Sun Records - Memphis, Tennessee
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One of my routes for work starts in Christiansburg, Virginia right alongside the busy N&W main so I usually leave early to catch a few hours trackside the day before I deliver on Monday. Another routine is to call good friend Sam Phillips to see if the railroad has given him enough time off to catch a bite to eat. Luckily for me he got a few hours between trains and we ran over to Blacksburg to catch the Conrail heritage unit emerging from Merrimac Tunnel on the former Virginian. Dinner had to be another time as he got called into work but thankfully Puda was in the area so we went off to Salem for dinner.
Unable to chase it in the morning from Lynchburg, but knowing two of the best photographers in the state (John Leopard, Sam Phillips) were out to document, I had to hope and pray for a night time departure out of Fulton. After a quick date change from G97502 to G97504 the train was back on schedule and ready to head south to Rocky Mount. Seen here crossing the James River on the Bellwood Sub with the city of Richmond providing the backdrop.
After the CSX Santa train ran the Clinchfield, an NS train 744-19 followed him south out of St. Paul. Here they cross Copper Creek near Clinchport, VA on Nov 19, 2016.
Special thanks to Sam Phillips with the assist on the Photoshop editing.
© Eric T. Hendrickson 2017 All Rights Reserved
Almost a white brow..thanks to a heads up from Sam Phillips, and updates from MBB. Spring greens are in full swing in the Shenandoah Valley.
E PER FINIRE L'INSEGNA DELLO STUDIO DI REGISTRAZIONE DOVE ELVIS HA INIZIATO AD INCIDERE I SUOI BRANI
Took a little winter trip with friends Justin Ross and Sam Phillips. Our first subject was a northbound on the former N&W Hagerstown District at Stuarts Draft.
“I Walk the Line” was Johnny Cash’s first #1 hit on the Billboard charts. It was on the old “Sun”record label’s and produced by Sam Phillips. If you’ve been around for a while like me you will remember the old 45’s with the familiar yellow label with the large SUN written across the top of the 45 you will also know Sam Philips was a pretty famous Disc jockey, songwriter, and record producer. He was also the founder of the Sun Records. He produced the likes of Elvis, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Howlin’ Wolf who in case you didn’t know was a FANTASTIC blues singer.
But back to this song “I Walk the Line” It remained on the record charts for 43 weeks. The song was so popular it crossed over the charts and reached # 19 on the pop music charts.
A timely text from my friend Sam Phillips alerted me to the Virginia heritage unit coming up the H-Line. Here it passes the N&W-era signal guarding the north switch to the siding at Sampson.
This hobby is full of frustration, but once in a while luck comes our way. I left the house early on this morning wanting to get some CSX around Clifton Forge. But just prior to making my turn off I81 to I64 at Lexington an NS track inspector called the Shenandoah DS to get some TnT. The DS gave him some time and gave him a train lineup that included 202 just out of Roanoke. I immediately thought of a fall color morning shot of the signals at Arcadia. Not knowing what the leader was, I figured I would get a quick shot of some lame-ass BIG GE and then head toward Clifton. A few minutes after I got set up at Arcadia I received a text from Sam Phillips that the leader was a standard cab GE. The chase was set and I never did make it to Clifton...
Sam Phillips axed me if I wanted to take a ride to PA and shoot the NS biz train on Thursday. Figuring it was maybe a last crack at Pennsy Position Light signals before they are removed I took him up on his offer. Sam's prior commitments made for a late departure but with plenty of eyes in the field we determined a surgical strike to Barree was possible. After a few tense moments in a couple of construction zones we made it with a few minutes to spare.
Memphis, Tennessee
The photograph on the right of the building shows Elvis, Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee jamming one afternoon inside the studio. Elvis's contract had already been sold to RCA for $40,000 but Elvis came by to visit the man that recorded his first record...Sam Phillips.
Along with Cash, Perkins and Jerry Lee were many others like Roy Orbison, BB King, Charlie Rich and many others, all cut their first records at this studio.
