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Dewey Phillips
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Dewey Phillips
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Control Room C from WHBQ Studios originally in Hotel Chisca now in Sun Studios. From this room Dewey Phillips broadcast his radio show "Red, Hot and Blue" in the years 1953-1959.

Dewey Phillips (May 13, 1926 – September 28, 1968) was an American disc jockey based in Memphis, Tennessee, best known as the host of the WHBQ radio show "Red, Hot, and Blue". He was one of rock and roll's pioneering American disc jockeys, helping to popularize the genre in radio airplay along with Cleveland's Alan Freed.[1]

Early life

[edit]

Phillips was born in Crump, Tennessee, but spent his childhood in Adamsville. After serving in the Army during World War II, seeing action in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, he moved to Memphis.

Career

[edit]

Phillips started his radio career in 1949 on WHBQ/560 in Memphis with a special studio at the Gayoso Hotel, initially playing gospel records.[2] His nightly radio program, "Red, Hot & Blue," appeared on the WHBQ schedule for the first time the night of November 3, 1949, in the 10:15 - 11:00 pm slot.[3] In 1953 WHBQ moved to the mezzanine floor of the Chisca Hotel. Phillips was the city's leading radio personality for nine years and was the first to simulcast his "Red, Hot & Blue" show on radio and television. During the 1950s he had 100,000 listeners to his 9pm-midnight slot and he received 3,000 letters a week.[4]

Phillips' on-air persona was a speed-crazed hillbilly, with a frantic delivery and entertaining sense of humor. He also had a keen ear for music the listening public would enjoy, and he aired both black and white music, which was abundant in post-World War II Memphis, a booming river city which attracted large numbers of rural blacks and whites (along with their musical traditions). A famous part of his show was the "Smash Hit", a act where he would smash the record playing over his microphone whenever there was a song he disliked. Dr. W. Herbert Brewster, pastor of East Trigg Baptist Church, was a frequent guest on Dewey's program. He played a great deal of rhythm and blues, country music, boogie-woogie, and jazz as well as Sun Records artists. In 1950, Phillips and his friend Sam Phillips (no relation) decided to launch their own record label.[5] Joe Hill Louis waxed an electric blues single, "Boogie in the Park" (recorded in July 1950 and released the following month). It was the only record released on the Phillips label before Sam founded Sun Records.[6]

In July 1954, he was the first DJ to broadcast the young Elvis Presley's debut record, "That's All Right" / "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" (Sun 209). In fact, he played That's All Right "over and over again".[7] He got Presley to reveal his race in an interview by asking which high school the 19-year-old singer attended (knowing that, because of segregation, his audience would readily know what race attended which schools).[8][9][10]

Dewey Phillips was bringing Black Music to segregated Memphis before Alan Freed did the same as Moon Dog in Cleveland. Phillips briefly hosted an afternoon program on WHBQ-TV/13 in the mid-1950s, before Dick Clark took over Philadelphia Bandstand then American Bandstand on WFIL-TV. It mostly consisted of Phillips playing records while he and others clowned around in front of the camera.

Though Phillips was not involved in the payola scandals of the time (as was Freed), he was fired in late 1958 when the station adopted a Top 40 format, phasing out his freeform style. He had Sam Phillips and three other friends, Wink Martindale, T.L. Meade, and Sonny Gilmore to bail him out and keep him steady as work and recognition faded. He spent the last decade of his life working at smaller radio stations, seldom lasting long. The popular musical Memphis is said to be based loosely on Dewey Phillips' life and career,[11][12] although elements crucial in the career of Phillips' contemporary Alan Freed appear to be intermixed as well.

