 Yeah, big scenes.
00:17:32 So he sold a lot of records.
00:17:33 He started up a lot of drama, but he also sold a lot of records,
00:17:37 and so did everybody else that we talked about and didn't get to talk about
00:17:40 in a good 40-minute tour.
00:17:42 By the end of the 1950s, Sam had outgrown the place, very small here.
00:17:47 So he moved out after that 10-year lease was up
00:17:50 and went down to Madison Avenue about two blocks from here.
00:17:53 He opened the Sam Phillips Recording Service in a three-story building
00:17:56 that's still here today.
00:17:58 But when he left this building and he took a lot of his stuff with him,
00:18:01 it kind of had a different outcome right here.
00:18:03 This place was empty.
00:18:04 It remained vacant here for almost the entire next 25 years until 1985
00:18:10 and the Class of '55 reunion album.
00:18:13 It's right there behind you guys.
00:18:14 This was just some of the original cast from those 10 years.
00:18:16 Wanted to get back together up here and make some music.
00:18:18 It's Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison next to him, Carl's on the guitar, Jerry Lee.
00:18:23 He's got a cigar stuck in his mouth; he's at the piano.
00:18:26 And standing, that's our producer, Chips Moen.
00:18:29 The album also had June Carter Cash on it.
00:18:32 It had the Judds. It had John Fogerty and some other really good ones.
00:18:35 And it won them a Grammy.
00:18:37 It was this big, explosive rock & roll '80s album.
00:18:39 So we wrote that out, "The Perfect Storm."
00:18:41 We reopened here permanently about two years later.
00:18:44 And since then we've been doing this and we've been doing those recording sessions.
00:18:47 We've been made a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
00:18:50 So they can't tear down the building.
00:18:51 They've lost that window of opportunity.
00:18:53 So we're here to stay. It's pretty awesome.
00:18:56 And we record anybody. I don't know if I said that already.
00:18:59 But we still record a lot of famous artists as well.
00:19:02 I'm sorry?
00:19:03 Oh, no. Unfortunately.
00:19:06 The custom sessions we still do, but it's now period.
00:19:09 And it's $30.
00:19:11 But we do still record. It's 150 an hour for the professional time.
00:19:14 We've had recently in the past six months, we had the Flaming Lips up here.
00:19:19 We've had Lisa Marie Presley in the past year or so.
00:19:22 Chris Isaac, John Mellencamp.
00:19:24 We've also had Chris Potter and Bonnie Raine.
00:19:27 We've had Ringo Starr.
00:19:28 We've had Beck and Tom Petty and U2.
00:19:32 They actually left their drum kit back there.
00:19:34 So that's now our session kit today, which is pretty awesome.
00:19:37 But the reason that we still have these big bands here,
00:19:40 and they can play anywhere they want to in the world,
00:19:42 is that this is still very much Sam's room.
00:19:45 The floors are original.
00:19:46 Like I said, the acoustic shape of the ceiling, the baffling.
00:19:49 That was Marianne Kysker's idea for the room.
00:19:52 She wrote about that in the magazine.
00:19:53 So there you go.
00:19:54 The light fixtures, these are original.
00:19:56 The tiling on the walls, old stuff.
00:19:58 It's in the Million Dollar Quartet photograph,
00:20:00 and it's the original stuff Sam put on the walls.
00:20:03 So this is still his face.
00:20:04 It's still his signature sound in this room that he created.
00:20:08 This is what brings people back to us even now.
00:20:11 So do you have new technology behind the bar?
00:20:13 We do.
00:20:14 We have new technology, but we can still do it on the old tapes
00:20:19 and analog equipment, which is pretty amazing to me.
00:20:23 Yeah, it's hard to do.
00:20:24 There's almost no place to do that nowadays.
00:20:26 It's just cool.
00:20:27 So we're about to date, and I'm going to stop talking.
00:20:30 I'm going to leave you guys in here to take some pictures
00:20:32 and sort of stack up the vibes a little bit.
00:20:34 Why is there a rose on top of that picture?
00:20:36 That is a tourist rose.
00:20:39 That's a very good question.
00:20:40 We get that a lot.
00:20:41 I don't know why that rose is there.
00:20:42 Okay.
00:20:43 Somebody just put that there, and we like it because we can say,
00:20:46 "The man underneath that red rose, Mr. Johnny Cash."
00:20:49 Okay.
00:20:50 That's nice.
