Capturing the Shine of Sun Records

On January 3, 1950, Sam Phillips’ Memphis Recording Service opened its doors and welcomed any genre of music—especially the blues. After having early success with B.B. King, Phillips’ first No. 1 hit was recorded in March of 1951 with Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm (credited to Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats because Brenston sang the lead vocal).

The song, “Rocket 88,” about an Oldsmobile with a V8 engine, has become legendary for at least two reasons: It is arguably the first recorded example of rock ’n’ roll, and the first recorded song with distortion.

Legend has it that while the band was en route to Memphis, guitarist Willie Kizart’s amp fell from the truck onto the pavement as the band hastily tried to change a flat tire. Once they reached the studio, plugged it in and heard the distorted, gravelly buzz of the amp (most likely the amp’s speaker cone was torn), Phillips quickly stuffed paper taken from the diner next door into the back of the amp, hit record, and the rest is history.

By 1952, Philips would change the studio’s name to Sun, add a matching record label, and record the soon-to-be seminal musical offerings of Howlin’ Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley.