5 Groundbreaking Songs Recorded at Sun Studio

Seventy-five years ago, Sam Phillips opened the Memphis Recording Service.

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His early clients in 1950 included blues legends Howlin’ Wolf and B. B. King. They were among the first to record at what later became Sun Studio.

In 1951, Phillips produced a song Ike Turner once called the “cause” of rock and roll’s existence, “Rocket 88” by Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats. It’s hard to ignore the significance of the song’s title and the subsequent launching of rock and roll. (Turner’s band performed on the track, and he’s an uncredited songwriter.)

Things moved quickly as Phillips then created Sun Records and, in 1952, released Johnny London’s “Drivin’ Slow.” But one of American music history’s most crucial moments happened the next year when 18-year-old Elvis Presley paid $3.98 to record two songs with Phillips. It was in this early period that rock and roll began to take its familiar shape.

Sun Studio’s long history also includes everyone from Roy Orbison to U2, making it impossible to condense its significance into a single list. But if “Rocket 88” was the cause, the five groundbreaking songs below were the effect. Goodness gracious.

“That’s All Right” by Elvis Presley (Single, 1954)

Elvis Presley first recorded with Sam Phillips in 1953. He returned a year later and, this time, convinced Phillips of his potential. Presley, backed by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, covered Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup’s “That’s All Right (Mama).” His first single opened the door for the Sun legends that followed, including Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison.

“Blue Suede Shoes” by Carl Perkins (Single, 1956)

Though Presley’s cover of “Blue Suede Shoes” became the defining version, his friend Carl Perkins wrote and released it first in January 1956. The original became Sun’s first million-selling single, and its success may be due in part to Presley having delayed the release of his own version for RCA Victor. Presley’s take lifts the rockabilly tune to something more bombastic and features two blazing guitar solos from Scotty Moore.

“I Walk the Line” by Johnny Cash from With His Hot and Blue Guitar! (1956)

Sun released Johnny Cash’s first single “Cry! Cry! Cry!” in 1955. But it wasn’t until the following year that Cash landed his first No. 1 with “I Walk the Line.” His debut album also features “Folsom Prison Blues” and “So Doggone Lonesome.” Bob Dylan called Cash’s hit “one of the most mysterious and revolutionary of all time.”

“Down by the Riverside” by Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash from The Complete Million Dollar Quartet  (1956)

On December 4, 1956, an iconic and loose jam session, later known as the “Million Dollar Quartet,” happened. Sam Phillips invited Lewis into a session to play piano for Perkins. Cash and Presley joined and the ragtag jam was captured by engineer Jack Clement. Presley must have been standing closer to the mic, as his voice dominates the track.

“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” by Jerry Lee Lewis – Single (1957)

Quincy Jones conducted and arranged Big Maybelle’s 1955 original recording of “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.” But two years later, Jerry Lee Lewis and his boogie piano riff helped further pioneer rock and roll. If the nascent genre needed more fuel, Lewis’s next hit, “Great Balls of Fire,” made a rock star of a man known as “The Killer.”

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