Death

[edit]

Phillips died of heart failure at age 42. He is buried in Hardin County, Tennessee, at Crump Cemetery.[13]

References

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Dewey Phillips

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Dewey Phillips (May 13, 1926 – September 28, 1968) was an American in , who hosted the WHBQ radio show Red, Hot and Blue from 1949 onward, broadcasting , gospel, and early rock 'n' roll to interracial audiences six nights a week. His energetic, unpredictable on-air style and selection of records from black artists helped introduce white listeners to musical genres typically confined to segregated communities, fostering the cross-cultural exchanges that birthed rock 'n' roll. Phillips achieved regional fame, including hosting the local television dance program Pop Shop in the late 1950s, but faced backlash from segregationists who condemned his programming for blurring racial lines in entertainment. Phillips is most noted for premiering Elvis Presley's "" on July 8, 1954, during his WHBQ broadcast—the first radio airplay of a Presley recording—and conducting the singer's debut live interview that same evening after summoning the 19-year-old from a local . This exposure, prompted by an acetate demo from producer , ignited overwhelming listener response and propelled Presley toward national stardom, crediting Dewey's promotional zeal for a pivotal boost in the performer's early career. Despite initial camaraderie with Presley, Phillips' trajectory diverged amid personal afflictions, including from a 1952 automobile accident that fueled alcohol and pill dependency, resulting in multiple arrests, psychiatric commitments, and dismissal from WHBQ in 1958 amid erratic behavior.

Early Life

Birth and Upbringing

Dewey Phillips was born on May 13, 1926, in Crump, , a small town in Hardin County. As a young child, Phillips moved with his family to Adamsville in neighboring McNairy County, where he spent the remainder of his childhood and attended local schools. In his late teens, Phillips enlisted in the United States Army and served during , after which he relocated to , in the late 1940s.

Early Career Aspirations

Following his service in , Phillips returned to Memphis with a strong desire to pursue a career in the music industry. This ambition drove him to seek roles that allowed direct engagement with records and audiences, reflecting his early interest in music as a medium for cultural crossover in a segregated era. In pursuit of these goals, Phillips took a position managing the record department at W.T. Grant's five-and-dime store in downtown Memphis during the late . There, he leveraged the store's public address system to broadcast an eclectic mix of genres, including , "race records" (), , and pop, often with his own animated commentary. This practice attracted interracial crowds to the department, turning sales shifts into impromptu listening events and demonstrating Phillips' aspiration to popularize diverse sounds beyond commercial boundaries. Phillips' innovative approach at honed his broadcasting instincts and built local buzz, underscoring his proactive efforts to transition from retail to a platform where he could influence music dissemination on a larger scale. By 1949, these experiences positioned him for his entry into professional radio at WHBQ, fulfilling his pre-broadcasting drive to amplify boundary-breaking music.

Radio Career

Entry into Broadcasting

Following a brief stint in military service during , Dewey Phillips relocated to , in 1948 in pursuit of opportunities in the music industry. He obtained employment at Grant’s on , where he managed the record department, broadcasted music selections via the store's , and utilized a to announce tracks and interact with passersby, thereby attracting crowds and boosting record sales. Phillips' demonstrated enthusiasm and familiarity with diverse music genres at the store paved the way for his transition to professional . In 1949, WHBQ radio station hired him for an initial 15-minute air slot, marking his entry into the field. from a studio at the Gayoso Hotel, he initially featured records alongside other selections, appealing to a broad audience in the segregated city. The popularity of Phillips' on-air persona, characterized by high energy and unscripted commentary, prompted WHBQ to expand his program within the first year to six nights weekly for two hours each evening starting in 1950. This early success established him as a prominent in Memphis, bridging racial divides through his eclectic playlist that included , country, and emerging sounds.

