In July 1958, feeling that his Memphis Recording Service/Sun Studio was becoming outdated and too small to accommodate the needs of the record labels and publishing companies of the growing Sam Phillips Recording Organization, Sam Phillips bought a property at 639 Madison Avenue in
Memphis, Tennessee, just a few blocks from Sun Studio. The building, which had previously housed a
Midas Muffler shop and a bakery, was gutted to build two recording studios on the ground floor, A&R and promotion offices on the second floor, and offices for accounting, publishing, and Phillips himself on the third floor. The new studio, Sam Phillips Recording Service, opened in 1960, with
Scotty Moore being named studio manager. In 1965,
Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs recorded their hit song "
Wooly Bully" at the studio. By the end of the 1960s, Sam Phillips mostly retired from the recording business, and his sons Knox and Jerry worked in the studio, which hosted sessions by
The Yardbirds,
Willie Nelson,
Amazing Rhythm Aces,
Alex Chilton,
Bobby Doyle,
John Prine, and
The Cramps. The studio, still an analog-based facility utilizing much of its original equipment from the 1960s, is still owned and operated by the Sam Phillips family. ==Other locations==