Sun Records and the Nebraska Connection
Sun Records is one of the most famous names in music. From a small studio in Memphis, Tennessee, Sam Phillips recorded some of the first rock and roll records and helped launch the careers of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison. It might seem a long way from Memphis to Norfolk, Nebraska, but the two are closely linked in the history of the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame. Here is the story of Sun Records and its Nebraska connection.
A Short History of Sun Records
Sam Phillips opened the Memphis Recording Service at 706 Union Avenue in 1950. At first he recorded anything that paid – weddings, speeches and local performers – while also making records with blues and R&B artists and leasing the masters to other labels. In 1951 the studio recorded "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, a record often cited as one of the first rock and roll songs.
In 1952 Phillips launched his own label, Sun Records. Early releases featured blues and R&B artists, and Rufus Thomas gave the label one of its first hits with "Bear Cat" in 1953. In 1954 a young truck driver named Elvis Presley recorded "That's All Right" at the studio, and everything changed. Over the next few years Sun released landmark records by Presley, Carl Perkins ("Blue Suede Shoes"), Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Charlie Rich, defining the sound that came to be called rockabilly.
Phillips later opened a larger studio in Memphis and expanded into radio and other businesses. He sold the Sun label to Shelby Singleton in 1969. The original building at 706 Union Avenue survives as Sun Studio, a National Historic Landmark.
An Omaha Song in Elvis's Early Repertoire
One of the first Nebraska links to Sun runs through a song. Omaha-born blues shouter Wynonie Harris had a major R&B hit in 1948 with "Good Rockin' Tonight", a song written and first recorded by Roy Brown. In 1954 Elvis Presley recorded it for Sun as his second single. Harris's Hall of Fame page calls the song Elvis's "calling card to fame" – an Omaha singer's hit became part of the foundation of rockabilly.
Memphis Stars on the Midwest Circuit
By the late 1950s and 1960s, Memphis artists regularly toured the Midwest ballroom circuit described in our article on Nebraska's ballrooms. Two of them, Rufus Thomas and Dickey Lee, became especially important to Nebraska musicians. Both had Sun Records roots: Thomas had recorded for Sun in its early years, and Lee, a Memphis native, released songs on Sun before scoring national hits such as "Patches" (No. 6 in 1962) on Smash Records.
Touring singers often traveled without a full band and hired regional groups to back them. Norfolk's The Smoke Ring backed Dickey Lee, Rufus Thomas and other stars at ballrooms across a five-state area – and those performances opened the door to Memphis.
The Smoke Ring Goes to Memphis
According to the Hall of Fame's history, The Smoke Ring's work with Dickey Lee led the band to Sam Phillips' recording studio in Memphis, where they cut "That Girl Was My Girl One Time", released on Mala Records. The sessions were engineered by Knox Phillips, Sam's son, and they introduced Smoke Ring guitarist Jim Casey – later the founder of the Hall of Fame – to Sam's youngest son, Jerry Phillips.
In 1968 the band went back to Memphis to record again, with Dickey Lee producing and help from Allen Reynolds, Knox Phillips and Sam Kesler. Allen Reynolds later became a well-known Nashville producer, working with Garth Brooks. The sessions included pianist Bobby Wood, songwriter Bob McDill and horn players Andrew Love and Wayne Jackson, the duo known as the Memphis Horns. The producers steered the band toward an easy-listening sound, and their remake of "No Not Much" – released first on the local Goldust label and then nationally by Buddah Records – became a regional No. 1 in several markets, reached No. 17 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart and took the band to Dick Clark's American Bandstand in 1969.
The Phillips Family and the Hall of Fame
The friendship formed in Memphis lasted. In 1998 the Hall of Fame inducted Sun Records and Jerry Phillips, recognizing the label's influence on Nebraska rock and roll and its direct connection to The Smoke Ring. Jerry Phillips, a guitarist, pianist and songwriter, had been a member of The Jesters, whose "Cadillac Man" the Hall of Fame describes as the last release on Sun. He was billed as the special guest at the July 1998 Nebraska Rocks shows in Norfolk – his first Nebraska performance – on a bill with The Smoke Ring, Don Sohl and the Roadrunners, The Dynamic Drifters, The Strollers and The Classics. Dickey Lee himself was inducted into the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame in 2002.
Visiting Sun Studio Today
If the story makes you want to see where it began, Sun Studio at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis offers guided tours and still operates as a working recording studio. Tour times and prices change, so check the studio's current information before you travel. Closer to home, our guide to Nebraska music history sites lists places to explore the state's own rock and roll heritage.
Follow the Memphis connection. Read the Hall of Fame pages for The Smoke Ring, Dickey Lee and Jerry Phillips, and explore the 1998 inductees.
Conclusion
Sun Records shaped rock and roll everywhere, but for Nebraska the connection is personal. An Omaha singer's hit helped launch Elvis Presley, Memphis stars toured the state's ballrooms, and a Norfolk band recorded in Sam Phillips' studio and formed friendships that helped create the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame. The road from Union Avenue to Norfolk is one of the great stories in Midwest music.