Development of "Red, Hot & Blue"

Dewey Phillips transitioned to radio at Memphis station WHBQ in 1949, securing an initial 15-minute evening slot after managing the record department at W.T. Grant's store, where his promotional events had drawn crowds with live music performances. The program, named , debuted that October, capitalizing on the rising popularity of (R&B) music amid competition from stations like WDIA, and featured Phillips' high-energy, unscripted patter alongside an eclectic playlist of "race records," tunes, gospel, blues, and pop artists such as , , and . The show first appeared on WHBQ's schedule on , 1949, airing from 10:15 to 11:00 p.m., and quickly gained traction for its raw, barrier-breaking appeal to a racially mixed audience of teenagers and young adults, with Phillips emphasizing music over color lines in a segregated era. By , listener demand prompted expansion to six nights a week, extending to two hours per broadcast (typically 9:00 p.m. to midnight from the Chisca Hotel studios), incorporating innovations like live on-air interviews and performances that enhanced its chaotic, engaging format. This growth solidified as Memphis' premier nighttime program, syndicating to 11 regional markets and shifting WHBQ's ratings dominance by introducing white listeners to black-oriented R&B, laying groundwork for rock 'n' roll's crossover while Phillips maintained a distinctive hillbilly accent and irreverent style that resonated across demographics.

Promotion of R&B and Early Rock 'n' Roll

Dewey Phillips hosted the "Red, Hot & Blue" program on Memphis radio station WHBQ starting on November 3, 1949, initially in a 45-minute evening slot that expanded to two hours nightly by 1950 and aired six nights a week. The show emphasized rhythm and blues (R&B) records alongside blues, gospel, and country music, featuring artists such as Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Roy Brown, Howlin' Wolf, The Ravens, Piano Red, Joe Lutcher, Pee Wee Crayton, and Rosco Gordon. Phillips' selections drew from African American musical traditions, playing tracks like those blending raw blues energy with upbeat rhythms that foreshadowed rock 'n' roll's hybrid sound. As a white disc jockey in segregated Memphis, Phillips broadcast to an integrated audience of black and white listeners, addressing them collectively as "good people" and fostering cross-racial engagement through interactive elements like prompting horn-blowing at 10 p.m. His on-air style featured manic, unrestrained patter delivered in a hillbilly accent, eschewing formal scripting to convey authentic enthusiasm for the music, which contrasted with the polished formats of contemporary broadcasts. This approach amplified R&B's appeal by presenting it without racial categorization, mixing it seamlessly with white artists like and to highlight shared rhythmic innovations. Phillips' promotion helped popularize R&B beyond black-oriented stations like WDIA, exposing white Southern audiences to its driving beats and vocal styles during a period when such crossover was rare and controversial. By , airchecks captured his broadcasts recovering from a car accident, underscoring the show's resilience and cultural draw in shaping early rock 'n' roll's foundations through genre fusion and energetic delivery. His efforts bridged musical divides, contributing to the genre's emergence as a commercial force by the mid-1950s without regard for prevailing segregation norms.

Breakthrough with Elvis Presley

In early July 1954, Sun Records producer provided Dewey Phillips with an acetate disc of 's recording of "," a cover of Arthur Crudup's song reinterpreted in a style. On July 8, during his evening "" show on WHBQ-AM, Phillips aired the track for the first time without prior announcement, recognizing its potential appeal to his diverse audience of enthusiasts. The broadcast triggered an unprecedented response, with the station's phone lines inundated by callers—both Black and white—demanding encores and information about the singer, whom many assumed was Black due to the song's stylistic fusion. Phillips replayed roughly 14 times that night and, to capitalize on the buzz, telephoned 19-year-old Presley at home, inviting him to the studio for an live . During the on-air conversation, Phillips probed Presley's background, including his race and hometown of , confirming to listeners that the performer was a white , which amplified intrigue and shattered racial listening barriers in segregated Memphis. This exposure marked Presley's debut on Memphis radio and ignited his regional stardom, as Phillips championed subsequent Sun releases like "Good Rockin' Tonight" and facilitated Presley's first public concert at Overton Park Shell on July 30, 1954, drawing over 5,000 attendees. Phillips' unfiltered promotion, blending R&B with emerging rock 'n' roll, positioned Presley as a crossover sensation, bypassing traditional industry gatekeepers and foreshadowing the genre's broader cultural disruption. The event underscored Phillips' role as a tastemaker, prioritizing raw talent over commercial formulas in an era dominated by polished pop.

