Sam Phillips R.I.P.

http://www.wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=1382877&nav=3HvDHCrQ

The day the music died for realz...

They knew I was boss. But they knew I was boss because I knew what I was doing, and I never, not one time, went in and said, "Oh my God, this ain't the way to do it." I said, "The one damn thing you can't do in here if you're going to work with me: You can't hold anything back. And don't look at me and say, 'This white man ain't going to want to hear this. He's going to want to hear something that Count Basie would do, or that Ella Fitzgerald would sing.'" All those fabulous people. I said, "That's not what I'm looking for. If that's what you do, I want to hear it, but I'm going to send you somewhere where they'll record you, because I ain't interested in that." And, boy, it really did loosen people up a lot that might've thought, "Oh, he might be ashamed of what my indigenous field is, or the songs that I know and played at little clubs." We were poor folks. Black and white poor folks, including myself. Sometimes we learn more from the extreme circumstances that we find ourselves in. And I have found that so many ways, in country music, and black music, and gospel music, both black and white gospel music... I have said it so often, but there has never been an elixir that is so freeing, to the people that need freedom the most, as music. And I'm not just talking about the color of skin. I'm talking about people that never thought they'd have a damn opportunity for anybody to listen to them. They didn't know how, or couldn't get to New York or Chicago or Nashville. And they were loaded down with so many people that they couldn't take them all. I'm not saying anything against these people. I'm just saying that, godawmighty, I came in to help myself, but I came in to help them, too.

(Rest of interview here.)

And then there's that dialogue with Jerry Lewis about God and sin.

James evidently he just ran out of luck.

yeah, that one. have you seen the transcript anywhere on the web, amateurist? anyone? i have a powerful need to read it right now.

in general though, sam phillips was clearly a great, great man in many ways and it's a shame he's gone

On a side note, he aged rather well. I remember seeing an interview with him on Charlie Rose in the early 90s with a friend and we were joking that he looked younger then than in the pictures at Sun in the 50s.

Says it all really.

The man was an exploitative cheat who took advantage of poor country boys who loved their mamas--that is to say, the very essence of rock&roll. Heaven just got a little more fun.

I don't know where you're getting that, Horace. Do you have a source?

as for horace's comment on shady business dealings, let's not tar Sam with a revisionist brush from 2003. Comparatively speaking for his time, Phillips was a saint when it came to record label dealings.

As a businessman, Phillips was not perfect, and artists would sometimes question his royalty statements and selection of material for
release when interviewed long after the '50s. As a producer, however, he certainly seems to have been gifted at eliciting great
performances from his artists. Sun records were often imbued with a "slapback" echo, created by a small tape delay when the signal was
bounced between machines. Whether on sessions principally overseen by Phillips or others, Sun studio personnel were good at positioning
instruments so that an especially crisp sound emerged. The resulting "Sun sound" was recognizable enough that many collectors
automatically respect and purchase almost anything on the label.

For one thing, he was a fairly lousy businessman when it came to preserving his own assets--at least until Holiday Inn came along.

But yeah, I think we're basically in agreement. Royalties were handled, um, differently back then, across the board, and Sam was probably less fair than some and fairer than most. But like you said, I doubt many or any artist begrudge the chance he gave them to reach a wide audience and the producing skills he brought to the table.

Phillips was actually quite musically perceptive, I think, unlike a lot of his contemporaries like, uh, that guy at King who called James Brown a piece of shit. Charlie Feathers got mad at Sam for suggesting that honky tonk ("the next George Jones"), not rock and roll, was his strong suit. But I think Sam was right.

Lewis: "You can do good, Mr. Phillips, don't get me wrong—"

Phillips: "Now wait, wait, listen. When I say do good—"

Lewis: "You can have a kind heart!"

Phillips: "I don't just mean, I don't mean just—"

Lewis: "You can help people!"

Phillips: "You can save souls!"

Lewis: "No! No! No! No!"

Phillips: "Yes!"

Lewis: "How can the Devil save souls? What are you talking about?"

For a Yeti.

i'm a poor country boy who loves his mama and I'd do just about anything to be exploited by somebody like Sam Phillips

gimme six months to grow an Old Testament beard and then come over to my place, buddy.