>> it seemed evident to we should try to establish the ease or difficulty of that rapidfire performance. hence, our next question -- how fast could that rifle be fired? >> watch "real america" tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. >> we are at the birthplace of rock 'n roll, sun studios in memphis, tennessee, the first place to release recordings from a young elvis presley and folks like roy orbison, carl perkins, and johnny cash. next, we take you inside the studio to learn how it came to be. ♪ [piano music] sunt is significant, the studio, immediately, it is thought of being the birthplace of rock 'n roll, kind of where the genre kind of coalesced to

create this sound. with elvis being here, bb king, ,ohnny cash, jerry lee lewis giving us the title of the birthplace of rock 'n roll. there is no other studio like it. ♪ ,> the creator of sun studio this was his vision, this studio. he opened it to record the blues music that was being played here in memphis. at a time when most other people in the area saw no value to that music, and he received a lot of criticism for recording the blues, but he felt this was a true form of music with feeling that people were not getting in most of pop radio at that time, its risk small seeds, , you know,y tame

songs and arrangements. knew, particularly with younger people in america, were looking for something different. they wanted something that was, you know, something they could relate to more than that. that kind of use energy, that rock -- the kind of youth energy, that raw energy. that is what he was looking for, something different. .am open this place in 1950 memphis, in those days, was hugely segregated. sam felt that music was the way to kind of tie people together because you could segregate restaurants, schools, but you cannot segregate music. you could not stop somebody from turning on the radio and listening to something. you know, so he followed music as a way to kind of transcend all these racial issues and

tensions that we were having. not only in memphis but all of the country, of course. sam chose this storefronts, 706 union avenue for the studio. this was the first actual studio in memphis. int of the other recordings memphis were done and radio stations. that is why a lot of these guys, like sam, came out of the background field. thing you about radio and the recorded live music at radio. we are in the control room. this is where sam worked, also his office, basically. is the gear heis used, very simple equipment. he would look out this window here, this glass, this partition , this was the cutting room out here. this is where all the musicians would be playing. and then the room in the front, that was the little office, the waiting area. marion chi-square was the office manager. that was it -- marion was the

office manager. these three little rooms. it is pretty amazing how these three little rooms affected our culture.the first acts he recorded were blues accent a little country. he recorded some country music, as well. he was more interested in the country acts doing something different. at that time, you had country groups in memphis that were slowly starting to incorporate rhythm and blues songs into their repertoire. he was only interested in country if they were doing something different. primarily, it was for the blues artists. of course, a few blocks down the there was no end to the wealth of the talent and people he could begin here. first, it started with a record called rock in 88, recorded in 1951. ike turner, jackie branston,

most historians credited with being the first rock 'n roll nston, mostackie bre historians credit it with being the first rock 'n roll record. ♪ >> the first few years really, sam was struggling. again, he was not doing this -- obviously, he wanted to be successful, but he was not intentionally recording music because he knew it would sell. he was recording music because he liked it. at the time he sold elvis' contract, he was honest bankrupt . he was about to lose the studio. how elvis recorded here, there was something that sam offered in those days, which was kind of

a custom session recording. basically, you could pay four dollars, record two songs, and the ones you wanted to do, it was just something you could take home. the famous story says he , which sounds -- recorded it for his mother, most sounds sweet, but likely, elvis came in here because he wanted to hear his own voice recorded. he wanted to meet sam phillips, hoping to make a real record in here. elvis wouldout, actually have to wait about a year before he got a call back from sam phillips. it is really kind of an interesting story about why elvis finally got a call back at sn. -- sun. it happened there was a demo recording that had been made of an inmate at the tennessee state penitentiary singing this song

that he had written. it was this very beautiful ballady song. they lost track of who this man was. they could not find him. maybe had been released or something. so they were searching for someone who could duplicate or sound similar to this man's voice, and somehow another, they contacted sam the lips and asked, do you know anybody who sounds like this guy so we can recut this song? sam was kind of at a loss, but marion said, what about that kid elvis? why don't you give him a call and have him try to do a demo of the song? elvis neverony is recorded that song. he ended up, by accident, they started recording that's all right mama, an old blues song. they put this country rhythm behind it.

he was something sam wanted, something different, and they forgot about that ballod. ♪ ♪ well, that's all right, mama, anyway you do, that's all right, that's all right. that's all right, mama. anyway you do ♪ right mama was released -- i think it was popular in this region. was a small independent label. he did not have a huge outreach. he would literally have to drive around to radio stations with records in the trunk of his car and give them to djs to play his songs. so it definitely created a sensation, that it was just a regional hit. it was not a huge hit or

anything like that. had is, the impact it pretty incredible when you think about it because not only did it influence so many musicians in this area to try to do something similar and that kind of mix of country and blues, which led to guys like johnny cash coming in, jerry lee there was, carl perkins, and beyond to reach the whole world. people in europe, people in england, groups like the rolling stones, the beatles, they were influenced by these little records that sam had made. they were not huge hits, but they affected every -- pretty much every single thing people listen to in the day, and had a ripple effect. the filling up elvis' contract came about because sam, even with elvis, he was not really financially that stable yet.

he also knew that being a little he had donelabel, just about all he could for elvis. he did not have this huge promotion engine behind them to get them out there to the rest of the country, and so he knew that elvis really needed managements, he needed someone who could really take his career further. selling of elvis' contract was a mutual benefit to both. sam with the money was able to keep the studio going, keep recording these other great artists, and of course, that deal went to rca records. one of the big negotiators of that deal on rca's sky was tom parker -- side was tom parker, a manager country singers in nashville. through parker, he took elvis --

artist in history had been promoted or marketed like that before, and he became the first big superstar because of that marketing push that came behind him. here for 10 was years. he had a 10 year lease on the building. he never owned it. he's the state 1950 -- eat least 1950,0, -- he leased it and that he moved up the road to a different studio. openedmid-1980's, it was . it has always pretty much been kind of a tourist destination, tours during the day, and then at night, recording. it has been about recording ever since then. we get hundreds of people in here a day come through to see this place. people from all over the world. , olderw, you get people

people who have waited their whole life, they will tell you, i have waited a whole life to see this place, to be in this place. it as it is not something dead, it is an ongoing fascination people have with this place, the kind of myth of this place. it is a legendary place, like the name says, legendary studio. are cities tour staff recently traveled to memphis, tennessee, to learn about its rich history. learn more about memphis and other stops on our tour at www.c-span.org/cities tour. you are watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend, on c-span3. the united states immigration commission, also known as the billingham commission, after

senator william dillingham of vermont, was formed by congress in 1907 at a time when a large influx of immigrants was seen by many as a national crisis. the joint house and senate effort issued an influential 41 volume report on their findings in 1911. next, catherine benson-: discusses her book on the -- benton-cohen discusses her book. the history center cohosted this 90 minute event. >> we will get started. welcome, everyone. welcome to this installment of ,he washington history seminar which, as many of you are aware, is a joint venture of the national history center and the historywilson center's pu