No producer invented rock and roll, but Sam Phillips produced what many music historians consider the first rock and roll record, "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats. For his discovery of Elvis Presley alone, Phillips deserves mention. When you consider his work with Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis, he cannot be ignored. From the same era, Norman Petty played a similar role with artists like Orbison, Waylon Jennings and Buddy Holly.
Country music producers haven't enjoyed the same high profile as their rock counterparts, but they are no less influential. Owen Bradley did seminal work with Roy Acuff, Red Foley and Kitty Wells, working also as a songwriter and arranger. Chet Atkins is a noted guitarist and recording artist himself, and with Bradley is responsible for the "Nashville Sound" of the 1950s and '60s. Atkins produced Presley through his RCA Records tenure, as well as Perry Como, The Everly Brothers and Jim Reeves.
"The Sound of Young America" was a slogan used by Motown Records in the early days, and with good reason. The team of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland is one of the most successful songwriting teams in contemporary music; they were producers of the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes and the Four Tops. Composer of the hit, "I Heard It Through The Grapevine," Norman Whitfield produced the Temptations and Edwin Starr.
Both these Englishmen started their careers as engineers, moving to the production role as their reputations grew. Glyn Johns worked with the Beatles and Rolling Stones as an engineer before producing the Eagles, Humble Pie and Eric Clapton. Alan Parsons worked as engineer with the Beatles, the Hollies and Paul McCartney before producing Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon." He worked with Pilot and Ambrosia before embarking on the Alan Parsons Project, composing, engineering and producing its body of work.
In the 1950s and '60s, music producers were autocratic as they would audition, hire and match songs to performers. Such was the state of the industry when George Martin signed the Beatles to a contract with Parlophone Records. The upstart band rejected a song chosen by Martin in favor of their own composition, "Please Please Me." Rather than shutting down the group, Martin gave the members a chance and the rest really is history. The role of producer changed to one of creative facilitation under Martin. His later work includes production for America and Jeff Beck.