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" Sam Phillips' role as psychologist as important as his work as producer "
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By Norm Shaw
There's never been any doubt about Sam Phillips' role in the shaping of Elvis Presley. Phillips was perhaps the pivotal figure in young Elvis' musical life. That point is made perfectly clear in Peter Guralnick's definitive biography, Last Train to Memphis. And at the forefront of that role, was Phillips' ability to push Elvis to places he had never been before musically. But Phillips' real genius was the pairing of Elvis with Scotty Moore and Bill Black. Phillips played more than the role of producer, he played the role of psychologist. It is a role he remembers fondly: Elvis coming in the first time, Phillips calling Moore, all of them meeting again in the studio. And as unlikely as it all may have been, Phillips always had a plan. Sitting in Phillips' living room talking about the early years is like a step back in time. Bits of history and remembrance pepper his conversations and stories. While talking about setting up Elvis' first meeting with Scotty and Bill, Phillips drops a reference to recording the Prisonnaires. He doesn't say it as a name-dropper, but matter-of-factly, as if we were talking about last week and it was natural for him to mention the Prisonnaires in conversation. "Elvis didn't even have a little group to work with," Phillips says. "Most kids, they have at least one or two they banged around with. And after meeting Elvis and coming back from Nashville from recording the Prisonnaires and after we cut that little demo for him demo for him, I just knew. I called Scotty, cause Scotty was the type Elvis needed. I'm not talking as a musician and such, I'm talking about a person who would not give Elvis any bad vibes when they were, quote unquote, woodshedding to learn. Buddy, that was important." Phillips says Elvis' insecurities stemmed from being poor. It was an attitude Phillips had seen before in the young black musicians he recorded at 706 Union Ave. "Elvis felt a whole lot like black young people and older people who came in," the producer says. "Elvis had been a very poor, insecure person based on how he had to come up. It was certainly no impeachment of his character. But you can just be whipped around so long. His Momma and Daddy was really having a rough time." It was these insecurities that made Phillips think hard about who he would team Elvis with. The band needed to be the right mix of personality and professionalism, players who could teach Elvis yet not intimidate him. "I knew that if we got the wrong person with Elvis, you could forget it," Phillips says. "So I called Scotty. He was working in his brother's dry-cleaning plant, blocking hats or something like that. Scotty's just such a nice person. He's patient, and he doesn't get all tied in knots. Now Bill was exactly the antithesis of that. And that was good." Phillips says it also was important to not put too much pressure on the young Elvis. "I told him, 'Elvis, I'm going to call Scotty Moore. And I'm sure Scotty can work with you some. I can't commit him until we get together, ya'll get together and see if it clicks.' So I called Scotty, and this was after Elvis had left the studio, and I said, 'Scotty, I got a young man here I just feel really has some very, very unusual talent. He does not have a band. I'd like you to take him and get somebody and all you need is a drum or upright bass.' And I knew he'd call Bill. it hit me 'cause Bill had been slapping bass with him. Scotty said he'd get Bill, and I said, 'He's the perfect damn guy for you to get.' "All Elvis needed was somebody pretty damn good on the guitar, with a lot of patience. And he needed somebody a little crazy like Bill. Bill was crazy like a fox. He was just the antithesis of Scotty. But Scotty was just in charge when they went into the studio." After a few weeks of rehearsals, at first a little awkward, the trio clicked. Phillips decided it was time to bring them into the studio. After some initial run throughs and little headway, the band took a break. During the break they played around a little bit on "That's All right (Mama)," a hit for Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup. It was what Phillips was looking for. So much of that success is the result of Scotty Moore, Phillips believes. "It was just perfect combination. It just hit me, man this guy is the guy to have with Elvis. He won't discourage Elvis, 'cause hey man, you lose confidence you're going to stone fall down, even if you are the greatest singer or picker in the universe. They played a very important part in this. I knew the importance of the psychology of this thing, 'cause that was exactly the way you had to deal with poor blacks and whites. You'd be surprised how similar Elvis was in his demeanor to a black musician. There's no telling how many times Elvis drove by the studio in that damn Crown Electric truck, and I knew they weren't doing that kind of business in that area." It was out of those early sessions and the ones that followed over the next year that the Elvis legacy was built. Phillips' part remains an integral part of that legacy. It was a topic he and Elvis would discuss later in life, as well as their initial meeting. "He told me later, right here in this room, that the thing that really got him interested in Sun Records was he loved 'Mystery Train' that I cut with Little Junior Parker. He loved that on Ol' Dewey's show (Dewey Phillips' radio show, where Elvis' first record was played). He was determined one damn way or another to get up the courage to come in the studio, but he wasn't going to come in and ask for an audition. He had to come in and pay to cut a little record for his mother, and he lied about that. He was a little late on her birthday." But he was right on time for Sam Phillips. And together they made history.
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