00:20:51 But yeah, that's it.
00:20:52 If you all have any more questions, I'm going to be out front in Marian's office.
00:20:54 I do want to show you one more thing.
00:20:56 I'm sorry.
00:20:57 This is original.
00:20:59 It's the only original piece in here.
00:21:00 We encourage you guys to interact with it,
00:21:02 and it's the microphone that Elvis Presley used, that Johnny Cash used,
00:21:08 pretty much everybody that we've been talking about
00:21:10 because it's the vocal mic that Sam set aside for that purpose
00:21:13 during those ten years here.
00:21:14 It's a Shure 55A.
00:21:17 The screws have stripped it out, so it falls over to the side,
00:21:19 but you all can hang on to it, cradle it, take a picture,
00:21:22 anywhere you want in the room.
00:21:23 You can walk it across.
00:21:24 Elvis in the background, that's always a good one.
00:21:27 And that's pretty much it.
00:21:29 So he left this for you all.
00:21:31 Bono wrote us a letter.
00:21:32 He asked if he could have it.
00:21:33 Recently, this summer, we told him no.
00:21:35 It's still here.
00:21:36 Yeah, I know.
00:21:37 Pretty cool.
00:21:38 Okay.
00:21:39 I'm going to play you Bono & B.B. King's "When Love Comes to Town"
00:21:42 recorded here.
00:21:43 And that's it.
00:21:44 Thank you very much.
00:21:45 Very good.
00:21:46 Thank you.
00:21:47 [applause]
00:21:48 [music]
00:22:14 Now, Rocket 88 goes on to become a number one hit on the R&B charts in 1951.
00:22:19 It is also an incredibly huge turning point for Sam,
00:22:22 because after the success of Rocket 88,
00:22:25 he finally has the confidence to quit his job at the radio station
00:22:29 and start his very own record company,
00:22:31 a record company that he would call Sun.
00:22:34 Now, it would take Sam about a year
00:22:36 before he would have a successful hit on the Sun record label.
00:22:40 If you all want to fill in the section I've been pacing in
00:22:42 and come on down this way,
00:22:43 I'll tell you how he gets that first hit song.
00:22:46 It would come with this man in the photograph right over here,
00:22:49 Rufus Thomas.
00:22:51 The song that Sam and Rufus would record together
00:22:54 is what we would call an answer song.
00:22:56 Now, I'm not going to tell you what song this is based on,
00:22:59 because I think you will probably recognize it.
00:23:02 If you do know the music, feel free to just shout it out.
00:23:04 Otherwise, here is Rufus Thomas.
00:23:08 [Rufus Thomas singing]
00:23:12 You know what you said about me, don't you, woman?
00:23:15 Well, you ain't nothing but a bad cat.
00:23:20 It's scratching at my door.
00:23:23 You ain't nothing but a bad cat.
00:23:26 It's scratching at my door.
00:23:29 You can purr, pretty cat,
00:23:32 but I ain't going to rub you no more.
00:23:36 [Rufus Thomas singing]
00:23:39 Hound Dog.
00:23:40 Hound Dog is a song that was originally recorded
00:23:43 by an artist named Big Mama Thornton.
00:23:45 Now, when you take somebody else's music
00:23:47 and start selling it on your record label
00:23:49 without first getting the proper permission,
00:23:51 that is a great way to get sued for copyright infringement.
00:23:54 So, along with Sam's very first hit,
00:23:57 he's also smacked with his very first lawsuit.
00:24:00 And the man is not really making any money here already,
00:24:03 so Sam begins to look for anything that he can do
00:24:06 to bring attention, and hopefully some money,
00:24:09 into this place.
00:24:10 He has this idea to start offering something
00:24:13 called custom sessions,
00:24:14 where anybody could walk right through the front door
00:24:17 of the studio and for only $4,
00:24:19 cut two sides of a 78 record.
00:24:22 One of the people who would come in
00:24:24 and take advantage of these custom sessions
00:24:26 was a young man named Elvis Presley,
00:24:28 who had just graduated high school here in Memphis.
00:24:31 He was working as a machinist at the time,
00:24:34 but that's not really what Elvis wanted to be doing.
00:24:37 He wanted to be making music.
00:24:39 When he found out about these sessions,
00:24:41 he immediately began to save up his money.
