MEMPHIS, July 31 (UPI) -- Sam Phillips, the man who turned Memphis into the birthplace of rock and roll, has died. He was 80.
A cause of death was not immediately available and funeral arrangements were pending early Thursday for the founder of Sun Records, the Memphis Commercial Appeal said.
"We're just trying to celebrate his life at this point. When he did it, it was considered a national disgrace," said Knox Phillips of his father's legendary recordings of black and rock and roll musicians. "Now it's considered a national treasure."
Phillips said his father fell ill Wednesday while watching a Chicago Cubs baseball game and was taken to St. Francis Hospital.
Phillips was what one of Elvis' Presley's colleagues called "the Thomas Edison of rock and roll."
Even before Elvis, he recorded Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston, which had the driving beat that came to be the hallmark of rock.
