Sam Phillips (1923-2003) was an American record maker. In 1951, he opened a recording studio in Memphis. His main purpose behind the setting up of the studio was to encourage local amateur talents. In other words he did not open the studio because there were many renowned musicians in Memphis or because the prospect of making big money was there. And never in his wildest dream did he think that one day a young man would step into his average modest studio and record a song that would forever change the history of popular music and spark a cultural revolution the likes of which mankind had never seen.
During the 1940s and 1950s, Memphis was a place inhabited by a large number of black Americans (Negros). And most of these Negros were poor farmers and poor factory workers living in abject poverty. But many of these people had a passion for music and so in those times it was a common sight to see many sitting by the road side or in front of their home porches singing songs and playing their guitars.
After Sam Phillips opened the recording studio, many of these poor local people would step into the studio to record songs. Most of the people who walked into the studio were not even trained musicians or renowned artists with musical background. They were mostly farmers, factory workers, salesmen, garage workers, electricians and others who were engaged in similar menial works. And they recorded songs not because they wanted to make money out of it or to release it to the public but because they wanted to hear their own voices. One could record a song for $3 (one side of the record disc) and two songs for $5 (both sides of the record disc). It was as simple as that. So most of them came in, sang their songs, recorded it and took it home for themselves.
Though Sam Phillips himself was not a musician and had no musical background, he had an uncanny interest and talent at identifying good voices and good music. And through his modest studio, he was playing his small part in identifying voices and music which were a little different and unique from others so that he could promote such voices and music and present it to the public. In other words, he was not necessarily looking for some great musicians or super-talented artists. But he was basically looking for voices or music which was different from normal.
In those years and in that area, black music was very popular and widespread and it is said that Sam Phillips himself was a fan of the black man’s music. It was the 1950s and black Americans (Negros) were still treated as second-class citizens. So that was probably creating an obstacle for Phillips. He was white and so people may not appreciate much if he started promoting black artists in his studio. So he was basically in search of a white man who would sound like a black man and could sing the black man’s music. And he was soon going to find his man.
In June 1953, a young stylish man with black hair and sideburns walked into the studio and said that he wanted to make a record for his mother’s birthday. At that time, Phillips was not in the studio and so his assistant told the young man to wait for sometime. As the young man sat there waiting, he struck up a conversation with the assistant and it went like this:
The young man: ‘Do you know anybody looking for a singer?’
The assistant: ‘What kind of a singer are you anyway?’
The young man: ‘I sing all kinds.’
The assistant: ‘Who do you sound like?’
The young man: ‘I don’t sound like nobody.’
That day the young man recorded two songs for his mother’s birthday and went away. But over the next six months he would frequently drop into the studio with his guitar to record songs. As the assistant listened to the voice of this young man, she somehow felt that he sounded like a black man. And so she told Phillips about him. When Phillips listened to the young man, he immediately felt there was something different about the voice and he could see raw talent at its best.
Upon learning that the young man had no band, Phillips arranged two renowned musicians of Memphis, guitarist Scotty Moore and slab bassist Bill Black and told them to practice some songs and record in his studio. Scotty and Bill were also given the assignment to train the young fellow and make him more refined.
After some practice, the trio finally came to the studio on 5th July 1954 to record the songs they had been practicing. But Sam Phillips was not at all impressed with the way the young man was singing. Sam was unhappy because he could not see any emotion in the songs. It was about to be midnight and all of them were tired. The tension was building up because they all had work the next day. Sam walked out of the studio angrily to have some coffee and Scotty followed him out and the young man was left with the bassist in the studio room.
In the room adjacent to the studio, Sam expressed his dismay to Scotty for not training the young man properly. While they were there having coffee Sam suddenly heard something really incredible coming out from the studio. While inside the studio with the slab bassist, the young man started singing a blues song called ‘that’s all right mama’ and the bassist spontaneously joined. When Phillips heard the sound of this song coming out from the studio, he was deeply impressed and he rushed inside the studio and announced that he was going to record that song.
At this, the guitarist Scotty and the bassist Bill said that they did not even know the lyrics of the song. But Sam was not going to listen to any excuses and told them to just accompany the young man as he sings. And that was exactly what they did. They just recorded the song impromptu and never did they know that the song would go on to change the history of popular music.
I guess by now you must have known who the young man was. Yes, it was Elvis Presley. Elvis and his band had no intention of recording the song ‘that’s all right’ during that recording session. The song was recorded by accident. That night Sam Phillips went home with the record and announced to his family that he’s got a hit record.
Sam wanted to release the song. So after a few days he called back the trio into his studio and told them to record another song since another song was needed for the Side-B of the disc record. The trio sat down again to decide which song to record for the Side –B. As they sat pondering which song to choose, Bill Black began humming the song ‘blue moon of Kentucky’. Elvis knew the song and so he started singing the song. When Phillips heard the song, he said ‘okay, let’s do that song’ and that was how that song became Side – B of the record.
These first two songs which Elvis ever recorded were recorded accidentally and impromptu without any rehearsal. The song ‘that’s all right mama’ lasted only about 2 minutes but it made Elvis the most famous musician on the planet. And after that, as Scotty Moore later said, “all hell broke loose”. And music historians came to label it as the most beautiful accident of the 20th century.
Nobody likes accidents but I have realized all accidents may not be bad. As the saying goes, ‘man proposes but god disposes’. There are times when we spend enormous resources, time and energy planning something but it does not turn out satisfactory. And there are also times when even without any proper planning, things turn out beautifully. So I guess we always need to stay open and view things with a good attitude in its right perspective. For instance, there are some photographs at my home which I took with family and friends after thorough preparation. But these have not turned out as precious and memorable as some photos which I took randomly without any preparation and without even dressing up for the occasion. I guess they are more memorable because they are real and authentic and there are no artificiality attached to them. There are also times when I make thorough plans to meet someone and get things done but such meetings sometimes do not go as planned. But on the other hand there are also times when I accidentally bumped into someone unexpected in public places and had productive conversations resulting in things good, pleasant, productive and memorable.
I am not against planning but I guess we need to stay open and adjustable because sometimes even things which we do impromptu can lead to amazing things…because the day of miracle is never over.
