Phillips spoke to Fresh Air in 1997 about launching Elvis Presley's career at Sun Records. He also produced early recordings of B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash. He died in 2003.

We start today's show with Sam Phillips, the founder of Sun Records. That's the Memphis-based label that launched the careers of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison ...

SAM PHILLIPS: My interest in Black music started at a very early age. I worked with Black people in the fields. My daddy was a farmer, and he grew cotton. And of course, cotton had to be picked and ...