The magic of Memphis tracing the roots of rock 'n' roll

I stayed on Elvis Presley Boulevard, but this was just a base to get around and to see some tourist hot spots. The Lorraine Motel, Peabody Hotel, Beale Street, Graceland and by chance the home of Sun Records which I drove past.

In 1950 Sam Phillips opened the Memphis Recording Service then with just local distribution two years later Sun Records was born with a single from saxophone player Johnny London and the instrumental record was Drivin’ Slow.

A lavish new book The Birth Of Rock ‘N’ Roll – The Illustrated Story Of Sun Records (Omnibus Press, £40.00), tells it all. Written by Grammy Award winner Peter Guralnick and Sun Records historian Colin Escott they were able to have their forward written by the recently departed Jerry Lee Lewis.

Colinwrote the Million Dollar Quartet stage musical which chronicles the night when Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley were in the recording room together one evening in Memphis for a loose jam. The book traces the roots and thinking behind Sun and associated labels, but the real finds are the rarely seen photographs of the artists. #Early shots of B.B. King, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Rufus ‘Hound Dog’ Thomas Jr or Howlin’ Wolf plus all the household names we associate with Sun.

A huge part of the book has illustrated reviews of whom the author describes as the 70 recordings that changed the world. It is here we can appreciate fully the musical significance of Folsom Prison Blues and I Walk The Line by Johnny Cash, That’s All Right and Mystery Train by Elvis Presley, Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On and Great Balls Of Fire from Jerry Lee Lewis or Matchbox and Blue Suede Shoes by Carl Perkins. More to discover too with Billy ‘The Kid’ Emerson, Doctor Ross or Doug Poindexter.

These were early days in rock with a portfolio that blended traditional country, rockabilly and the new rock ‘n’ roll. Where else would you hear Flyin’ Saucers Rock & Roll from High School graduates Billy Riley and His Little Green Men or the wild blues of Miss Froggie from Warren Smith. Still open today, you can book in to regular daily tours, buy the T shirt, stand in the same one room studio and even have a coffee in the shop.

Other labels of the time like Stax, Chess and Motown may have had the headlines but in terms of innovation nothing beats the early years of Sam Phillips and Sun Records.