Sun Studio

The Memphis studio where Elvis Presley recorded his first sides for Sun Records.

Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, is the recording studio where Elvis Presley cut his earliest sides for Sun Records. Sessions at Sun Studio took place on July 5, August 19, and September 10, 1954, and on July 11, 1955. These sessions produced tracks that later appeared on Presley's debut album, including "I Love You Because", "Just Because", "Tryin' to Get to You", "I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')", and "Blue Moon". Sam Phillips, the head of Sun Records, produced these sessions. On November 21, 1955, RCA Victor purchased Presley's contract from Phillips for $40,000, and the rights to the Sun Studio tapes transferred to RCA Victor with that sale.

Quick Facts

Location: 706 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Locmapin: Tennessee#USA
Built: 1950
Area: less than one acre
Refnum: 03001031

Facts from the source article.

Lore & Background

The Sun Studio sessions produced five tracks that ended up on Elvis Presley's debut album: "I Love You Because", "Just Because", "Tryin' to Get to You", "I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')", and "Blue Moon". These were added to seven RCA Victor session tracks to bring the album to an acceptable length. The Sun tracks were mostly country-styled, so Elvis and RCA Victor leavened the album with covers of recent rhythm and blues songs. Sam Phillips produced the Sun sessions, and no producer was officially listed for the RCA Victor sessions, leading to the belief that Presley himself produced them. A promise by RCA's Steve Sholes to Sam Phillips to protect the career of Sun artist Carl Perkins kept "Blue Suede Shoes" from being released as a single initially.