FujiFilm X-T1 GSE
Fujinon XF35mmF1.4 R
f/2.8 1/240th ISO 200
Sun Studio Museum
Memphis, TN
06-01-25
On my last morning in Memphis, I stopped the car and got a final shot of Sam Phillip's historic Sun Studios with the sun rising behind it.
The whole building is now a museum. The actual recording studio where Elvis Presley cut his first records is the little part of the building on the left. The two story part was a barber shop and a restaurant at one time, and is now the entrance to the museum.
Happiness is listening to classic country music.
Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash.
"I Walk the Line" is a song written and recorded in 1956 by Johnny Cash. It became Cash's first number one hit on the Billboard charts. ( Wikipedia )
Mr. Burnett better know by his stage name Howlin’ Wolf was a blues singer and guitarist.He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chicago blues. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues
Musicians of all time.
He had a ruff childhood but eventually in 1930’s he became a protégé of legendary Delta blues singer Charley Patton. He started his solos career in the Deep South and at the end of a decade had made a name for himself in the Mississippi Delta.
He started his recording career in 1951, got his own band in Chicago and had five of his songs land on the Billboard national R&B charts.
Producer Sam Phillips recalled “ When I heard Howlin’ Wolf, I said ‘ This is foe me. This is where the soul of a man never dies’” Several of his songs have become blues and blues rock standards
In 2011, Rolling Stones magazine ranked him number 54 on its list of the “ 100 Greatest Artists of All Time “
Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business. Sun Studio is perhaps most famous for its role in the early years of Elvis Presley’s career.
Reputedly the first rock and roll single, Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats' "Rocket 88" was recorded there in 1951 with song composer Ike Turner on keyboards, leading the studio to claim status as the birthplace of rock & roll. Blues and R&B artists like Howlin' Wolf, Junior Parker, Little Milton, B.B. King, James Cotton, Rufus Thomas, and Rosco Gordon recorded there in the early 1950s.
Rock and roll, country, and rockabilly artists, including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Charlie Feathers, Ray Harris, Warren Smith, Charlie Rich, and Jerry Lee Lewis, recorded there throughout the mid-to-late 1950s until the studio outgrew its Union Avenue location. Sam Phillips opened the larger Sam C. Phillips Recording Studio, better known as Phillips Recording, in 1959 to replace the older facility. Since Phillips had invested in the Holiday Inn Hotel chain earlier, he also recorded artists starting in 1963 on the label Holiday Inn Records for Kemmons Wilson. In 1957, Bill Justis recorded his Grammy Hall of Fame song "Raunchy" for Sam Phillips and worked as a musical director at Sun Records.
In 1969, Sam Phillips sold the label to Shelby Singleton, and there was no recording-related or label-related activity again in the building until the September 1985 Class of '55 recording sessions with Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash, produced by Chips Moman.
Running with two motors on the head end and two pushing, CSX train N760-28 with 110 cars of coal tackles the grade at Sand Lick along the Russell Fork near Toms Bottom, VA.
Thanks to Sam Phillips for the help!
Some people consider Sun Studio to be the birthplace of Rock n Roll. Sam Phillips opened his recording studio in January of 1950. Within 5 years, he had recorded Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Elvis Presley.
Because of it's importance in music history, the studio has also been used by legendary performers like Bob Dylan, the Birds, Def Leppard, and U2.
I told my wife yesterday that I was gonna stick around the house with her since we both had the day off. Of course my phone went off first thing this morning with a message from Sam Phillips that a fresh UP leader was going to lead 201. So I made good with Margo and scraped paint off a few window sills on the house she had painted. Then I grabbed the gear and went out for a few shots. I don't normally get too worked up about run-through power but fresh wings and N&W signals was too much to pass up.
I need love - (Sam Phillips) ..♪♫♪♫
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KDD València. Grup Amics de la càmera (27-11-2011).
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En 'gran' i fons negre View On Black
Visió ràpida a la galeria en caixa de llum Galeria
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639 Madison Ave.
Opened in 1960 after Sam Phillips outgrew his nearby Memphis Recording Service (which now operates as Sun Studio). Still owned and run by members of the Phillips family.
