Sam's impact on modern music cannot be overstated. What a visionary.

The line between genius and insanity is razor thin...Sam was living proof. An incredibly important and all too often overlooked pioneer of modern music.

@fredknearlmann6640

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed. But it doesn't change the fact, well documented, that he was an alcoholic.

@hankbellamy

2 жыл бұрын

@@fredknearlmann6640 nothing wrong with being an alcoholic mate been one for years life's just better drunk

@hankbellamy

2 жыл бұрын

@@PeaceJourney... All gotta die from something my as well find something you love and let it kill you cheers mate :))

@moviemagg

Жыл бұрын

He could also be a real ass who cheated his artists like Carl Perkins out of thousands of dollars in royalties......

@jimshipp7776

Жыл бұрын

@@hankbellamy LOL....love it!

Jack Black would make a great Sam Phillips in a movie.

@saveourrivers

8 жыл бұрын

+Doug Foley Jack Black doesn't look at all like Phillips in his prime. I say that Dallas Roberts, who played Phillips in "Walk the Line", would be perfect.

@lamper2

6 жыл бұрын

he'd have to become an actor first not likely

@Terribleathletes

3 жыл бұрын

Sam Phillips is an American Hero. Jack Black wouldn't have been worthy to shine his shoes, let alone portray him in a film.

No way was Sam drunk, he always presented himself like that

Fu-cking Legend. If rock and roll was a high school this man was the principal. Btw here’s a direct quote from Sam on the topic “I was an avid Johnny [Carson] fan an’ I always loved it best when they’d come on a bit too sauced for prime time whether they was or not I wouldn’t know [winks at camera]”. That’s from a 90s CMT documentary about Sam Phillips in which they mentioned this appearance. Make of it what you will.

I wish they still had people like this on shows. Love it 😍

Sam was bein' Sam. He knew who Letterman was.

@fredknearlmann6640

3 жыл бұрын

Sam bein' Sam was a speech slurring alcoholic.

Fyi, it has been confirmed by Sally Wilbourn, Sam's longtime companion that was with him all day that day, that Sam had not been drinking at all. She couldn't speculate exactly why he acted as he did except that he did the exact opposite of what the producers asked him to do - classic Sam. Source, Sam Phillips, The Man Who Invented Rock 'N: Roll by Peter Guralnick.

@bethbartlett5692

7 жыл бұрын

Jim Roberts I believe she was attempting to cover for him - Narcissist Personality Disorder plus a level of alcohol - textbook and I'm familiar with the exact behaviors - professionally and personally - my dad and sister both had/have identical behavior.

@1-shotslinger108

6 жыл бұрын

Yes in the book about him it was written he was not drunk .He just felt like goofing on Letterman.

@Dougmeet

6 жыл бұрын

PLEASE! VODKA IS CLEAR

@JR-up2mb

6 жыл бұрын

Oh yeah take his best friend’s word he couldn’t be biased at all, ya goober!

@suzannesands7330

5 жыл бұрын

He insulted a man about having buck teeth on live television and he wasn't drunk? He hasn't behaved this way in any of the other interviews I've seen.

Robert Gordon has an insightful chapter on this Letterman appearance in his book Memphis: Rent Party.

I can see him getting offended at them telling him what to say and what to do, clue, reminding David of how much younger he was , but the buck teeth remark was ...... FUCKING HILARIOUS!!! BWAHAHAHAHa!

@PabloRuizMega

Жыл бұрын

most people think the rolling stones and elvis invented rock and roll it was really sam phillips

Elvis defined rock and roll, Sam recorded it.

One of the greatest moments of my life. Thank you. I almost 50 years old and this is a memory that I treasure.

"he wasn't drunk he was just being sam!" says all the bottle-nipping commentators lol. yeah, have a nice coffee instead there, buddy! XD

According to the biography of Sam Phillips called "the man who invented Rock and Roll" by Peter guralnick he wasn't drunk that night

@mechcavandy986

3 жыл бұрын

That was just Sam. I’m from Memphis and kinda knew him. He was a simple yet complicated man. He was always cool and relaxed.

@AnnaLVajda

3 жыл бұрын

He's not slurring or staggering really. I think some personalities are so strong people prefer to just dismiss them as drunk even if they act that way sober. I really want Hollywood to make a movie about Sun records like they did about Chess records.

