Cash in 1977
Al Green
Sun Studio, 706 Union Avenue, Memphis
Cash's boyhood home in Dyess, Arkansas, where he lived from the age of three in 1935 until he finished high school in 1950; the property, pictured here in 2021, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The home was renovated in 2011 to look as it did when Cash was a child.
Elvis Presley
78 demo record from Sam Phillips studio in Memphis
Publicity photo for Sun Records, 1955
Johnny Cash
The Tennessee Three with Cash in 1963
Justin Timberlake
Cash in 1969
Cash advocated prison reform at his July 1972 meeting with President Richard Nixon
Cash performing in Bremen, West Germany, in September 1972
Cash in the "one piece at a time" Cadillac
The Highwaymen members Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson
Johnny Cash sings with a Navy lieutenant during a military event c. undefined January 1987
Cash with President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush in 2002
Cash's grave located at Hendersonville Memory Gardens in Hendersonville, Tennessee
Cash and his second wife, June Carter, in 1969
The clothes and guitar of Johnny Cash on exhibit in the Artist Gallery of the Musical Instrument Museum of Phoenix

He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Howlin' Wolf.

- Sam Phillips

Sam Phillips

- Memphis Music Hall of Fame

Johnny Cash

- Memphis Music Hall of Fame

He auditioned for Sam Phillips by singing mostly gospel songs, only to learn from the producer that he no longer recorded gospel music.

- Johnny Cash

In 1998, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, in October 2001 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and in 2012 he was inducted into the inaugural class of the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.

- Sam Phillips

and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame (2013).

- Johnny Cash

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Perkins in 1977

Carl Perkins

3 links

American singer, songwriter, and guitarist who recorded at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, beginning in 1954.

American singer, songwriter, and guitarist who recorded at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, beginning in 1954.

Perkins in 1977
Perkins in 1956
Carl Perkins (2nd from left) performing "Glad All Over" with (left to right) Clayton Perkins, W.S. "Fluke" Holland, and Jay Perkins in the movie Jamboree
Historic marker commemorating Perkins alongside other famous peers
Continuation of the historic placard in tribute to Perkins

Perkins's songs were recorded by artists (and friends) as influential as Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash and Eric Clapton, which further established his place in the history of popular music.

Called "the King of Rockabilly", he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Sam Phillips was persuaded by the quality of that song to sign Perkins to his Sun Records label.

Presley in a publicity photograph for the 1957 film Jailhouse Rock

Elvis Presley

3 links

American singer and actor.

American singer and actor.

Presley in a publicity photograph for the 1957 film Jailhouse Rock
Presley's birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi
A photo of Elvis's parents at the Historic Blue Moon Museum in Verona, Mississippi
Presley in a Sun Records promotional photograph, 1954
The "iconic cover" of Presley's 1956 debut album, an image crucial in codifying the guitar as the defining instrument of rock and roll
Presley signing autographs in Minneapolis in 1956
Ed Sullivan and Presley during rehearsals for his second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, October 26, 1956
Presley performing live at the Mississippi-Alabama Fairgrounds in Tupelo, September 26, 1956
Presley and costar Judy Tyler in the trailer for Jailhouse Rock, released October 1957
Presley being sworn into the U.S. Army at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, March 24, 1958
Presley with Juliet Prowse in G.I. Blues
The '68 Comeback Special produced "one of the most famous images" of Presley. Taken on June 29, 1968, it was adapted for the cover of Rolling Stone in July 1969.
Presley meets U.S. President Richard Nixon in the White House Oval Office, December 21, 1970
Presley with friends Bill Porter and Paul Anka backstage at the Las Vegas Hilton on August 5, 1972
Presley came up with his outfit's eagle motif, as "something that would say 'America' to the world"
Presley's gravestone at Graceland
Presley with his longtime vocal backup group, the Jordanaires, March 1957
Publicity photo for the CBS program Stage Show, January 16, 1956
Poster for the film Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962), visualizing Presley's sex symbol image
Presley and Colonel Tom Parker, 1969
A group of Elvis impersonators in 2005
Presley's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6777 Hollywood Blvd
Presley meets U.S. President Richard Nixon in the White House Oval Office, December 21, 1970

His music career began there in 1954, recording at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African-American music to a wider audience.

Many fledgling performers, like Minnie Pearl, Johnny Horton, and Johnny Cash, sang the praises of Louisiana Hayride sponsor, Southern Maid Donuts, including Presley, who developed a lifelong love of doughnuts.

Presley has been inducted into five music halls of fame: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1986), the Country Music Hall of Fame (1998), the Gospel Music Hall of Fame (2001), the Rockabilly Hall of Fame (2007), and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame (2012).

Lewis in 2009

Jerry Lee Lewis

2 links

American singer, songwriter, and pianist.

American singer, songwriter, and pianist.

Lewis in 2009
An exhibit at the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday, Louisiana representing "Ferriday's Famous Cousins"; from left to right: Jimmy Swaggart, Lewis and Mickey Gilley
Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee, where Lewis began his career and recorded many of his most famous singles
Publicity photo of Lewis, c. 1950s
Lewis performing with Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash on The Johnny Cash Christmas Special in November 1977
Lewis performing in 1977
Lewis performing in 2009
Lewis performing at the Rhythm Festival in Bedford, England in 2006
Lewis performing in 2006
Lewis' "Brass Note" at the Beale Street Walk of Fame in Memphis
Jerry Lee Lewis Avenue in Ferriday, Louisiana
Mugshot in 1976
The gate to Lewis' ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi

He was also a member of the inaugural class inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.

Lewis is the last surviving member of Sun Records' Million Dollar Quartet and the album Class of '55, which also included Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Elvis Presley.

Label owner Sam Phillips was in Florida, but producer and engineer Jack Clement recorded Lewis's rendition of Ray Price's "Crazy Arms" and his own composition "End of the Road".

Orbison in 1965

Roy Orbison

2 links

American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads.

American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads.

Orbison in 1965
Orbison with his original thick-rimmed glasses (c. 1950s–1960s)
Orbison began performing while wearing sunglasses in 1963, later recalling that he "wasn't trying to be weird ... I didn't have a manager who told me to dress or how to present myself or anything, but the image developed of a man of mystery and a quiet man in black somewhat of a recluse, although I never was, really."
Orbison in 1967
Orbison with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis for a televised 1977 Christmas special
Orbison performing in New York in 1987
The Roy Orbison 
exhibit in the Artist Gallery of the Musical Instrument Museum of Phoenix
Orbison, center (in white), performing in 1976

He was signed by Sam Phillips of Sun Records in 1956, but enjoyed his greatest success with Monument Records.

Johnny Cash toured the area in 1955 and 1956, appearing on the same local TV show as the Wink Westerners, and he suggested that Orbison approach Sam Phillips at Sun Records.

Memphis Music Hall of Fame (2017)