A Look Back at Phillips’ Hall of Famers, in His Own Words

What spark did record producer Sam Phillips see in a young Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis?

Here are the Sun Records founder’s reflections on those and other Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members whose careers were largely launched in his Memphis studio--a legacy that earned Phillips his own induction into the Hall of Fame in 1986.

Elvis Presley: “Elvis loved ballads, and his voice was so beautiful that it would have been easy to record a ballad with him. In fact, the first thing we tried was a ballad called ‘Without Love’ that we got from a prisoner at the Tennessee State Penitentiary. But I knew right away that I shouldn’t go down that route. We had enough pop singers in the world--Eddie Fisher, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin and on and on. I would have made a horrible mistake if I let Elvis be pop too. I knew he was the one who could get the attention of young people if he just did an upbeat tempo thing, and that’s what happened. When he started singing ‘That’s All Right,’ I knew we had something fantastic.”

Johnny Cash: “His voice was very distinctive, but it didn’t lend itself to rock ‘n’ roll as such. So one of the better decisions I ever made was to let Johnny Cash be Johnny Cash, a country artist, not a rock ‘n’ roll artist. When I first heard him, he was singing only hymns. I asked if we couldn’t lend that talent to something that might have a little sin in it [laughs].”

Howlin’ Wolf: “The Wolf probably impressed me more than anybody I know of on first listening. When you looked at him in the studio, he was totally hypnotized by every word he was singing. I am just sorry I didn’t get to keep him. Leonard [Chess] made him an offer the Wolf couldn’t refuse, and he went to Chess Records. So I didn’t get to do with him what I would have done. I think he would have been a pop icon.”

Jerry Lee Lewis: “I was out of town when Jerry Lee came in, but [Sun producer] Jack Clement put down a record on him and the first thing I noticed was the way he played piano. Jerry Lee knew how to carry the rhythm and the lead and not get in the way of his vocal. Then I started listening to the way he emphasized his words. It was almost like somebody preaching a sermon to you. I figured if I couldn’t come up with a hit with Jerry Lee, I might ought to find another business.”

Carl Perkins: “He would have been a sensational country singer, and I almost went that route with him. But his guitar afforded so much opportunity to do some real rock ‘n’ roll type of things. That showed me I could get the feel out of Carl to appeal to young people the way Elvis had.”

Roy Orbison: “He had a fantastic voice, and he played an excellent guitar, which you didn’t hear much of later when he went to Monument Records [and his string of hits].”

B.B. King: “He was as good a guitar player as there ever was, but the funny thing about B.B. was that he couldn’t play the guitar and sing at the same time. When he told me that, I thought he was just holding out on me. I thought he wanted more money if he sang as well as played the guitar. But it was true. . . . He just couldn’t do them both at the same time. B.B. was wonderful.”