A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionaries after World War II, the word motel, coined as a portmanteau of "motor hotel", originates from the Milestone Mo-Tel of San Luis Obispo, California, which was built in 1925. The term referred to a type of hotel consisting of a single building of connected rooms whose doors faced a parking lot and in some circumstances, a common area or a series of small cabins with common parking. Motels are often individually owned, though motel chains do exist.
Samuel Cornelius Phillips was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Howlin' Wolf. Phillips played a major role in the development of rock and roll during the 1950s, launching the career of Presley. In 1969, he sold Sun to Shelby Singleton.
Samuel Cook, known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distinctive vocals, pioneering contributions to the genre, and significance in popular music.
Bertrand Russell Berns, also known as Bert Russell and (occasionally) Russell Byrd, was an American songwriter and record producer of the 1960s. His songwriting credits include "Twist and Shout", "Piece of My Heart", "Here Comes the Night", "Hang on Sloopy", "Cry to Me" and "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love", and his productions include "Baby, Please Don't Go", "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Under the Boardwalk".
Monument Records is an American record label in Washington, D.C. named for the Washington Monument, founded in 1958 by Fred Foster, Buddy Deane, and business manager Jack Kirby. Buddy Deane soon left the company, and in the early '60s bought KOTN in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where he lived in retirement until his death. Foster and Kirby relocated to the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville, Tennessee. Monument's releases include a variety of genres including rock and roll, country, jazz, and rhythm and blues.
Charles Kemmons Wilson was an American hotelier. He is best known for founding the hotel chain Holiday Inn in the 1950s.
Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee. The chain was a division of Bass Brewery from 1988-2000, Six Continents from 2000-03, and IHG Hotels & Resorts since 2003. It operates hotels under the names Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, and Holiday Inn Resorts. As of 2018, Holiday Inn operates more than 1,100 locations.
Cash Money Records is an American record label founded in 1991 by brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Bryan "Birdman" Williams. In the early years, Cash Money Records released albums of Juvenile, B.G., and Hot Boys. Distributed by Republic Records, the label has been home to a roster of mostly hip hop artists, including Lil Wayne, Drake, and Nicki Minaj. The company is regarded as one of the most successful record labels of the 2000s–2010s.
Sunset Records was a record label started in 1965 as the budget album subsidiary of Liberty Records to reissue and issue material originally recorded for Liberty, Imperial, Minit and other Liberty subsidiaries as well as leased material from other entities.
Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business. Sun Studio is perhaps most famous for its role in the early years of Elvis Presley’s career.
Ernest Dion Wilson, professionally known as No I.D., is an American hip hop and R&B producer from Chicago, Illinois. Wilson is also a disc jockey (DJ), music arranger and former rapper, having released an album Accept Your Own and Be Yourself , in 1997 under Relativity Records. He is perhaps best known for his early work with Chicago-based rapper Common. He has since become a heavily sought-out and high-profile producer, producing hit singles such as "Smile" by G-Unit, "Outta My System" and "Let Me Hold You" by Bow Wow, "Heartless" by Kanye West, "D.O.A." by Jay-Z, "My Last" by Big Sean, and "New Light" by John Mayer.
Holiday Records was an American record label based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which was active in the early 1950s. Owned by Dave Miller, who also owned Essex Records, it is best known for releasing some of the earliest recordings widely identified as rock and roll, most notably "Rocket 88" by Bill Haley and His Saddlemen in 1951.
Bobby Marcel Wilson, better known by his stage name Bobby V, is an American R&B singer. He was first a member of the R&B group Mista in 1994, before signing to rapper Ludacris through his label imprint, Disturbing tha Peace under Def Jam Recordings in 2005. Bobby V's first single as a solo artist, "Slow Down", released in February 2005, peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single was certified gold by the RIAA and became the lead single for his eponymous debut album (2005)—which peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200 and had a follow-up single, "Tell Me".
Samuel Lawrence Taylor was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee Lewis. He was the younger brother of Mel Taylor, long-time drummer of The Ventures.
"Speak Low" (1943) is a popular song composed by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Ogden Nash.
Sun Records has been the name of multiple 20th century record labels, most famously Sun Records, a Memphis-based music label.
Roy Orbison's Sun recordings were made by Orbison at Sun Studio with producer Sam Phillips. Sun Records was established in 1952 in Memphis, Tennessee, and during an eight-year period Phillips recorded such artists as Roy Orbison, B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Ike Turner, Rufus Thomas, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Harold Jenkins, and Charlie Rich. The musicians signed at Sun Records made music that laid the foundation of rock and roll in the 20th century.
Charles Kent Wilson, also known as Uncle Charlie, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and the former lead vocalist of the Gap Band. As a solo artist Wilson has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards and 11 NAACP Image Awards, received a 2009 Soul Train Icon Award, and was a recipient of a BMI Icon Award in 2005. In 2009 and 2020, he was named Billboard magazine's No. 1 Adult R&B Artist, and his song "There Goes My Baby" was named the No. 1 Urban Adult Song for 2009 in Billboard.
Randy and the Radiants were an American garage rock band from Memphis, Tennessee who were active from 1962 to 1966 and then again 1976–1984. They were one of the most popular groups in the Memphis area during the 1960s. Through their association with Knox Phillips, son of Sam Phillips, they signed with Sun Records and recorded two singles on the label which became hits in the region. Their second release, "My Way of Thinking", became one of the top hits in the area, reaching #1 on WGMN's charts. The group's work has today become highly regarded amongst garage rock enthusiasts and collectors.
Theodore Richard White was an American businessman, songwriter, music manager and producer from Detroit, Michigan.
