Southern music impresario and Sun Records owner Shelby Singleton went his own way in the music business, earning a reputation as a canny record man and businessman.

"Shelby did things in a different way. He was a maverick," said friend and protégé Jerry Kennedy, himself a famed producer.

Mr. Singleton died Wednesday in Alive Hospice Care at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville after a battle with brain cancer. He was 77.

A veteran producer, promoter and record company executive, Mr. Singleton purchased the Sun Records name and catalog from Sam Phillips in 1969.

As chairman and CEO of the Sun Entertainment Holding Corp., Mr. Singleton was responsible for mining the Sun archives with a steady stream of reissues and archival releases from the label's vaults. Mr. Singleton also developed the Sun brand, licensing the company logo for T-shirts and other merchandise.

Born in 1931 in the tiny east Texas town of Waskom, Mr. Singleton served in the Marines in Korea. After his discharge, he began his music career in Shreveport, La., as a local promoter for the Mercury label.

He moved up the ranks quickly, becoming vice president of the company's Nashville imprint Smash by his 30th birthday.

During his nearly decadelong run at Smash he helped foster or revive the careers of singer-songwriter Roger Miller and piano man Jerry Lee Lewis, among others.

His production of Jeannie C. Riley's hit "Harper Valley P.T.A." in 1968 and the success of the song -- a multimillion-selling country and pop chart-topper -- filled his coffers and allowed him to purchase the Sun catalog the following year.

In more recent years, Mr. Singleton had taught courses on the music business at Nashville's Belmont College.

— Bob Mehr, 529-2517