Sam Phillips is one of the most notable and successful record producers and music executives in the history of the business. Founder of Sun Records, Phillips worked with Elvis Presley, Howlin’ Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Ike Turner, B.B. King, and, of course, Johnny Cash.
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Johnny Cash and Sam Phillips’ working relationship started in 1954 when Cash first signed with Sun Records, and ended in 1958 when the Man In Black left the label. During their time together, Cash became a cash cow for Sun Records, as he released singles such as “Hey Porter,” “Cry! Cry! Cry!”, “Folsom Prison Blues”, and “I Walk The Line”.
However, according to Phillips, the sound we know Johnny Cash for isn’t the sound he pitched to Phillips during one of their first sessions. However, that changed, and one example of that change is on Cash’s 1956 hit single, “I Walk The Line”.
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During an interview with Rolling Stone in 1986, Sam Phillips described what Cash sounded like during one of their first encounters. He told the publication, “When Johnny Cash came in, he sang his original country-gospel songs, and I have never been as moved in my life by anything to this day.”
“But I was very honest with him. I told him, ‘Man, I love this, but God, I can’t sell it, and if I can’t sell it, you and me can’t be in business,” added Phillips. So, in order to procure a record deal, Cash seemingly agreed to make such changes, and he made such changes on “I Walk The Line”.
Recalling the original sound of “I Walk The Line”, Phillips stated, “The song was originally a ballad…Well, with a little tempo, here he was, a modern-day Burl Ives, with a commanding voice and a hell of a song.” “If I can’t tell that, I mean, I better get out of the business,” concluded Sam Phillips. While Phillips’ creative advice did rob the world of a soulfully melancholic Johnny Cash ballad, it did give the world a country-rock classic.
In 1958, Cash would go on to ultimately leave Sun Records in order to sign with Columbia Records. For the majority of his time with the label, Johnny Cash was hands down Sun Records’ most successful artist, as he won over the country and would go on to do so for another 50 or so years.
Photo by Daily Herald/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images
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