Sam Phillips--Rock and Roll Visionary Quiz

Answer: Alabama

Sam Phillips was born just outside of Florence, Alabama. He was the youngest of eight children. His parents were tenant farmers.

Answer: Memphis Recording Service

Sam opened the Memphis Recording Service in 1950. Two years later it became SUN Studios.

Answer: That's All Right Mama

Elvis had such a wide range of musical tastes and song knowledge. Sam Phillips tried to dig something out of Elvis when he had him in the studio with Bill Black and Scotty Moore. At one point Elvis picked up the guitar and began singing "That's All Right", just clowning around. Sam burst out of the control room, ecstatic! The rest, as they say, is history.

Answer: Marian Kiesker

Marian Kiesker was the first person Elvis Presley met when he came to the Memphis Recording Service to make a recording for his Mother. Sam Phillips wasn't there at the time, but Marian told him about Elvis. Becky was Sam's wife. Sally came on later as another office assistant. Dixie Locke was one of Elvis's first steady girlfriends.

Answer: All of the on-air personalities were women

Actually WHER did not play any records by SUN artists, despite the fact that Sam owned the station. He wanted to avoid any appearance of impropriety as there were already stirrings in the industry involving "payola". Elvis gave his first radio interview to Dewey Phillips on WHBQ in Memphis shortly after "That's All Right Mama" was released.

Answer: Jerry Lee Lewis

By the time the Million Dollar Quartet had that impromptu session at SUN Elvis was already with RCA. Cash and Perkins were both in negotiations with Don Light at Columbia and eventually signed, leaving Jerry Lee, whose career was on the rise until a scandal involving his marriage to a 13 year old cousin came out during a tour of England.

Answer: Jack Clement

"Cowboy" Jack Clement sensed that a piece of music history that was unlikely to ever occur again was happening right before his eyes. "I just had to get it down on tape" he has stated many times. Jack went on to become one of Nashville's premier songwriters and producers.

He was also the man who discovered and developed the career of Charlie Pride, the most successful African-American artist in country music history.

Answer: Marty Stuart

Jerry Lee was the only surviving member of the "Million Dollar Quartet" and was said to be so overcome with emotion he couldn't attend. Marty is known not only for his artistry but as a devotee of the history of country and rock and roll. He and Sam's sons conducted the musical tributes.

Answer: An Oldsmobile car

"Rocket 88" is considered by many to be the first rock and roll record. Originally Ike Turner and his band were slated to record the song but Turner's saxophone player Jackie Brenston was encouraged by Sam Phillips to do the vocal. Turner's arrogance was not appreciated by Sam and the resulting recording was credited to "Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats".

Although the song was loosely influenced by an earlier instrumental called "Cadillac Boogie" the "88" refers to an Oldsmobile 88.

Answer: Yes

Sam and Elvis were both inducted in 1986, the inaugural class of the Hall. Sam was inducted as a "non-performer" along with legendary DJ Alan Freed.