Books by Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Flyin' Saucers Rock & Roll: The Cosmic Genius of Sam Phillips (Distributed for the Country Music Foundation Press)

by Peter Guralnick, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

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.

Historic RCA Studio B

by Peter Cooper, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, John Rumble

Opened in 1957, RCA's historic Nashville recording studio, known as Studio B, is a musical landmark like few others. Its reputation was built by some of the most important producers and artists in country and pop music.

During its heyday, from 1957 to 1977, approximately 18,000 sessions were recorded within the studio's walls, including more than 200 songs by Elvis Presley. The studio's opening marked a milestone in Nashville's development as a music center, and those many hits spread Nashville's reputation as Music City worldwide.

Generously illustrated with more than 200 rare photos from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's archives, this book traces the full story of RCA Studio B--from its beginnings to its continued use today as both working studio and tourist attraction.