Fresh off my annual October trip with the Roots. 2018's 4 day trip was focused on Kentucky's coal branches. With tons of help and some luck we got a few rare moves on some lightly used branchlines. Can not thank all the people that helped enough...thank you! Also big thanks to Sam Phillips for the CV tour on Thursday. Leopard also showed up, he was alittle help.
One of the 1st moves on day 2 was this loaded coal train southbound out of Loyall from the Balkin Mine to Kingsport. With a C201 helper on the rear end shoving hard, this 90 car coal train is struggling up the 1.29% grade out of Big Stone Gap on the NS Appalachia District. Here at MP 7 high pitch screeching can be heard long before the train arrives as these GE's are trying to keep traction as the leaves and the dew is making the rail alittle slippery. CSXT uses the NS from Big Stone Gap to Kingsport to access the Clinchfield.
original painting by: Bill Rogers
Done while listening to Sam Phillips
Please visit Crazy Cat Man and all my recent works.
My feeble attempt to recreate a poster from Sun Studio..
Sun Studio opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips at 710 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950.
It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business.
The last of my little slightly self-indulgent series on giants of American Music. Unlike Robert Johnson everybody has heard of these guys who recorded in this building. The shot is of 706 Union Avenue Memphis or as its better known as The Sun Studios. When I visited Memphis visiting Graceland was of course on the list but on top of the list was this Studio were quite without hyperbole the history of music was changed.
On July 5th 1954 just sixty years ago Elvis Presley recorded the blues song “Its all right Mama “ and rock and roll was born. In the next couple of years Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash all recorded their first hits at Sun Studios. The real genius at Sun was not these stars but the guy who discovered and recorded them Mr Sam Phillips, he created that rockabilly sound mixing country with blues. Walking into that studio which is incredibly small was an amazing experience it’s the Sistine Chapel of rock.
P.S A note to people in Memphis why do you not have a huge statue of Sam Phillips in the city he deserves one
THANKS FOR YOUR VISIT AND FOR TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE A COMMENT IT’S MUCH APPRECIATED.
IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW MY STREAM I SUGGEST YOU OUGHT TO READ MY PROFILE FIRST
Fresh off my annual October trip with the Roots. 2018's 4 day trip was focused on Kentucky's coal branches. With tons of help and some luck we got a few rare moves on some lightly used branchlines. Can not thank all the people that helped enough...thank you! Also big thanks to Sam Phillips for the CV tour on Thursday. Leopard also showed up, he was alittle help.
If a guy is lucky enough to get a southbound move on the CV Sub leaving Loyall, KY, in the afternoon, the old L&N tower at Harlan Junction is a cool spot. A stone train out of Mount Vernon, KY, to Brice, NC, has a 15:00 outbound crew and helper at Loyall. The train has just departed as the C702 crew brings up the rear end as they past the tower at Baxter. The helper crew will shove this loaded train from Loyall to Gates City, VA, 72 total miles. The CV Sub is a CSXT branchline that runs from Corbin, KY, to Pennington Gap, VA, which trains use to get down to Kingsport and the Clinchfield.
The Sun Studio microphone. Before Sam Phillips died, he donated his treasured mic. It launched the careers of Elvis, Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, etc.
After a three hour weather delay we
“Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain”…
And in doing so, scratched another ‘gotta do’ off of the bucket list…
A whirlwind trip through musical history stopping at Sun Studios, Sam Phillips, Graceland, Beale Street, Gibson Guitar, Muscle Shoals Studio and Fame Studio, along with some country twang in Nashville and meeting the king of drums, Gary Asher in Birmingham, Alabama…
Note the microphone Elvis is using in that photo. It is the same mic standing there. In his will, Sam Phillips, SUN Studios founder, specified that the mic be made available to the public. It is presented at the end of the tour, you can touch it, swing it, take a selfie. A genuine piece of American history the people can actually interact with.
SUN Studios - Memphis
American postcard by Abbeville Publishing Group, New York, N.Y.. Elvis Presley on the set of King Creole (Michael Curtiz, 1958).
When The Beatles came to America in 1965 there was only one person they wanted to meet: Elvis Presley (1935-1977). Elvis had more multi-platinum album sales than any other performer, with twelve albums selling over 2 million copies.
Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1935. He moved with his family to Memphis, Tennessee when he was 13 years old. His musical career began in 1953 when he recorded a song at the later Sun Studio that was released on Sam Phillips' Sun Records. Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley became an early populariser of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country and rhythm and blues. The record company RCA Victor took over his contract in a deal prepared by Colonel Tom Parker, who would serve as the singer's manager for more than two decades. Presley's first single 'That's All Right' was released in July 1954. This was followed by 'Heartbreak Hotel', an American number one hit, in January 1956. After a series of successful television appearances and records that reached the top of the sales charts, he was regarded as rock 'n' roll's most prominent figure. His energetic interpretations of songs and sexually provocative stage performances, combined with a remarkably appealing fusion of multi-ethnic influences that coincided with the rise of the civil rights movement, made him at once immensely popular and controversial. The America of the immediate post-World War II period saw great economic growth, with young people having more to spend. Individual development gradually became more important and so a youth culture emerged with various subcultures that opposed the older generation. Presley was the embodiment of this and thus became the first pop idol. Elvis made his debut as an actor in the film Love Me Tender (Robert D. Webb, 1956). Although he was not at the top of the bill, the film's initial title, The Reno Brothers, was changed to capitalise on his last number one hit: 'Love Me Tender' had topped the charts earlier that month. To capitalise even more on Presley's popularity, four musical numbers were added to the original strict actor's role. Although critics cracked the film, it did well with filmgoers. Soon followed more films, including Jailhouse Rock (Richard Thorpe, 1957) and King Creole (Michael Curtiz, 1958) with Carolyn Jones and Walter Matthau, In 1958, he was drafted into the army.
On 2 March 1960, Elvis Presley returned to the US and was given an honourable discharge with the rank of sergeant. The train taking him from New Jersey to Tennessee was stormed by a crowd the entire way. In Nashville, he recorded songs for a new album and the single 'Stuck on You', which quickly became a number one hit. Two weeks later, he recorded a pair of ballads that would become among his best-selling singles, 'It's Now or Never' and 'Are You Lonesome Tonight?' In October, 'G.I. Blues' was a number one album. It was the soundtrack to Presley's first film since his return, G.I. Blues (Norman Taurog, 1960) with Juliet Prowse and Leticia Roman. On 25 March, another benefit concert took place in Hawaii, raising money for a memorial to the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was Presley's last public appearance for the next seven years. Colonel Parker had manoeuvred Presley into a busy schedule of making formulaic, modest-budget musical film comedies. Initially, Presley insisted on pursuing serious roles, but when two films of a more dramatic nature - the Western Flaming Star (Don Siegel, 1960) with Steve Forrest and Dolores Del Rio, and Wild in the Country (Philip Dunne, 1961) with Tuesday Weld - met with less commercial success, he resigned himself to the formula. Even among the 27 films, he made in the 1960s, there were still a few exceptions to the formula. In Viva Las Vegas (George Sidney, 1964) he met his perfect match in the stunningly beautiful Ann-Margreta who was a more independent-than-usual female co-star. The film was a big hit. His other films were almost universally criticised, but almost all were profitable. Hal Wallis, the producer of nine of these films, declared: "A Presley film is the only certainty Hollywood knows." After seven years of no live performances, Elvis returned to the stage in 1968 in the television comeback special Elvis, which resulted in a long series of concerts in Las Vegas and a series of highly profitable tours. In 1973, Presley performed in the first satellite concert broadcast worldwide, Aloha from Hawaii. Long-term drug abuse ruined his health and he died in 1977 at the age of 42. He had one daughter Lisa Marie (1968). Presley is one of the best-selling solo artists in the history of the music industry with estimated sales of approximately 600 million records worldwide.
Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.
For more postcards, a bio and clips check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
this is for the lovely Ciel, whom has written me a beautiful testimonial. thank you Ciel, from the bottom of my heart....
This songs for you, Ciel.
Sun Studio originally was called Memphis Recording Service when it was opened by Sam Phillips on January 3, 1950.