00:24:43 It took Elvis about six months to save up the $4,
00:24:47 and after all that time saving,
00:24:49 he gets to the studio one afternoon on his lunch break,
00:24:52 very excited to hopefully record
00:24:54 for the first time in his life.
00:24:56 But when Elvis walks through the front door,
00:24:58 he discovers that Sam has already left for the day.
00:25:02 Sam had to leave that afternoon to go run errands
00:25:05 for the Sun Record label.
00:25:06 Luckily for Elvis, Sam's business partner,
00:25:08 Miss Marion Keisker, was here to greet him.
00:25:11 Marion was a very, very popular radio DJ here in Memphis,
00:25:15 so she already knew how to operate
00:25:18 all of the tape machines and equipment
00:25:20 that are in the control room.
00:25:22 That is important to know,
00:25:23 because when Elvis walked in that day,
00:25:25 she was the only other person in the building,
00:25:28 making Marion Keisker the very first person
00:25:31 to have ever recorded Elvis Presley.
00:25:34 And so Elvis walks into Marion's office,
00:25:37 and she asks him, "Kid, what do you sound like?"
00:25:40 And Elvis, in his now famous words, replied,
00:25:43 "Ma'am, I don't sound like nobody."
00:25:45 He walks in here with his beat-up dime store guitar
00:25:49 and records a song called "My Happiness,"
00:25:51 which is a cover of a 1948 pop hit.
00:25:55 What you are about to hear
00:25:56 is the very first recording ever of Elvis Presley.
00:26:01 Here he is.
00:26:02 ♪ Even shadows make me blue ♪
00:26:09 ♪ When each weary day is through ♪
00:26:15 ♪ How I long to be with you ♪
00:26:22 ♪ My happiness ♪
00:26:28 ♪ Every day I reminisce ♪
00:26:34 ♪ Dreaming of your tender kiss ♪
00:26:41 ♪ Always thinking how I miss ♪
00:26:47 ♪ My happiness ♪
00:26:54 Marion loved this recording so much,
00:26:56 she made two copies that day.
00:26:58 The first copy, of course, was for Elvis to take with him.
00:27:02 But that second copy was to show Sam.
00:27:05 And when Sam Phillips heard Elvis Presley
00:27:07 for the very first time in his life,
00:27:10 he was so bored and unimpressed,
00:27:12 he said that he had zero interest
00:27:15 in recording Elvis here at Sun again.
00:27:18 And not because Sam didn't think that Elvis had talent,
00:27:21 this just really couldn't be further
00:27:23 from the sort of talent Sam was scouting for.
00:27:26 He was looking for blues and rock and roll musicians
00:27:29 and just really had no interest
00:27:30 in a young man covering an old pop song.
00:27:33 Now, of course, this is not where Sam
00:27:35 and Elvis' story together ends,
00:27:37 but I do prefer to pick the rest of this up in the studio
00:27:40 where all of these things actually happened.
00:27:42 So I'm going to give you all an opportunity
00:27:44 to look around upstairs while I go prep the studio for us.
00:27:47 Particularly be sure to take a look at this DJ booth
00:27:51 right over here to my left.
00:27:53 I'll be telling you all about the importance of this booth
00:27:55 when we get on into the studio.
00:27:57 I'll be right back after I get all of you in just a few minutes.
00:27:59 Thank you, everybody.
00:28:01 [music]
00:28:30 [music]
00:28:59 [music]
00:29:28 [music]
00:29:43 [music]
00:30:03 [music]
00:30:23 [music]
00:30:43 [music]
00:30:56 All right, everybody.
00:30:57 Welcome to 706 Union Avenue.
00:30:59 We'll go ahead and pick up Sam and Elvis' story together.
00:31:03 About a year would pass
00:31:05 after Elvis made this first record with Marion.
00:31:08 And Sam, he began to have this idea
00:31:11 for a rock and roll trio that he wanted to start.
00:31:14 He already knew who he was going to use as his rhythm section.
00:31:18 It was going to be Bill Black on the upright bass
00:31:20 and Scotty Moore on the electric guitar.
00:31:22 Both Scotty and Bill have been playing together
00:31:25 for quite some time at this point.
00:31:27 But Sam had been trying and trying to figure out
00:31:31 who would make the best leader and singer for this trio.
00:31:35 He couldn't seem to think of anybody
00:31:37 until one day while standing out there in Marion's office,
00:31:40 Marion Keisker convinces Sam to give Elvis another chance
00:31:44 and allow the kid to audition for the trio.
