Future Mythologies

Hmmm. Apparently when I call Sam Phillips the first studio wizard, I'm ignoring Rudy Van Gelder. Well, that makes sense. Nothing is as simple as it seems, especially famous firsts. Any time you think something is the definitive first, there's probably a little something something behind it, egging it on. When I say Thomas Edison is the greatest, most important American who ever lived, it's an obvious oversimplification, and I always get the feeling there's someone more important who's only more obscure, who we pass over. There's probably someone underneath that him or her, too. Nevertheless, I choose to ignore Rudy Van Gelder, because I don't like jazz. I'm also not going to deny or qualify that Thomas Edison is the greatest and most important figure in American history.