Reviews for Sam Phillips : the man who invented rock 'n' roll
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
A monumental biography of the larger-than-life loner who fought for the acceptance of black music and discovered an extraordinary group of poor, country-boy singers whose records would transform American popular culture. Celebrated music historian Guralnick (Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke, 2005, etc.) recounts the life of Sam Phillips (1923-2003), an Alabama farmer's son who founded Sun Records in Memphis, where, during the 1950s, he first recorded the music of Ike Turner, B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Charlie Rich, and others. In earlier books, including a two-volume Presley biography (Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love), the author has written about such artists and the rise of rock 'n' roll, "this revolutionary new music that combined raw gutbucket feel with an almost apostolic sense of exuberance and joy." Now he turns to "unreconstructed individuali[st]" Phillips, who opened the door to untutored talents, recognizing their originality and mentoring them with "patience and belief." A sickly child who became enamored of African-American music while picking cotton alongside black laborers, Phillips was bright, observant, and much influenced by a blind black sharecropper who lived with his family. He started out as a radio DJ and engineer and realized when he recorded Ike Turner's hit "Rocket 88" (1951) at Sun that black music had potentially universal appeal. His discoveriesrelated here with contagious excitementwere not happenstance but rather the result of his dedication to finding the "pure essence" of performances. Guralnick met the charismatic Phillips in 1979 and became a close friend, and he makes no secret of his affection and admiration. However, he also covers his subject's problems and foibles: his early mental breakdowns, his troubled marriage and affairs, his financial difficulties, his later drinking, and his penchant for bragging about his (rightful) place in music history. A wonderful story that brings us deep into that moment when America made race music its own and gave rise to the rock sound now heard around the world. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
*Starred Review* The story of how Memphis record producer Sam Phillips discovered Elvis Presley is already the stuff of legend. Phillips famously founded Sun Studios (later Sun Records) and through patience, perseverance, and an ear for a certain sound was able to introduce to the world the ultimate crossover artist with the ability to find a shared heritage between races. Lesser known is how Phillips was instrumental in recording such blues artists as B. B. King and Howlin' Wolf, recorded what is the first rock 'n' roll record, Ike Turner's Rocket 88, and launched the careers of Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis. He also founded WHER, the first all-women radio station. Guralnick wrote definitive biographies of Elvis Last Train to Memphis (1994) and Careless Love (1999) and now does the same for Phillips, a visionary who gave voice to a rich and diverse culture long marginalized, providing a place where black people could play their own music, not to exploit their talent but to free up their innate soul.' Phillips' egalitarian dreams of music's potential to break down barriers predated the civil rights movement and often put him at odds with social conventions. Guralnick is careful to maintain his objectivity for most of the book before sharing his personal history with Phillips. Essential reading for music fans.--Segedin, Ben Copyright 2015 Booklist
Library Journal
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Guralnick follows his biography of soul-gospel legend Sam Cooke (Sweet Soul Music) with an equally exhaustive portrait of Sam Phillips (1923-2003), the so-called "Father of Rock and Roll," who, as owner of Memphis-based Sun Records and Sun Studio, helped launch the careers of Elvis -Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Howlin' Wolf, and Johnny Cash. The author emphasizes Phillips's contributions to rock and roll's 1950s emergence in the racially charged South and his personal and professional relationships with not only the many famous singers and musicians who benefited commercially and artistically from his vision, encouragement, and technical skills but also the obscure rockabilly, blues, country, and pop artists who were given an opportunity to express themselves on vinyl. Drawing primarily from new interviews with Sun musicians, family members, and even a few former girlfriends, Guralnick presents a well-told, well-rounded biography of an innovative and influential pop culture pioneer with an unorthodox and oftentimes rocky personal life. VERDICT This long but consistently engaging book offers a more detailed and intimate account than Kevin and Tanja Crouch's Sun King and is recommended to fans of early American popular music. [See Prepub Alert, 6/15/15.]-Douglas King, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publishers Weekly
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Acclaimed music historian Guralnick has written landmark accounts of Elvis (Last Train to Memphis), Sam Cooke (Dream Boogie), and the history of American roots music (Lost Highway), and he now turns his considerable skills to the life of Sun Records producer Sam Phillips in this delightful and comprehensive volume. While he builds the story on the skeleton of the facts of Phillips's life-his birth outside of Florence, Ala.; his production of the jam session with Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Elvis Presley, later released as the Million Dollar Quartet tapes; and his tireless work ethic-Guralnick portrays a man deeply passionate about giving black musicians opportunities to share their music and voices in a South that seldom allowed them to do so. Drawing on extensive interviews from his 25-year friendship with Phillips, as well as on interviews with many of the musicians Phillips produced (Howlin' Wolf and Ike Turner among others), Guralnick energetically tells the must-read tale of a Southern boy intent on enacting his vision of freedom and justice through music. Phillips's message from the start was "the inherent nobility not so much of man as of freedom, and the implied responsibility... for each of us to be as different as our individuated natures allowed us to be"; as Guralnick points out, Phillips succeeded in giving each of his musicians the freedom to express themselves fully on records that changed the musical landscape forever. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
