One of the most innovative and inspiring figures in the history of American music, Sun Records founder Sam Phillips introduced the world to Johnny Cash, Howlin’ Wolf, B. B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Rufus Thomas, and many other brilliant and original artists. His musical tastes and his creative philosophy led him to discover and record artists with singular styles, who sang with raw emotion. The sounds he captured in his small, storefront studio changed popular music forever.

This book was published as a companion to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum exhibition Flyin’ Saucers Rock & Roll: The Cosmic Genius of Sam Phillips, co-curated by award-winning writer Peter Guralnick, who has previously written acclaimed biographies of both Elvis Presley and Sam Phillips. The richly illustrated book features more than 140 rare photos, and it includes insightful writing from Guralnick and Sam Phillips’s son, Knox Phillips.