The author of the critically acclaimed Elvis Presley biographyLast Train to Memphisbrings us the life of Sam Phillips, the visionary genius who singlehandedly steered the revolutionary path of Sun Records.
The music that he shaped in his tiny Memphisstudio with artists as diverse as Elvis Presley, Ike Turner, Howlin' Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash, introduced a soundthat had never been heard before. He brought forth a singular mix of black and white voices passionately proclaiming the vitality of the American vernacular tradition while at the same time declaring, once and for all, a new,integratedmusical day. With extensive interviews and firsthand personal observations extending over a 25-year period with Phillips, along with wide-ranging interviews with nearly all thelegendary Sun Records artists, Guralnick gives us an ardent, unrestrained portrait of an American original as compelling in his own right as Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, or Thomas Edison.
Peter Guralnick has written extensively on American music and musicians. His books include the prize-winning Elvis Presley two-part biography
Last Train to Memphisand
Careless Love; an acclaimed trilogy on American roots music,
Sweet Soul Music, Lost Highwayand
Feel Like Going Home; the biographical inquiry
Searching for Robert Johnson; the novel
Nighthawk Blues; and
Dream Boogie,a biography of Sam Cooke. He splits his time between Nashville and Massachusetts.
New York TimesBestsellerOne ofThe Washington Post'sNotable Nonfiction Books of 2015 Mr. Guralnick is a sensitive biographer who has landed upon a perfect topic in Phillips, the brilliant Memphis producer who, in the 1950s, recorded the earliest work of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Howlin' Wolf. This is vital American history, smartly and warmly told.
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