Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll

The authors, freelance writers, build a credible case for their assertion that the Sun studio was the birthplace of rock 'n' roll. Sun's founder, Sam Phillips, was the first to record artists who blended country music with rhythm and blues (R & B), creating the ``rockabilly'' sound that set the direction rock 'n' roll has taken to the present day. Sun, a Memphis, Tenn.-based label formed in 1952, never attained the level of success of the major record companies. But Phillips, a former disc jockey who broke into the record industry by recording R & B artists such as Howlin' Wolf and Joe Louis Hill, remains a seminal, almost legendary figure in modern music history, having discovered Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and a host of lesser-known performers who have influenced recording artists of the past 40 years. Well-written and well-researched, the book is a worthy addition to the growing literature of rock 'n' roll. Photos. (Apr.)