00:31:47 So Sam agrees and he sets up an audition
00:31:50 for just a few days later in this room.
00:31:53 And when Sam would record trios in here,
00:31:55 he had a very specific placement he would often put the musicians in.
00:31:59 It's actually the same placement that I often use to this day
00:32:02 when I'm recording bands in this room.
00:32:05 He would place the upright bass player right over here on this X.
00:32:08 That's where Bill Black would have stood on the day of Elvis' audition.
00:32:11 And just over here by the piano we have another X.
00:32:14 This is where he would place Scotty Moore
00:32:16 with his electric guitar and amplifier.
00:32:18 And then Sam would place a very young and also incredibly anxious Elvis Presley
00:32:23 on the X right over here where you are, sir.
00:32:25 And he would say hello to the king of rock and roll.
00:32:29 Now the audition begins with Elvis playing one country and western song after another.
00:32:34 And he does this for quite some time.
00:32:37 Just sitting back there in the control room,
00:32:39 practically hating every single second of it.
00:32:42 He is not looking for sad ballads.
00:32:44 He doesn't particularly want country music.
00:32:46 He wants something you can move to, some rock and roll.
00:32:50 However, this time Sam must have felt like he heard at least something special in Elvis
00:32:54 because he lets him play for a very long time
00:32:58 before Sam finally gives up,
00:33:00 walks down out of the control room and out here into the studio,
00:33:03 and he politely suggests that maybe it's just time for everybody to go take a break.
00:33:09 Elvis begins to realize that he could be losing what might be his only opportunity
00:33:15 at the only thing he even wants to do with his life.
00:33:18 So he nervously begins bouncing around the room
00:33:22 playing an obscure blues song by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup called "That's Alright."
00:33:27 Scotty and Bill, they don't recognize this tune.
00:33:30 But that doesn't stop them from jumping in and playing along with Elvis.
00:33:34 And before you know it, Sam has come bursting back out through that door.
00:33:38 But this time to tell the three of them to play this song louder and faster.
00:33:43 And that is exactly what they did.
00:33:46 Within just a few takes, Sam has got Elvis Presley's recorded version of "That's Alright."
00:33:52 And he even feels like maybe he might have a hit on his hands.
00:33:56 So Sam makes a copy of this recording.
00:33:58 He takes that copy over the very same evening to this man in the photograph right over here, Dewey Phillips.
00:34:04 Now Dewey was another popular radio DJ here in Memphis.
00:34:08 His popularity came primarily from how wild and eccentric he was when he was broadcasting.
00:34:14 For example, if Dewey was playing your band's record on his show,
00:34:18 and he decided that he was bored with the song on that record,
00:34:21 then what he would often do is right in the middle of the song,
00:34:24 just take the needle and screech it across the room,
00:34:27 and then still broadcasting live, Dewey would pick your record up and just smash it against his microphone,
00:34:33 sending those broken pieces scattering to the floor of his broadcast studio,
00:34:37 which now resides in the gallery upstairs.
00:34:41 If he did like what he was listening to, then often you would hear Dewey humming or singing along,
00:34:47 or at times even just moaning on the air, completely out of key with whatever song he was playing.
00:34:53 I should probably also forewarn you that Dewey has one of the strongest southern accents I've ever heard in my life.
00:35:00 He was born and raised here in the South, and I can only understand half of the things in the mouth of that man's mouth.
00:35:05 So, best of luck to y'all.
00:35:07 But if you'd been listening to Dewey's radio show on July 8, 1954,
00:35:12 what you would have heard would have sounded something like this.
00:35:15 [music]
00:35:18 Oh, yes, I got people so full of such a ring the hottest cotton-picking thing in the country, real hot blue,
00:35:22 coming in from WHBQ in Longtown, Chisco, on the magazine floor, just right there.
00:35:27 That's right, call Sam, plenty.
00:35:29 I got to call Sam, Dewey.
00:35:30 Hi, Pete Peck.
00:35:31 Hi.
00:35:32 Hey, come on there, Ernie.
00:35:33 Good to see you, Ernie.
00:35:34 How you doing, buddy?
00:35:35 Pretty good, plenty.
00:35:36 All right, you. All right, so get your nerves in there.
00:35:38 All right.
00:35:39 Just go on down and get your wheelbarrow loaded with Mad Hogs, right up through the front door,
00:35:42 and tell 'em, "Philip," since you're from there, "Hot and Blue."
