Sam
Phillips opened Sun Studio at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee on January
3, 1950. The studio is often considered the birthplace of rock, with Jackie
Benston and the Delta Cats recording the first rock-n-roll single, “Rocket
88,” there in 1951. Blues and R&B artists including Howlin’
Wolf, B.B. King, Little Milton, Junior Parker, James Cotton, Rufus Thomas and
Rosco Gordon also recorded at the studio in the early 1950s. Later in the decade,
artists such as Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie
Rich, Carl Perkins and others went on to sign with the studio.
By 1959, Sun Studios had outgrown its building on Union Avenue
and Sam Phillips moved the studio to the larger Sam C. Phillips Recording
Studio. Phillips sold the label to Shelby Singleton in 1969, and there was
no recording or label-related activity in the building until the Class of
‘55 recording sessions with Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis
and Johnny Cash in 1985. Also in 1987, the original Sun Records label building
was reopened as “Sun Studio,” as a recording business and tourism
attraction.