@johnneal9159

2 жыл бұрын

He sure didn’t look it or sound like it. I’d say he just wasn’t a letterman fan or he just didn’t want to do his show but got into a position where he had to and purposely bombed the show. Of course this is not factual just my opinion. However this is a fact I could listen to Sam Phillips read the phone book longer than I could listen to letterman talking about anything or anyone. Such a rich entertaining voice. Without him you wouldn’t know EP JC JL CP. And all of them admitted as much. Sams the man

@danhermon4922

2 жыл бұрын

He was on something, or pretending to be, he nearly walked into the back of the chairs before Letterman indicated directions.

@jimmyjakes1823

Жыл бұрын

Not one of these hacks ever did a good interview or even managed to have a real dialogue in their entire careers. Whenever a guest steps out of the robotic "hit the highlights, crack jokes, now promote your new book" yuck-yuck interview format they don't know how to react. Letterman talks like people will change the channel if he doesn't crack a stupid joke every 5 seconds. Zero respect for the audience or his guests.

Sam's long-time girlfriend Sally claims that he wasn't drunk. Sam was told in the pre-interview that Dave likes to know exactly what is going to be talked about, and Sam didn't want to play that way. He was kind of a jerk at times.

That was all due to Dave. He didn't do his homework about his guest. His guest was being just himself and Dave should have known who he was getting. Sam has always been one of a kind.

@davidburkholder7360

Жыл бұрын

Daves an idiot. But they all were after Carson.

@twistoffate4791

9 ай бұрын

Nah. Sam Phillips came out drunk and creepy. There was no time to ask questions. Saying goodbye to a "guest" who had no decency was the best move DL could make and he did.

Fantastic. Whereever Sam is, I hope he is having a good laugh; 'cause he sure as hell is listening to some great music.

America owes this guy everything, he ought to be a national treasure because his impact on the world goes far and deep. Letterman will be long forgotten while Sam's influence will still reverberate far into the future.

@bethbartlett5692

7 жыл бұрын

scotty That is no excuse for the behavior - on national TV - a textbook Narcissist - knew his grandson. David is a much more respected person - Sam was reading his own PR articles - Overt Narcissists are the sum of a 5th grade emotional development and it shows.

@lamper2

6 жыл бұрын

dave who? who is dave?

@fointnikfraudulant

5 жыл бұрын

Yes, david letterman will be long forgotten...by Sam on his way back to his dressing room. They say marijuana effects the memory you know....

@jimshipp7776

Жыл бұрын

Ah.....no

I love this man he wasnt drunk he was just sam he's a damn genius

lmao!! the shit talk show hosts put up with back in the day.. I’m glad I share a birthday with this genius and crazy human being

I’d have to be drunk to talk to Letterman, too

That was just Sam, to make an assumption he was just drunk to get hits on your clip, I'm not buying that. Sam didn't talk like other people and had a real short BS tolerance. Sam was a living legend and there wouldn't be rock 'n roll without him.

I’ve never seen one good Letterman interview.

@jimmyjakes1823

Жыл бұрын

Letterman was always smarmy, but all tv hosts from that era were bad. No respect for their guests or the intelligence of their audiences and incapable of any real dialogue. They seemed to think that people would change the channel if they let the conversation go longer than 10 seconds without cracking an inane joke.

@alanmusicman3385

Жыл бұрын

@@jimmyjakes1823 Sadly they were probably right - and most of the time that rule still applies on most modern chat shows. Todays US-made TV has a similar rule that no shot must be longer than 10 seconds and no subject must be handled in any detail. Almost all TV is made for audiences with the attention span of a goldfish. If you want serious treatment of a subject, PBS or the Internet is the best bet now and sometimes even then it takes some searching.

That was awkward.

Oh my God he was out

'I'm just trying too think of a real nice way to say good-bye Sam.'

Damn, I could smell Sam’s 80-proof breath through the tv screen…😂

I can both appreciate his contribution to society and be utterly disgusted and disappointed with his behavior.

Read the history...you'll find he wasn't drunk. Just being Sam.

@matrox

6 жыл бұрын

He was stoned because I can smell the liquor.

@suzannesands7330

5 жыл бұрын

Read the history..........that's an absurd comment. I've never seen Sam behave that way in any other interview.

@nicktrailing2068

4 жыл бұрын

Suzanne Sands idk bro seems pretty drunk

@jimshipp7776

Жыл бұрын

@@nicktrailing2068 Yes....or on something.....

Sam Phillips great sun records

I saw this interview at the time and I had no thought whatsoever that Sam Phillips was drunk. And as I watch it today, I still have no impression he was drunk. When he responds to Letterman's question about whether he would record ANYONE, he's clearly responding to the inanity of Letterman's interviewing style. Letterman's frantic attempts to move the interview forward looking for "excitement spikes" only make Phillips more resolved not to have it that way.

