Sun Records
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| Sun Records | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1952 |
| Founder(s) | Sam Phillips |
| Genre(s) | Various, general trends are Rockabilly, Country music, R&B, Blues |
| Country of origin | US |
| Location | 706 Union Ave.Memphis, Tennessee 38116 |
| Official Website | http://www.sunrecords.com/ |
Sun Records, located at 706 Union Ave., was a record label based in Memphis, Tennessee starting operations on March 27, 1952. Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash their first recording contracts and helping to launch their careers. Before those days Sun Records had mainly been noted for recording African-American artists, as Phillips loved Rhythm and Blues and wanted to get black music recorded for a white audience. It was Sun producer and engineer Jack Clement who discovered and recorded Jerry Lee Lewis while owner Sam Phillips was away on a trip to Florida. The original Sun Records logo was designed by John Gale Parker, Jr., a resident of Memphis and high school classmate of Sam Phillips.
The music of many Sun Records musicians helped lay part of the foundation of late 20th century popular music and rock and roll and influenced many younger musicians, particularly the Beatles. In 2001, Paul McCartney appeared on a tribute compilation album titled "Good Rockin' Tonight: The Legacy Of Sun Records".
In 1969, Mercury record label producer Shelby Singleton, noted for producing the Ray Stevens hit Ahab The Arab in 1962 and later for Jeannie C. Riley's 1968 hit single Harper Valley PTA on his Nashville-based Plantation Records label, purchased Sun from Sam Phillips. Singleton renamed it Sun International Corporation, which re-released and re-packaged compilations of Sun's early artists in the early 1970s. It would later introduce rockabilly tribute singer Jimmy Ellis in 1980 as Orion taking on the persona of Elvis Presley. The company remains in business today as Sun Entertainment Corporation, which currently licenses its brand and classic hit recordings (many of which have appeared in CD boxed sets and other compilations) to independent reissue labels. Its website sells collectible items as well as compact disks bearing the original 1950s Sun logo.
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[edit] Other "Sun Records"
There were also three obscure record companies that preceded the Memphis label.
The first Sun Records were single-sided disc records put out by The Crystalate Gramophone Record Manufacturing Company Ltd. of Tonbridge, Kent, England, from about 1905 to 1910. (The same company would later produce records under the name Imperial Records).
A nearly contemporaneous label was produced in the United States by The Leeds & Catlin Company, about 1905-1907.
The third Sun Records was produced by the Sun Record Company of Toronto, Canada in the early 1920s. Many or all of the masters pressed were leased from the USA based Okeh Records.
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