The Next Elvis: Searching for Stardom at Sun Records

Title Page, Copyright Page

the next elvis This page intentionally left blank t h e nextel v i s SEARCHING FOR STARDOM AT SUN records LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS BATON ROUGE BarBara Barnes sims LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS Published by Louisiana State University Press Copyright © 2014 by Barbara Barnes Sims All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America first printing designer: Mandy McDonald Scallan typeface: Whitman printer and binder: Maple Press Inc. This book is a personal recollection. All names, dates, and events herein are accurate to the best of the author’s knowledge, and all opinions expressed are hers. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sims, Barbara Barnes, 1933– The next Elvis : searching for stardom at Sun Records / Barbara Barnes Sims. pages cm Includes index. ISBN 978-0-8071-5798-5 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8071-5799-2 (pdf) — ISBN 978-0-8071-5800-5 (epub)—ISBN 978-0-8071-5801-2 (mobi) 1. Sims, Barbara Barnes, 1933– 2. Sound recording industry—Tennessee—Memphis—Employees—Biography . 3. Sun Records—History. 4. Phillips, Sam, 1923–2003. I. Title. ML429.S57A3 2014 781.64092—dc23 [B] 2014006075 The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. ∞ In memory of family members—Robert, Susie, Maude, and Eleanor—whose love and encouragement continue to sustain me, For my daughter Sue, And for Will, who inspired me to tell this story. This page intentionally left blank If the origin of a music can be traced to any one source, for rock ’n’ roll that source would be Sun. And if there is one man without whom the revolution which took place in American popular music seems difficult to imagine, that man is Sam Phillips. —peter guralnick, Feel Like Going Home (E. P. Dutton, 1971) . . . four women employees, Phillips says, run the business. —edwin howard, quoting Sam Phillips, “He’s Made $2 Million on Disks—Without a Desk,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, April 29, 1959 This page intentionally left blank ...