SunRecords—Rock

ABOUT

Sam Phillips founded Sun Records in Memphis in 1952, creating the most historically significant recording studio in American music history. Sun launched the careers of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins, effectively inventing rock and roll by combining rhythm and blues with country music. The label's "slapback" tape echo — created by routing signal between two tape machines — became one of the most imitated sonic signatures in popular music.

PRODUCER NOTES

Sun's slapback echo effect on vocals and instruments is one of the most distinctive sounds in early American recording. The primitive recording setup — single microphone, direct-to-tape, natural room ambience — produced a live, three-dimensional sound that is impossible to replicate with modern tools.

NOTABLE ROCK ARTISTS