Dutch postcard by Drukkerij Uitg. Int. Filmpers, Amsterdam, no. 5019. Elvis Presley, Dolores Hart, Carolyn Jones, Liliane Montevecchi and Jan Shepard in King Creole (Michael Curtiz, 1958).
When The Beatles came to America in 1965 there was only one person they wanted to meet: Elvis Presley (1935-1977). Elvis had more multi-platinum album sales than any other performer, with twelve albums selling over 2 million copies.
Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1935. He moved with his family to Memphis, Tennessee when he was 13 years old. His musical career began in 1953 when he recorded a song at the later Sun Studio that was released on Sam Phillips' Sun Records. Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley became an early populariser of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country and rhythm and blues. The record company RCA Victor took over his contract in a deal prepared by Colonel Tom Parker, who would serve as the singer's manager for more than two decades. Presley's first single 'That's All Right' was released in July 1954. This was followed by 'Heartbreak Hotel', an American number one hit, in January 1956. After a series of successful television appearances and records that reached the top of the sales charts, he was regarded as rock 'n' roll's most prominent figure. His energetic interpretations of songs and sexually provocative stage performances, combined with a remarkably appealing fusion of multi-ethnic influences that coincided with the rise of the civil rights movement, made him at once immensely popular and controversial. The America of the immediate post-World War II period saw great economic growth, with young people having more to spend. Individual development gradually became more important and so a youth culture emerged with various subcultures that opposed the older generation. Presley was the embodiment of this and thus became the first pop idol. Elvis made his debut as an actor in the film Love Me Tender (Robert D. Webb, 1956). Although he was not at the top of the bill, the film's initial title, The Reno Brothers, was changed to capitalise on his last number one hit: 'Love Me Tender' had topped the charts earlier that month. To capitalise even more on Presley's popularity, four musical numbers were added to the original strict actor's role. Although critics cracked the film, it did well with filmgoers. Soon followed more films, including Jailhouse Rock (Richard Thorpe, 1957) and King Creole (Michael Curtiz, 1958) with Carolyn Jones and Walter Matthau, In 1958, he was drafted into the army.
On 2 March 1960, Elvis Presley returned to the US and was given an honourable discharge with the rank of sergeant. The train taking him from New Jersey to Tennessee was stormed by a crowd the entire way. In Nashville, he recorded songs for a new album and the single 'Stuck on You', which quickly became a number one hit. Two weeks later, he recorded a pair of ballads that would become among his best-selling singles, 'It's Now or Never' and 'Are You Lonesome Tonight?' In October, 'G.I. Blues' was a number one album. It was the soundtrack to Presley's first film since his return, G.I. Blues (Norman Taurog, 1960) with Juliet Prowse and Leticia Roman. On 25 March, another benefit concert took place in Hawaii, raising money for a memorial to the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was Presley's last public appearance for the next seven years. Colonel Parker had manoeuvred Presley into a busy schedule of making formulaic, modest-budget musical film comedies. Initially, Presley insisted on pursuing serious roles, but when two films of a more dramatic nature - the Western Flaming Star (Don Siegel, 1960) with Steve Forrest and Dolores Del Rio, and Wild in the Country (Philip Dunne, 1961) with Tuesday Weld - met with less commercial success, he resigned himself to the formula. Even among the 27 films, he made in the 1960s, there were still a few exceptions to the formula. In Viva Las Vegas (George Sidney, 1964) he met his perfect match in the stunningly beautiful Ann-Margreta who was a more independent-than-usual female co-star. The film was a big hit. His other films were almost universally criticised, but almost all were profitable. Hal Wallis, the producer of nine of these films, declared: "A Presley film is the only certainty Hollywood knows." After seven years of no live performances, Elvis returned to the stage in 1968 in the television comeback special Elvis, which resulted in a long series of concerts in Las Vegas and a series of highly profitable tours. In 1973, Presley performed in the first satellite concert broadcast worldwide, Aloha from Hawaii. Long-term drug abuse ruined his health and he died in 1977 at the age of 42. He had one daughter Lisa Marie (1968). Presley is one of the best-selling solo artists in the history of the music industry with estimated sales of approximately 600 million records worldwide.
Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.
For more postcards, a bio and clips check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.