Sam Phillips

The acid-pop singer/songwriter born Leslie Phillips earned the nonsensical nickname "Sam" as a child; only when she was recording her debut album did she finally hear of the other, more renowned Sam Phillips and learn of his legacy as the founder of Sun Records, the label which launched the careers of Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. In retrospect, however, her relative distance from the history and conventions of pop music may have been in her favor, and accounted for the fresh perspective her work offered; a critic's darling, Phillips sold few records, but her songs won widespread praise not only from the press but also her fellow performers.