Phillips Recording got his start, and a studio in Tupelo, Mississippi for demos. The Nashville and Tupelo studios were short-lived. Sun Records' many artists recorded there until 1969, when the label was sold to Mercury Records producer Shelby Singleton of Nashville. Phillips Recording continued operating, and hosted recordings by a newer generation of rock-and-roll groups like the Cramps, starting in 1979, drawn in part by the mystique of Sam Phillips. Numerous Memphis veteran sessions musicians of several genres, from soul to country, rock and others, have worked there over the years, and the studio still records various musical styles. Sam Phillips' son
Sam Phillips But I said to myself, 'You can't do that, Sam.' If I had released a ballad I don't think you would have heard of Elvis Presley." Much has been written about Phillips's goals, but he stated that "everyone knew that I was just a struggling cat down here trying to develop new and different artists, and get some freedom in music, and tap some resources and people that weren't being tapped." He didn't care about mistakes; he cared about the feel. Phillips met Presley through the mediation of his longtime collaborator at the Memphis Recording Service, Marion Keisker, who was