Television and Broader Media Presence

Launch of Pop Shop

Pop Shop premiered on Channel 13 in Memphis in late 1956, extending Dewey Phillips' influential radio presence into television. The show adopted a dance-party format where local teenagers performed to records of , , and nascent rock 'n' roll selections, selected and introduced by Phillips in his signature exuberant style. Airing weekdays from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Pop Shop frequently with Phillips' WHBQ radio program "," allowing seamless integration of his broadcasting persona across media. Unlike more polished national counterparts, the program emphasized raw energy and unfiltered , with Phillips engaging directly with dancers and viewers through impromptu commentary and record spins. The launch capitalized on Phillips' established reputation for breaking R&B and , drawing immediate crowds of teens to the studio and high viewership ratings. Within weeks, it became Memphis' top local television attraction, its popularity sufficient to deter the syndication of American Bandstand in the region. Early broadcasts featured emerging artists from , reinforcing Phillips' role as a tastemaker in the evolving music scene. Elvis Presley made an appearance on the final day of 1956, performing and interacting with Phillips, which underscored the show's alignment with rock 'n' roll's rising stars and amplified its cultural impact from inception.

Public Appearances and Events

Phillips frequently participated in promotional events tied to his role in popularizing rhythm and blues and early rock 'n' roll artists, often appearing alongside emerging talents like Elvis Presley to boost record sales and live attendance in Memphis. On February 6, 1955, he joined Presley at Ellis Auditorium for a public gathering captured in photographs, highlighting his early involvement in the singer's local promotions. A notable instance occurred on July 4, 1956, when Phillips emceed Presley's Independence Day concert at in , drawing a crowd amid heightened security from local police, firemen, and naval shore patrol due to the performer's growing fame. This event underscored Phillips' transition from radio host to live event facilitator, leveraging his on-air influence to amplify attendance for acts. Throughout 1956, Phillips made several joint appearances with Presley at Memphis retail spots for record and apparel promotions, including visits to Lansky's clothing store and Pop Tunes on Poplar Avenue, where he helped draw crowds and sign autographs to capitalize on Presley's rising profile. These outings, often , reflected his hands-on approach to artist promotion beyond broadcasting, though they sometimes strained relations as Phillips sought personal spotlight. Phillips also leveraged his celebrity for record store endorsements, such as at Home of the Blues, where his presence was used to attract customers interested in the R&B and discs he championed on air. Such events, common among disc jockeys, bridged radio hype with tangible sales but remained localized to Memphis venues, limiting his broader touring footprint compared to later national DJs.

Personal Life and Struggles

Family and Relationships

Dewey Phillips was born on May 13, 1926, in Crump, Tennessee, to parents whose names are not widely documented in available records, but who had several children, including siblings Anna Rhea Phillips (1916–1918), Jessie Marjorie Phillips Barba (1918–2002), DeWitte Phillips (1921–1923), and Comer E. Phillips (1925–1925). His family relocated to , during his childhood, where he attended school. Phillips met his future wife, Dorothy Jewell Garrett (1926–2005), while still in high school; the couple married, though the exact date remains unspecified in primary sources. They had one son, Michael D. Phillips (1952–1976). The marriage deteriorated due to Phillips' repeated infidelities and escalating , which Dorothy discovered around 1959 and endured for several years before leaving him permanently in 1963. No subsequent s or significant romantic relationships are recorded following the divorce.

