ABOUT SUN DINER
Our specially designed menu compliments the unique interior that celebrates Sun Records’ legendary artists we have recognized for decades.
Located in the Heart of Music City beside the Johnny Cash Museum, Sun Diner offers southern hospitality and farm-fresh cuisine day and night.
Start with ‘Let’s Do The Twist’ Crème Brulee French Toast, the ‘Love Me Tenders,’ or try one of the Classics, such as the ‘Million Dollar Quartet,’ your taste buds will not be disappointed!
HISTORY
When Sam Phillips and Elvis Presley paired their talents in the summer of 1954 in Phillips’ small studio in Memphis, Tennessee, the ultimate effect on popular music and society was a cosmic event equivalent to a comet and large asteroid colliding in outer space.
The Sun Records sound was a fusion of rock & roll and country music (or hillbilly, as it was called in the 50’s) that was labeled rockabilly. The Sun sound was exemplified by early Sun recordings made by Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison. Sun influenced many major rock and roll artists such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. When Beatle John Lennon was introduced to a noted music business executive from Tennessee at an awards event, his first words were “Do you know Sam Phillips?”
ELVIS PRESLEY
Elvis Presley, who recorded his version of Arthur “Big Boy” Cruddup’s “That’s All Right (Mama)” at Phillips’ studio, met that goal, and became highly successful, first in Memphis, then throughout the southern United States. For the first six months, the flip side, “Blue Moon of Kentucky”, his upbeat version of a Bill Monroe bluegrass song, was slightly more popular than “That’s All Right (Mama).” While still not known outside the South, Presley’s singles and regional success became a drawing card for Sun Records, as singing hopefuls soon arrived from all over the region.
SAM PHILLIPS
As a businessman, Phillips was patient and willing to listen to almost anyone who came in off the street to record. Memphis was a happy home to a diverse musical scene: gospel, blues, hillbilly, country, boogie, and western swing. Taking advantage of this range of talent, there were no style limitations at the label. In one form or another Sun recorded them all.
MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET
He helped form the beginnings of the Sun Sound by infusing Country music with R&B. Elvis’s bright star attracted even more ground-breaking talent to the Sun galaxy. Listed among his contemporaries and lab mates were Johnny Cash, the inimitable Jerry Lee Lewis, and the “Rockin’ Guitar Man”, Carl Perkins. These four soon became known as the Million Dollar Quartet.
MORE GREATS
ROCKABILLY
Inherent in the music of Sun is a vibrancy that survives to this day. Sincere, passionate music. Music that has stood the test of time. It is music that has reached across race, age and gender boundaries. It reflects the diversity and vision of the talent that recorded on the Sun label, and indeed, American popular culture itself.
RONNIE MCDOWELL & TG SHEPHERD AT SUN DINER
RONNIE MCDOWELL & TG SHEPPARD DISCUSS SUN HISTORY
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MUSIC AND ARTISTS THat make up the rich SUN LIBRARY
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MUSIC AND ARTISTS THat make up the rich SUN LIBRARY
Come on In!
HOURS:
• OPEN DAILY • 7 AM – 3 PM
Although we do not accept reservations, we are a walk-up friendly venue with a host team that accommodates all guests in a timely manner.