00:35:46 I got a new song we're going to play here.
00:35:48 We're going to cut loose this new song out of me, that'll flap your giddy.
00:35:52 [music]
00:36:13 What do y'all think about Dewey Phillips?
00:36:16 Quite a character, right?
00:36:17 I'm sure most of you know that that song does go on to become a hit for Elvis.
00:36:21 What you may not know is it was a hit from the very first night that Dewey played it on his radio show.
00:36:27 He got so many phone calls and requests that night from people in Memphis wanting to hear "That's Alright Again"
00:36:33 that Dewey played the song 14 times on a three-hour radio program.
00:36:39 Sam takes Elvis the very next day and signs him to a three-year recording contract here at Sun,
00:36:45 although Sam would only keep Elvis here for about 17 months before selling his contract to RCA Victor
00:36:52 for the most that any artist contract had ever been sold for, which at that point in time was just $35,000.
00:37:00 This allowed Sam to focus on bringing in new artists, new talent here to the Sun Record Company,
00:37:06 people like Carl Perkins, who wrote the very first gold record hit for Sun, a song called "Blue Suede Shoes,"
00:37:13 or Johnny Cash, who was the most consistent hit-maker here with songs like "Cry Cry Cry,"
00:37:19 "Fulsome Prison Blues," "Give Rhythm," "Hey Porter," each and every one of those songs cut right here where we're standing,
00:37:25 as well as this one, which you've probably heard at least once in your life.
00:37:31 [music]
00:37:34 You hear what sounds like a train?
00:37:37 Johnny is actually making that sound with a dollar bill woven through D-tuned strings that he's then muting.
00:37:45 [music]
00:37:48 Y'all are welcome to sing along if you're feeling it.
00:37:51 [music]
00:37:53 I keep a cool swatch on this heart of mine
00:37:57 I keep my eyes wide open all the time
00:38:02 I keep the inside for the tightest prime
00:38:06 Because you're mine, I walk the line
00:38:11 There you go. Now you can tell everybody back home, you went to Sun's studio and learned how to play the guitar just like Johnny Cash.
00:38:18 [laughter]
00:38:20 Not a word you should miss.
00:38:21 Alright, we're going to talk about this picture back here by the piano now.
00:38:24 This is one of the most--
00:38:26 [music]
00:38:49 Of course, the heavy hand on the piano that night would belong to Jerry Lee Lewis,
00:38:53 who just a few short months after that session would go on to prove himself by giving Sun its two biggest hits
00:38:59 with the songs "Great Balls of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin'" going on.
00:39:03 Jerry Lee also brings us to the end of Sun's initial era in this room.
00:39:08 The year was 1959 and Sam's 10-year lease on this unit had come up.
00:39:14 He had begun to grow out of this tiny little space,
00:39:17 and so Sam built himself a brand new state-of-the-art studio about a block away from here on Madison Avenue.
00:39:24 He left this room and it would remain a musical ghost town in here for over 25 years
00:39:31 until one day in 1987, that front door out there to the studio was reopened
00:39:36 and we began giving tours very similar to the one that we have just done today.
00:39:40 We also began recording bands again in this room.
00:39:45 We've had the privilege of hosting and recording people like Beck, Tom Petty, Paul Simon, Liz Phair, Bruno Mars,
00:39:51 Bonnie Raitt, Winona Judd. The blue drum set right there belonged to U2.
00:39:55 That's the kit they used when they were recording "Rattle and Hum" in this room.
00:39:58 And before Sam passed away, he gave us something original to the studio.
00:40:02 It is a Shure 55 vocal mic. Now, this was Sam's preferred vocal mic,
00:40:07 meaning everybody we have talked about on the tour today was saying into this microphone.
00:40:12 Sam gave this to us on one condition. He did not want us keeping it behind glass,
00:40:18 which means in just a moment I'm going to let you come up here and take your pictures with the microphone.
00:40:23 If you need any inspiration, just take a look at that photograph of Elvis right over there.
00:40:27 And y'all, this has been such a pleasure. Thank you so much for coming out.
00:40:30 If you've enjoyed this as much as I have, it isn't required, but it is certainly appreciated
00:40:35 if you tip your tour guide, and that's me.
00:40:38 I'll be out there in Marion's office where I'm more than happy to take any of the questions you may have for me.
00:40:42 Otherwise, y'all come on up, take some pictures, and let's rock and roll.