Substance Abuse and Health Decline

Phillips struggled with chronic and abuse of prescription drugs, including painkillers and amphetamines, which fueled his high-energy on-air persona but exacerbated his personal instability. These substances contributed to repeated arrests for throughout the 1950s and 1960s, reflecting a pattern of impaired judgment and public recklessness tied to his intoxication. His and alcohol dependency manifested in deteriorating , including manic episodes, delusional thinking, and multiple hospitalizations in psychiatric wards. By the mid-1950s, Phillips' once-rapid-fire delivery on air became increasingly garbled and incoherent, signaling neurological and from prolonged substance exposure. The cumulative toll of these habits accelerated his professional and personal decline, rendering him unable to sustain consistent work despite his enduring passion for . This substance-fueled deterioration culminated in severe health complications, including , which directly precipitated his early death at age 42.

Controversies and Criticisms

Accusations of Cultural Corruption

Phillips' broadcasts of (R&B) records, featuring African American artists and unfiltered explicit language, provoked backlash from segregationists and moral conservatives in 1950s Memphis, who accused him of eroding racial barriers and traditional values by exposing white youth to "race music." These critics contended that the genre's pulsating rhythms and suggestive themes fostered sexual and , contributing to broader fears of juvenile delinquency amid post-World War II social changes. Phillips' mixed-race studio audiences at local stores, defying Jim Crow norms, amplified perceptions of him as a catalyst for cultural dilution, with some local figures labeling such programming as a direct assault on Southern heritage. Despite his popularity—drawing up to 70% of Memphis's radio audience by the mid-—Phillips encountered informal complaints to WHBQ management and public rebukes from religious leaders, who linked R&B's popularity to rising teen misbehavior, including interracial socializing at record hops. No formal investigations targeted him as with Alan Freed's scandals, but the sentiment echoed national debates, such as Senate hearings on comic books and music's role in moral decay, where similar genres were decried for hypnotizing youth into vice. Phillips dismissed detractors on-air, defending the music's authenticity and energy, yet the accusations persisted, framing his work as symptomatic of a perceived decline in cultural standards driven by commercial radio's pursuit of ratings over propriety. These claims, often voiced in letters to stations and local editorials rather than documented lawsuits, reflected deeper anxieties over desegregation efforts, with Phillips' unapologetic style—mixing banter about sex and alcohol with tracks by artists like —serving as a flashpoint for those viewing rock 'n' roll's emergence as a vector for societal corruption. Empirical data from the era, such as increased R&B sales crossing racial lines post-1954, underscored the shifts critics opposed, though Phillips' defenders highlighted the music's roots in shared American folk traditions rather than engineered decay.

Conflicts with Elvis Presley

In May 1957, during the filming of Jailhouse Rock in Hollywood, invited Dewey Phillips for an all-expenses-paid visit, reflecting their close friendship forged since Phillips first aired Presley's in 1954. However, tensions emerged as Phillips grew bored with studio observation, departing after only 15 minutes, and proceeded to take unauthorized photographs on the lot. Further incidents included Phillips interrupting Presley's spotlight at the Moulin Rouge nightclub by taking exaggerated bows, actions that embarrassed Presley in public settings. The relationship reached a breaking point when Presley shared a pre-release acetate of "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear," explicitly warning Phillips against removing or broadcasting it, as RCA Victor planned a June 1957 commercial release. Phillips nonetheless absconded with a copy and premiered it on his WHBQ radio show in Memphis without authorization, violating the label's embargo and potentially undermining promotional strategy. Upon returning to Memphis, Presley expressed fury over the breach of trust, leading to weeks of strained silence between the two; Phillips later attempted a late-night confrontation at Graceland around 1 a.m. to retrieve his camera, exacerbating the rift. Local columnist Robert Johnson documented the fallout in the Memphis Press-Scimitar that summer, highlighting Phillips' snubs, public intoxication alongside Presley, and attempts to upstage him at events. Despite the conflict, reconciliation occurred weeks later when Presley visited Phillips' WHBQ broadcast, followed by a casual record-listening session at founder ' home. The episode contributed to Presley's growing emphasis on privacy, prompting him to enforce stricter confidentiality among associates, though the two maintained contact until Phillips' death in , which Presley attended.