Sam Phillips was invited to be a guest on the DL Show but didn't have to accept. Showing up drunk was a low class move. Phillips' behavior was creepy, too.

That was a clever way for David Letterman to end this very eccentric interview.

That's how all the people from the south speak and act, what do you mean drunk? LOL

Why do I see the dad of jack black...?

Jack Black must do the part of Sam Phillips' storey.

Sam Phillips was a hard man to figure out ‘ if he wasn’t drunk here what in Gods green earth was he up too ?

He just seems annoyed that he was asked a ton of questions prior to going on set. "You gotta work for this a little while tonight, son". It's like Billy Bob Thornton's interview on CBC Radio One.

Okay, Sam, I want to you play a corrupt Southern Judge scaring a witness into silence

Phillips is so distracting, no one noticed Paul's pants. Now those are worldwide pants

How old is he there with letterman...these photos with elvis must be from late 50s..!!

Sam looked older when he was young.

Nuttier than a fruit cake!!!

He was the music man of rock and tool, but he was drunker than shit that nigh!

What did Letterman ever do?

Phillips still looked pretty good for 63.

I really don’t know why Sam was acting so weird. He was a showman himself, so I can’t understand why he would take an opportunity where millions of people would see him and then just act idiotic and have nothing to say. But I guess that is why he was so successful. He wanted all of his performers to just be themselves in the studio and on stage. That, and the fact that he was always very nice and respectful to people. But still, I think he succeeded in spite of his methods, not because of them. Check him out on Charlie Rose, completely different.

alcohol really brings out the prick in some. And no matter what they say in the comments he is pissed.

What is Jack Black doing here?

Buck teeth & still made a million dollars. Good point actually.

Sam Mutha ....n Phillips.....He could do whatever he wanted.....HE GAVE US ELVIS!!

Hammered 😂

Sam phillips the guy who Elvis made famous, and graciously said it was the other way around. Phillips turned down Elvis, Cash and Orbison on their first meetings with him. He Conned perkins out of a fortune, Perkins was presented with a new car from phillips after he sold 1m copies of blue suede shoe's, Phillips called the paper and arranged for the photo to be taken. once perkins got his royalty check he noticed deductions for a new car and various other thing's. Phillips also conned him out of further royalty payments. phillips takes a lot of credit for thing's he just didn't do and acts like he was some kind of music God when all he was, was a guy who owned a record recording company who was lucky enough to have some good artists visit and record there. of course if he wasn't there some of those artist may not have become famous, but it's highly unlikely, he's just a lucky guy who was at the right place at the right time and was just a small cog, but seems to take credit for a brilliance he never actually had. He acts like he's some kind of expert on music and has an ear for talent, but the truth is he turned most of these acts away and it was their persistence that got them were they were

@Odawg292002

3 жыл бұрын

One of the dumbest things I've ever read.

Before Elvis there was nothing ????? More like before Sam Phillips there was nothing...#RespectElvis

@christophertyler6863

Жыл бұрын

Marion Keisker's the one who really discovered Elvis and pushed for him while genius that Sam was, he didn't see it in Elvis.

@christophertyler6863

Жыл бұрын

Also, Phillips turned down Elvis, Cash and Orbison on their first meetings with him

@ianarchibald1423

Жыл бұрын

@@christophertyler6863 That is very true sir. Everybody forgets it was his secretary that got Elvis signed to Sun.

He smoked weed, blindingly obvious! BB King confirmed that Sam Phillips smoked pot long ago!

my

Sam was always so obnoxious

I don't think he was drunk, he was basically messing around with David Letterman. People have to remember the context of his show in the early to mid 80s. David Letterman was known to be an asshole to his guests, so Sam decided to turn the tables on him

Sam wasn't drunk, I think he was pissed at Letterman for all of the horribly insinuating smear "comedy " he and that squirrelly Paul Shaffer had been doing on Elvis. He wanted Dave to squirm. He was holding back from punching his smug face

visualguidanceltd.blogspot.com/2019/01/sam-phillips-very-drunk-on-david.html "Sam Phillips could fuck-up a two-car funeral" - Jerry Lee Lewis "Letterman's show was a late-night hipster paradise; showcasing the eccentrics and mocking their oddities, he augured reality TV. Irony was as comforting and old-fashioned as the couch from which the viewer lounged and laughed. My guess is that Sam was unfamiliar with Letterman and had been warned about David's potential to ridicule. Sam was wary, and he was accustomed to being in charge. What we get is a battle of producers - who is going to get what from whom. Because same was giving nothing, and certainly not going to prepare a bland TV dinner version of his achievements - dismissive, simplistic, generic." - Robert Gordon "Memphis Rent Party"

