Music supporter to receive award from the University of Memphis

The Messenger 10.03.08

The University of Memphis College of Communication and Fine Arts will salute Knox Phillips with the 2008 Distinguished Achievement Award in the Creative and Performing Arts.
The award will be presented at a luncheon Oct. 17 at 11:30 a.m. at Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous in Memphis.
Phillips has been an important force behind the music scene as an engineer, producer, studio owner and tireless supporter of local music. Phillips learned the production business from his father, Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, and from Elvis Presley’s guitarist, Scotty Moore.
While attending college, Phillips began recording local garage bands. As an engineer, he worked on a succession of milestone releases, many of them for Atlantic Records’ Jerry Wexler, including Willie Nelson’s “Shotgun Willie” and Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Mr. Bojangles.” He also worked closely with original Sun artist Jerry Lee Lewis.
Phillips has continued to record and produce, expanding into placement of songs in film and television. He serves on the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music Advisory Board.
“Twenty-nine years ago, when the College of Communication and Fine Arts began presenting the Distinguished Achievement Award in the Creative and Performing Arts, the very first award went to the legendary producer, engineer and recording studio and record label executive Sam Phillips,” said Dr. Richard Ranta, dean of the college. “We are so very pleased to bestow this year’s award on another producer, engineer and recording executive of the Phillips family — Knox Phillips. For almost 40 years, Knox has been one of the major players in, and supporters of, Memphis music. And, as a trustee of the Nashville chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in the early 1970s, he was instrumental in creating perhaps Memphis’ most important continuing musical asset, the Memphis chapter of the Recording Academy.”
The cost of the Oct. 17 luncheon is $50 per person or $350 for a table of eight. Seating is limited. For reservations, call (901) 678-5086 or (901) 678-4372.

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