Sun Rises On Rock

Sam Phillips, the record producer who helped usher in the rock 'n' roll revolution, is seen in 1992. Phillips founded Sun Records in 1952 with a plan to let artists who had no formal training play their music as they felt it, raw and full of life. The Sun motto was "We Record Anything, Anywhere, Anytime." In 2000, the A&E cable network dubbed Phillips "The Man Who Invented Rock and Roll."

Phillips helped launch the career of Elvis Presley, who first went to the Sun studio to record two songs for his mother's birthday. Pictured here from left: Presley with bass player Bill Black, guitarist Scotty Moore and Phillips at a 1954 recording session. Phillips produced Presley's first record, the 1954 single that featured "That's All Right, Mama" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky."

An acetate disc recorded by Presley as a demo for Sun Records. Elvis recorded "I'll Never Stand In Your Way" during his second trip to the recording studio, in January of 1954. By 1956, when Phillips sold Presley's contract to RCA for $35,000, the rock 'n' roll craze had become a cultural phenomenon and a multimillion-dollar industry.

Presley is pictured in a 1957 publicity photo. Presley was the most notable performer to work with Phillips, but perhaps the most historically important recording he made was 1953's "Rocket 88," which featured Jackie Brenston and Ike Turner's band and is widely considered the first rock 'n' roll record.

Others followed Elvis' success on Sun, such as Jerry Lee Lewis, pictured here in 1957.

Country legend Johnny Cash, seen here in 1965, made his first single, "Cry! Cry! Cry!"/"Hey! Porter," with Phillips in 1955.

Roy Orbison, seen here in 1970, is another rock pioneer who got his start at Sun Records, which released the radio hit "Ooby Dooby" by his band the Teen Kings in 1956.

Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes" became Sun Record's first release to sell a million copies. He appears with other musicians who followed in his footsteps in this undated photo. From left to right: Lee Rocker; Eric Clapton; George Harrison; Carl Perkins; Earl Slick, Ringo Starr; Dave Edmunds; and Slim Jim Phantom.

Rock 'n' roll recording pioneer Sam Phillips, center, chats with Jerry Lee Lewis, left, and Ike Turner at a June 8, 2000, party honoring Phillips in Memphis, Tenn. The party featured the Memphis debut of an A&E biography of Phillips.

Guitar legends Ike Turner, left, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, center, and Scotty Moore perform in 1997. In 1951 Murphy, most famous as part of the Blues Brothers band, formed the Blue Flames, which included Turner. Meanwhile, Moore played with Elvis Presley's group.

Musicians such as balladeer Charlie Rich, pictured here in an undated photo, and Carl Mann recorded for Phillips International, a new label Sam Phillips launched in 1958.

Sam Phillips looks at his plaque in the Country Music Hall of Fame, Oct. 4, 2001, in Nashville, Tenn. Phillips died at the age of 80 on July 30, 2003; a ceremony to designate the Sun studio -- now one of Memphis' most popular tourist attractions -- as a national historic landmark had been scheduled to take place just one day after his death. The designation is a first for a recording studio.