NFS
Form
10-900
USDI/NPS
NRHP
Registration
Form
(Rev. 8-86)
OMB
No.
1024-0018
SUN
RECORD COMPANY/MEMPHIS
RECORDING
SERVICE
Page
26
United
States
Department
of
the
Interior,
National
Park
Service
National
Register
of
Historic
Places
Registration
Form
The
period
of
significance
for
this
property
is
1949-1960,
which
coincides
exactly
with
the
years
that
Sam
Phillips
operated
his
recording
service
and
record
company
at
this location.
This
is
the
only
building
associated with
Phillips's
productive
life
as
a
record producer
during the
years
that
he
made
exceptional
contributions
to
American
music. He
continued
to
be
a
record
producer
after
his
studio
relocated
to
Madison
Avenue
in
1960,
but
those
efforts
were
occasional,
not
routine.
Since
the
sale
of
Sun
Records in
1969,
Phillips
has
only
produced
a
handful
of
artists,
most
notably
John
Prine
in
1979
("Pink
Cadillac")
and
the
"Class
of
'55:
Memphis
Rock
'n'
Roll
Homecoming"
in
1985.
Although
some
of
the
years
included
in
the
period
of
significance,
the
years
1953-1960,
are
less
than
50
years
ago,
the
extraordinary
significance
of
this
property
during
that
period
clearly
satisfies
National
Historic
Landmark
Exception
8.
This
property
has
a
high
degree
of
integrity.
It
opened
to
the
public
as
a
historic
site
in
1987
to
promote
and
interpret
the
history
of
Sun
Records,
now
known
as
Sun Studio,
and
careful
attention
has
been
given
to
retaining
the
building's
historic
character.
The
building's
current
owner
also
purchased
the
adjacent
two-story
brick
building
on
the
corner
(710
Union
Avenue)
to
accommodate
services
for
visitors
to Sun
Studio
(706
Union
Avenue)
in
a
separate
location.
In
recent
years,
Sam
Phillips and
Sun
Records
have
been
examined
at
length
in
books,
magazine
articles,
television
documentaries, music compilations,
etc.
Peter
Guralnick
is
a
prolific
writer
on
American
roots
music
and
a
preeminent
authority
on
this
subject.
The
dedication
for his
1979
book,
Lost
Highway-Journeys
and
Arrivals
of
American
Musicians,
reads,
"For
Sam
Phillips and
Chester
Burnett,
the
real
heroes
of
rock
'n'
roll."
Guralnick
regards
Phillips
as
"the
man
who
started
it
all...
the
man
who almost
single-handedly
authored
one
of
the
most
remarkable
chapters
in
the
history
of
American
popular
music."
85
In
the
Foreword
to
Good
Rockin'
Tonight
-
Sun
Records
and
the
Birth
of
Rock
'N'
Roll,
the
definitive
history
of
Sun
Records
to
date,
Guralnick
wrote
this
assessment:
It
is
a
music
of
almost
unparalleled
richness
and
diversity.
Sam
Phillips,
in
scarcely
a
decade
of
full-scale
involvement
in
the
record
business—and
for
most
of
that
decade
functioning
largely
as
a
one-man
operation—created
a
legacy
comparable
to
no
other,
really,
provided
the
stylistic
bedrock
not
just
for
rock
'n'
roll
but
for
much
of
modern
blues
as
well.
And
. . .
it
was
no
accident
of
spontaneous generation
but,
rather,
the
culmination
of
a
social
and
historical
vision.
86
Sam
Phillips
was
an
original
inductee
into
the
Rock
'n'
Roll
Hall
of
Fame
in
1986
and
the
first
person
inducted
in
the
Non-Performers
category.
In
1987,
he
received
the
Lifework
Award
for
Non-Performing
Achievement from
the
Alabama
Music
Hall
of
Fame.
The
Blues
Hall
of
Fame
recognized
Phillips
in
the
Non-Performers
category
in
1998,
and
most
recently,
Phillips
was
elected
to
the
Country
Music
Hall
of
Fame
in
2001.
Sam
Phillips
is
the
only
person
ever
elected
to
all
three
music
Halls
of
Fame;
Rock
'n'
Roll,
Blues,
and
Country.
He
also
has
a
Grammy, the
record
industry's
most
prestigious
award
from
the
National
Academy
of
Recording
Arts
and
Sciences.
85
Peter
Guralnick,
Lost
Highway:
Journeys
and
Arrivals
of
American
Musicians
(Boston,
New York,
London:
Little,
Brown
and
Company,
1979,
1999),
325.
86
Escott,
Good
Rockin'
Tonight,
Foreword.