00:40:47 Thank you.
00:40:48 [Music]
00:40:51 [Music]
00:40:55 [Music]
00:40:58 [Music]
00:41:04 [Music]
00:41:22 [Music]
00:41:25 [Music]
00:41:36 [Music]
00:41:46 [Music]
00:41:49 [Music]
00:42:00 [Music]
00:42:06 [Music]
00:42:15 [Music]
00:42:18 [Music]
00:42:24 [Music]
00:42:29 [Music]
00:42:35 [Music]
00:42:41 [Music]
00:42:44 [Music]
00:42:50 [Music]
00:42:56 [Music]
00:43:02 [Music]
00:43:09 [Music]
00:43:12 [Music]
00:43:20 [Music]
00:43:26 [Music]
00:43:36 [Music]
00:43:39 [Music]
00:43:48 [Music]
00:43:55 [Music]
00:44:04 [Music]
00:44:07 [Music]
00:44:13 [Music]
00:44:18 [Music]
00:44:30 [Music]
00:44:33 [Music]
00:44:38 [Music]
00:44:44 [Music]
00:44:50 [Music]
00:44:58 [Music]
00:45:01 [Music]
00:45:07 [Music]
00:45:12 [Music]
00:45:18 [Music]
00:45:25 [Music]
00:45:28 [Music]
00:45:36 [Music]
00:45:41 [Music]
00:45:47 [Music]
00:45:53 [Music]
00:45:56 [Music]
00:46:02 [Music]
00:46:08 [Music]
00:46:14 [Music]
00:46:21 [Music]
00:46:24 [Music]
00:46:31 [Music]
00:46:37 [Music]
00:46:44 [Music]
00:46:50 [Music]
00:46:53 [Music]
00:46:59 [Music]
00:47:05 [Music]
00:47:11 [Music]
00:47:18 [Music]
00:47:21 [Music]
00:47:27 [Music]
00:47:33 [Music]
00:47:39 [Music]
00:47:46 [Music]
00:47:49 [Music]
00:47:55 [Music]
00:48:01 [Music]
00:48:07 [Music]
00:48:15 [Music]
00:48:18 [Music]
00:48:24 [Music]
00:48:30 [Music]
00:48:36 [Music]
00:48:43 [Music]
00:48:46 [Music]
00:48:52 [Music]
00:48:58 [Music]
00:49:04 [Music]
00:49:11 [Music]
00:49:14 [Music]
00:49:20 [Music]
00:49:26 [Music]
00:49:32 [Music]
00:49:38 [Music]
00:49:41 [Music]
00:49:47 [Music]
00:49:53 [Music]
00:49:59 [Music]
00:50:07 [Music]
00:50:10 [Music]
00:50:16 [Music]
00:50:22 [Music]
00:50:28 [Music]
00:50:35 [Music]
00:50:38 [Music]
00:50:44 [Music]
00:50:50 [Music]
00:50:56 [Music]
00:51:03 [Music]
00:51:06 [Music]
00:51:12 [Music]
00:51:19 [Music]
00:51:29 [Music]
00:51:32 [Music]
00:51:39 [Music]
00:51:46 [Music]
00:51:51 [Music]
00:51:58 [Music]
00:52:01 [Music]
00:52:07 [Music]
00:52:13 [Music]
00:52:19 [Music]
00:52:26 [Music]
00:52:29 [Music]
00:52:35 [Music]
00:52:41 [Music]
00:52:47 [Music]
00:52:54 [Music]
00:52:57 [Music]
00:53:03 [Music]
00:53:09 [Music]
00:53:15 [Music]
00:53:22 [Music]
00:53:25 [Music]
00:53:31 [Music]
00:53:37 [Music]
00:53:43 [Music]
00:53:50 [Music]
00:53:53 [Music]
00:53:59 [Music]
00:54:05 [Music]
00:54:11 [Music]
00:54:18 [Music]
00:54:21 [Music]
00:54:27 [Music]
00:54:32 [Music]
00:54:38 [Music]
00:54:45 [Music]
00:54:48 [Music]
00:54:54 [Music]
00:55:00 [Music]
00:55:05 [Music]
00:55:12 [Music]
00:55:15 [Music]
00:55:21 [Music]
00:55:27 [Music]
00:55:33 [Music]
00:55:40 [Music]
00:55:43 [Music]
00:55:49 [Music]
00:55:54 [Music]