Death

Final Years

In the years following his dismissal from WHBQ in late 1958, when the station shifted to a Top 40 format incompatible with his eclectic style, Phillips struggled to sustain a radio presence, marking the onset of professional disillusionment amid the commercialization of rock 'n' roll. His rapid-fire delivery, once a hallmark of his broadcasts, devolved into garbled incoherence, attributed to chronic overuse of alcohol and prescription pills, though he retained a passion for music. Phillips faced mounting personal crises, including repeated arrests for and multiple hospitalizations in psychiatric wards, where he exhibited increasing delusions. These episodes reflected a broader decline exacerbated by substance dependency, isolating him from the vibrant Memphis music scene he had helped pioneer. By the mid-1960s, he lived reclusively, his health deteriorating from years of self-destructive habits, culminating in on September 28, 1968, at age 42.

Circumstances of Death

Dewey Phillips died on September 28, 1968, in , at the age of 42, with the official cause listed as . His death occurred amid a prolonged decline marked by heavy alcohol consumption and abuse of prescription painkillers, which he used to manage from injuries sustained in two automobile accidents, including a severe left leg injury from the first crash. In the years leading up to his death, Phillips faced multiple arrests for , repeated hospitalizations in psychiatric facilities, and increasing delusions, symptoms attributed by contemporaries to the cumulative effects of substance dependency and physical deterioration. He was found to have died alone, reflecting his isolation in his final days after fading from regular radio work and public life. Phillips was buried in Crump Cemetery, Crump, , his birthplace region.

Legacy

Influence on Music Integration

![WHBQ Studios Control Room where Dewey Phillips broadcast "Red, Hot and Blue"][float-right] Dewey Phillips advanced music integration by broadcasting (R&B) records, predominantly by African-American artists, to white audiences via his WHBQ program ", Hot and ," which aired nightly starting in 1953. In the racially segregated Memphis of the 1950s, Phillips' rapid-fire patter and selection of "race records" drew a cross-racial listenership, challenging norms by presenting Black music without alteration to predominantly white households. A landmark event occurred on July 8, 1954, when Phillips played Elvis Presley's debut single "," a fusion of Arthur Crudup's original with influences recorded at Sun Studios. Responding to Marion Keisker's suggestion, Phillips aired the track after dark, fielding numerous positive phone calls—many from white listeners unaccustomed to such sounds—and replayed it multiple times that evening, omitting Presley's name initially to gauge reception without racial preconceptions. This broadcast, which reached an estimated integrated audience in a divided city, helped propel Presley to local fame and exemplified Phillips' role in bridging musical divides. Phillips followed by conducting Presley's first live on-air that same night, discussing the recording without revealing Presley's race upfront, which sustained caller enthusiasm and underscored the track's appeal across lines. By prioritizing listener response over convention, Phillips facilitated the emergence of rock 'n' roll as a genre synthesizing Black R&B and white elements, influencing subsequent DJs and labels to pursue similar integrations. His approach, rooted in genuine enthusiasm rather than calculated promotion, contrasted with more conservative stations and contributed causally to eroding musical segregation in Southern radio.

Posthumous Recognition

In 2013, Phillips was posthumously inducted into the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame as a legacy member, recognizing his pioneering role in broadcasting and to mixed audiences in Memphis. That same year, he received induction into the inaugural class of the McNairy County Music Hall of Fame (also known as the Trail of Music Legends), honoring his origins in , and his influence as a who bridged musical genres during the postwar era. Phillips was also enshrined in the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, with announcements and family acknowledgments highlighting his contributions to the city's musical heritage, including his first airplay of Elvis Presley's "" in 1954. On August 25, 2025, a Tennessee Music Pathways historical marker was unveiled in Crump, , commemorating Phillips' career at WHBQ radio and his role in introducing to broader audiences, as part of a state initiative to designate sites tied to musical innovation.

References

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