Origins Vol. III

**MrBallen** (0:00)
Today's podcast will feature four stories that each are about how a single decision changed the lives of not only the people in these stories, but also the lives of millions of other people around the world as well. The audio from all four of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode. The links to the original YouTube videos are in the description. The first story you'll hear is called The Four Dollar Crown, and it's about a shy kid who leaves a very lasting impression on a studio owner. The second story you'll hear is called Money on the Line, and it's about a man who takes a gamble to save his business. The third story you'll hear is called One Drink, Two Drink, and it's about a young man who gets kicked out of his prestigious position at his school's newspaper. And the fourth and final story you'll hear is called The Stripper's Advice, and it's about an aspiring actor who takes a leap of faith in Hollywood. But before we get into today's stories, if you're a fan of the Strange, Dark & Mysterious, Delivered in Story format, then you've come to the right podcast because that's all we do. We upload four times a week, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. So if that's of interest to you, please sneak into the Follow Buttons house and dump out all their mountain dew and replace it with pickle juice. Okay, let's get into our first story called The Four Dollar Crown.
One day in the summer of 1953, a 30-year-old man named Sam Phillips was cleaning up his recording studio, which was located in a fast-growing city known for their vibrant music scene. Sam had just finished recording a church choir, and now he was getting ready for his next client, and so he was resetting all the equipment and cleaning up. But Sam didn't actually know who his next client would be or when they'd show up, because Sam's recording studio was pretty unique. Because he was always on the hunt for new talent to sign, he had opened up his studio to anybody who wanted to come in at any time. All they had to do was show up, give him $4, and they could be recorded professionally. This did mean that a lot of times his clients were not very talented, but he felt like it gave him the biggest opportunity to cast the widest net to potentially find his next big star. So that day, Sam finished cleaning up the studio and resetting everything, and then Sam just sat down and waited, hoping that another client would come through the door. And eventually, another client did. This young kid, he was 18 years old, he came strolling inside, he had a guitar slung over his shoulder. Sam had never seen him before, and right away he could tell the kid was pretty shy, and the guy came up to him and he just said, hey, you know, I work as a truck driver, but I love to sing, I love to play the guitar as a hobby, and I just wanted to come in here and, you know, record a couple of ballads for my mom. And so Sam, again, he took all kinds, he's like, absolutely, give me $4, and we can record these ballads. And so the kid handed over $4, and he went into the booth, and Sam's like, all right, you're on. And Sam basically expected this kid to do what most other clients of his did, which was, you know, they'd begin playing and be sort of like not that good at their instrument, and they'd sing off key, and, you know, Sam just kind of sitting there listening to this terrible music, just waiting for it to end. But with this kid, it was different. Once he began strumming his guitar and singing, it was like he totally broke out of his shell. I mean, he was, you know, at first glance, a very shy sort of reserved guy, but in the booth, he was electric, he was amazing. And so Sam sat there listening to this kid record his ballads and was just so blown away how talented he was. And then when it was all done, you know, the kid said, thank you. He took his recordings with him and he left. And then once he was gone, Sam just made a point to make a note about this kid that just said, good ballad singer, safe. Basically, remember this guy because I think he's going to be something special.
About a year later in 1954, Sam was back in his recording studio and he was working with another client. It was this band and they were trying to record some songs. But as they were playing, they decided that they were really lacking another vocalist to round out the sound. They asked Sam, hey, do you know anybody? Sam's studio manager who was in the room and overheard the request immediately chimed in and said, hey Sam, what about that 18-year-old ballad singer from last year? He was great. Maybe he could be the vocalist. Sam was like, yeah, I'll give him a call.