00:56:00 [Music]
00:56:06 [Music]
00:56:09 [Music]
00:56:15 [Music]
00:56:21 [Music]
00:56:27 [Music]
00:56:34 [Music]
00:56:37 [Music]
00:56:43 [Music]
00:56:48 [Music]
00:56:54 [Music]
00:57:01 [Music]
00:57:04 [Music]
00:57:10 [Music]
00:57:15 [Music]
00:57:21 [Music]
00:57:28 [Music]
00:57:31 [Music]
00:57:39 [Music]
00:57:45 [Music]
00:57:55 [Music]
00:57:58 [Music]
00:58:05 [Music]
00:58:12 [Music]
00:58:23 [Music]
00:58:26 [Music]
00:58:32 [Music]
00:58:38 [Music]
00:58:46 [Music]
00:58:50 [Music]
00:58:53 [Music]
00:58:59 [Music]
00:59:05 [Music]
00:59:11 [Music]
00:59:18 [Music]
00:59:21 [Music]
00:59:27 [Music]
00:59:33 [Music]
00:59:40 [Music]
00:59:47 [Music]
00:59:50 [Music]
00:59:56 [Music]
01:00:02 [Music]
01:00:08 [Music]
01:00:15 [Music]
01:00:18 [Music]
01:00:24 [Music]
01:00:30 [Music]
01:00:36 [Music]
01:00:43 [Music]
01:00:46 [Music]
01:00:52 [Music]
01:00:58 [Music]
01:01:04 [Music]
01:01:11 [Music]
01:01:14 [Music]
01:01:20 [Music]
01:01:26 [Music]
01:01:32 [Music]
01:01:39 [Music]
01:01:42 [Music]
01:01:48 [Music]
01:01:54 [Music]
01:02:00 [Music]
01:02:08 [Music]
01:02:11 [Music]
01:02:17 [Music]
01:02:23 [Music]
01:02:29 [Music]
01:02:36 [Music]
01:02:39 [Music]
01:02:44 [Music]
01:02:50 [Music]
01:02:56 [Music]
01:03:03 [Music]
01:03:06 [Music]
01:03:12 [Music]
01:03:18 [Music]
01:03:25 [Music]
01:03:32 [Music]
01:03:35 [Music]
01:03:41 [Music]
01:03:47 [Music]
01:03:53 [Music]
01:04:00 [Music]
01:04:03 [Music]
01:04:09 [Music]
01:04:15 [Music]
01:04:21 [Music]
01:04:28 [Music]
01:04:31 [Music]
01:04:37 [Music]
01:04:42 [Music]
01:04:48 [Music]
01:04:55 [Music]
01:04:58 [Music]
01:05:04 [Music]
01:05:11 [Music]
01:05:16 [Music]
01:05:23 [Music]
01:05:26 [Music]
01:05:32 [Music]
01:05:39 [Music]
01:05:49 [Music]
01:05:52 [Music]
01:05:57 [Music]
01:06:02 [Music]
01:06:09 [Music]
01:06:18 [Music]
01:06:21 [Music]
01:06:27 [Music]
01:06:33 [Music]
01:06:39 [Music]
01:06:46 [Music]
01:06:49 [Music]
01:06:55 [Music]
01:07:01 [Music]
01:07:07 [Music]
01:07:14 [Music]
01:07:17 [Music]
01:07:23 [Music]
01:07:29 [Music]
01:07:35 [Music]
01:07:42 [Music]
01:07:45 [Music]
01:07:51 [Music]
01:07:57 [Music]
01:08:03 [Music]
01:08:10 [Music]
01:08:13 [Music]
01:08:19 [Music]
01:08:25 [Music]
01:08:31 [Music]
01:08:38 [Music]
01:08:41 [Music]
01:08:47 [Music]
01:08:52 [Music]
01:08:58 [Music]
01:09:05 [Music]
01:09:08 [Music]
01:09:14 [Music]
01:09:20 [Music]
01:09:26 [Music]
01:09:33 [Music]
01:09:36 [Music]
01:09:42 [Music]
01:09:48 [Music]
01:09:54 [Music]
01:10:01 [Music]
01:10:04 [Music]
01:10:10 [Music]
01:10:17 [Music]
01:10:26 [Music]
01:10:29 [Music]
01:10:35 [Music]
01:10:41 [Music]
01:10:47 [Music]
01:10:53 [Music]
01:10:56 [Music]