If Elvis Presley was the King of Rock & Roll, Sam Phillips was the Grand Duke who brought Presley to lip-curling rule. Phillips, an Alabama-born visionary, founded the famous Sun Records. A ...

Phillips spoke to Fresh Air in 1997 about launching Elvis Presley's career at Sun Records. He also produced early recordings of B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash. He died in 2003.

This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. Today, we continue our archive series - R&B, rockabilly and early rock 'n' roll. We start today's show with Sam Phillips, the founder of Sun Records. That's the ...

Before Phillips started his own record label, he produced the first records of bluesmen B.B. King and Howlin' Wolf. As Peter Guralnick, the author of a biography of Sam Phillips and a two-volume ...