MEMPHIS, Tennessee -- With the help of some simple recording gear (a Presto five-input mixing board and a Presto PT900 portable tape recorder) and an 18-foot-by-33-foot acoustically unique room, Sam Phillips made musical history.
"Rocket 88," considered by some to be the first rock 'n' roll single, was cut here at 706 Union Ave. at Phillips' Memphis Recording Service, later known as Sun Studio.
Howlin' Wolf, the magnificent Delta bluesman, recorded "Moanin' at Midnight," his first hit record, at Sun. Elvis laid down his first recording, "That's All Right," here too. Jerry Lee Lewis cut "Great Balls of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" at Sun. Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, B.B King and Johnny Cash -- they all made music at Sun.
And not only was rock 'n' roll born here, but Sun Studio also helped to spark the geek revolution, according to computer security researcher and musician Robert Ferrell.
"Basically, the explosion of home electronics, which is tied closely to the rise of geekdom, is a direct result of advances made in miniaturization and digital technology, and many of these were directly driven by the popular fascination with the entertainment industry," said Ferrell.
"The bloodline is almost biblical: Wire recorders begat recording discs, which begat magnetic tape recorders, which begat laser discs, which begat compact discs, which begat DVDs, which begat digital audio/video codecs, which begat the iPod, ad infinitum.
"But bottom line, music and geeks are inseparable," Ferrell said, "and Sun certainly played a big role in the evolution of that symbiosis."
Phillips' Memphis Recording Service opened Jan. 2, 1950, with the slogan, "We record anything-anywhere-anytime." The building had been the former home of a radiator repair shop. Phillips, with the help of a carpenter, renovated the room and either created, or perhaps simply enhanced, its now-renowned acoustic qualities.
"Sam was a sound geek," said John Schorr, the current president of Sun Studio. "He walked around the room clapping his hands to get a feel for the sound the room was capable of producing. He then used dozens of 1-foot-square asbestos acoustic tiles carefully placed on the walls and ceilings to produce a big, full sound. He said he wanted a lively studio, a studio that participated in the music, instead of the typical dead, blank-slate recording studio.
"And the room still has that special sound," said Schorr. "When you record in there you get a very full, rich, warm, dark and natural sound with that trademark echo that seems to be impossible to produce anywhere else."
It's amazing that the studio's special sound has survived. Phillips, who changed its name to Sun Studio in the spring of 1952, gave up the studio lease in 1959, and Sun sat empty for much of the next 30 years. Occasionally the building housed several small businesses, including a restaurant and a barber shop, but none of them stayed very long.
"When my brothers and I bought Sun in 1985, the recording studio was covered with wood paneling. We pulled it down, and there were all of Sam's carefully placed acoustic tiles, just as he'd left them," said Schorr. "We were thrilled. We restored the studio with Sam's help and reopened the doors in 1987."
Some of the gear that now sits in the studio, including what might be the microphone that Elvis used to cut his first records, had been in storage. Schorr purchased it and brought it back home.
The rest he's acquired over the years from musicians who recorded at Sun and wanted to see the studio restored to its former glory. He's also made some judicious purchases on eBay.
Visitors can tour the studio and learn of its history from guides, most of whom are also musicians. Along with the little thrill of standing in the room where musical history was made, on the X that marks the very spot where a young Elvis learned to swivel his hips and sneer, it's fun to hear about the glitches that contributed to rock 'n' roll's unique sound.
"When the Kings of Rhythm came here and recorded 'Rocket 88,' they dropped their amplifier on the way to the studio and the speaker ripped," said tour guide Mik Walker. "They couldn't afford a replacement, so they stuffed it with newspapers to hold the innards in place and just went with it. The paper-stuffed speaker produced a fuzzed-out distorted guitar sound that made the recording sound so unique."
Walker also revealed the secret of the cool "chk-chk" sound on Johnny Cash's "Get Rhythm." Cash stuck a folded dollar bill in the strings of his guitar to get that particular sound.
But the best part, at least for us blues freaks, was when Walker gestured vaguely toward the Elvis exhibit and said there was one man Sam Phillips said had the most amazing voice ever recorded.
The Elvis fans on the tour nodded knowingly, and grinned lovingly at the life-size Elvis poster. That is, until Walker pointed out that Phillips had actually been talking about blues singer Howlin' Wolf. I thought one Elvis fan was going to burst into disappointed tears when that little factoid was revealed.
"I don't ever want Sun to be turned into a stagnant, dead tourist attraction," said Schorr. "We want to make sure it remains, first and foremost, a recording studio."
To ensure Sun stays alive, Schorr is preparing to launch a special program for garage bands, those purveyors of rough and raunchy music with no pretensions to polish and sanitized-for-your-safety commercial appeal (thank god).
Schorr will be asking independent college radio stations to nominate their favorite local garage bands, and then a group of Memphis music lovers, including some members of the Grammy Awards committee, will select the most interesting bands.
Sun will then sponsor the selected bands, one each month, so they can get to Memphis and record their music at Sun. The recordings will then be sent out to all the college radio stations participating in the program, to promote new music made at rock 'n' roll's most famous old studio.
"It's important to us that Sun is more than a legend, more than a piece of history," said Schorr. "We want Sun to rock on."
*Wired news reporter Michelle Delio and photographer Laszlo Pataki have begun their four-week, geek-seeking journey along the Great River Road. If you know of a town they should visit, a person they should meet, a weird roadside attraction they have to see or a great place to fuel up on chili mac, barbecue, gumbo, boiled mudbugs and the like, please send an e-mail to *[email protected].