@PabloRuizMega

Жыл бұрын

most people think the rolling stones and elvis invented rock and roll it was really sam phillips

David was such an a-hole to take the guy out like that

Phillips is drunk as hell. Either that, or he got the world's first 30-minute frontal lobotomy while he was waiting in the green room. The comment about Letterman making it big with buckteeth was stupid. Comedians benefit greatly from looking like everymen. Dangerfield looked like a salesman at a Buick dealership. Kinison looked like a Bourbon Street strip-joint hawker. Pryor looked like he should be standing outside a liquor store on Lyons Avenue. The point being, Dave's comedy would have fallen flat as Florida if he looked like Elvis. Proof that Phillips don't know shit about show bidness.

If he wasn't drunk, he was just generally creepy.

@girthbrooks4730

7 жыл бұрын

Creepy? Do you even know what creepy means? That's a stupid comment.

@winemongercandy935

5 жыл бұрын

Ever met my uncle? I'm guessing you haven't. He was my uncle and an incredibly kind, real human. You're an asshole.

Sam Phillips the biggest self premoter in history, on first hearing Elvis and cash he turned them away, he then conned Perkins. He just owned a recording studio nothing more nothing less and his business was making money. He sold presley because he honestly thought he couldn't really make anymore money off of him. He's claimed in interviews that Presely cash and Perkins were all envious of his hairstyle and aura and wanted to be around him and emulate him. The guy is fucking nuts

@helloitsme4745

5 жыл бұрын

Clearly he envied the STARS and wanted to be the STAR not the producer. Not that uncommon.

Needed to have Crispin Glover on to kick Sam in the face. That would've woken him up (or at least knocked him out and shut him up).

@girthbrooks4730

7 жыл бұрын

steve conn Well if you wanted him to shut up, why the hell did you watch the video?

@Odawg292002

3 жыл бұрын

Steve Conn. What an ignorant comment.

@james.trussworm7150

3 жыл бұрын

I wanna kick Sam in the face too

Drunk and disrespectful, and that's his legacy. A total embarrassment to himself.

@aaaa6824

8 жыл бұрын

+knarfus321 He wasn't drunk.

@knarfus321

8 жыл бұрын

+Austin Aaes Of course he was drunk. He had a long history of alcoholism and it's covered in his biographies.

@aaaa6824

8 жыл бұрын

Not in this video, which was also discussed in biographies, and other interviews. A quick Google search can provide the details.

@knarfus321

8 жыл бұрын

+Austin Aaes I'm going by his slurred speech and behavior on this show and what was said about the incident in Peter Guralnick's biography on Phillips who was asked to leave the set. Letterman most likely could smell the alcohol and Sam was anything but "normal", even for him, in this interview.

@1-shotslinger108

6 жыл бұрын

For a good part of his life he was a non-drinker. And was not drunk on Letterman

imagine if carl perkins were there at that time sittin with both men

@dannydine5263

8 жыл бұрын

+Jerry Perkins Now that would have been great.

@jerryperkins6089

8 жыл бұрын

Carl Perkins was one of the seminal rockabilly artists on Sam Phillips' Sun ...

@jerryperkins6089

8 жыл бұрын

Mr Danny .. can you please send me the lyric of a beautiful song of Carl Perkins called: THE HURT PUT ON BY YOU...

@dannydine5263

8 жыл бұрын

+Jerry Perkins Sorry Jerry i gave it a listen and i couldn't understand all of the lyrics.Most of them but not all of them.If you want to give it a stab its on You Tube.Iv'e got most of Carl's Sun Records stuff from 3 different lps and that excellent tv special he put out in the 80's with George Harrison etc.

@jerryperkins6089

8 жыл бұрын

Here I am Lord, One more time Lord Cold and hungry at your door I am empty, I am broken Take me in Lord, just once more I'm a sailor, I'm a drifter I have wandered the whole world through But no matter where I go Lord, Every road leads back to you I've been searching on the mountain, Cross the ocean deep and wide oh but now I found my answer It was you, Lord, all the time I'm a sailor, I'm a drifter And I have wandered the whole world through But no matter where I go Lord, Every road leads back to you Every road leads back to you Written by: Carl Perkins

Letterman wasn’t good so he had to get ratings by treating guest bad. Most of all his shows in the 80s he treated them all bad.

Eccentric, yes. Drunk, probably not. Weird that you would just assume he had been drinking and post it.

...and Sam gets money for this shitty appearance? Should have clean up his act before going on stage! Shame on that.

Sam had mental problems. People that were close to him knew that.