more carl perkins
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| Dixie Fried Music |
Perkins was the son of poor sharecroppers near Tiptonville, Tennessee. He grew up hearing
Southern gospel music sung by whites in church and by black field workers when he started working in the cotton
fields at age six. In the spring and fall, the school day would be followed by several hours of work in the fields. During
the summer workdays were 12 - 14 hours, "from can to can't". Carl and his brother Jay together would earn 50 cents
per day. With all family members working, and credit, there was enough money for beans and potatoes, some
tobacco for Carl's father Buck, and every so often the luxury of a five cent bag of hard candy.
On Saturday nights he would listen to the radio along with his father and hear music from the Grand Ole Opry. Roy
Acuff's broadcast performances on the Opry inspired Perkins to ask his parents for a guitar. Because they couldn't
afford a real guitar, Carl's father fashioned one from a cigar box and a broomstick. When a neighbor in tough straits
offered to sell his dented and scratched Gene Autry signature model guitar with worn out strings, Buck purchased it
for a couple of dollars. For the next year Carl taught himself parts of Roy Acuff's "Great Speckled Bird" and "The
Wabash Cannonball", which he had heard on the Opry. Perkins also cites the sped up, driving. straight time playing
and detached but determined, wispy but challenging vocals of Bill Monroe as an early influence.
Carl began learning more about playing his guitar from a fellow field worker named John Westbrook who befriended
him. "Uncle John", as Carl called him, was an African American in his sixties who played blues and gospel on his
battered acoustic guitar. Most famously, "Uncle John" advised Carl when playing the guitar to "Get down close to it.
You can feel it travel down the strangs, come through your head and down to your soul where you live. You can feel it.
Let it vib-a-rate." Because Carl couldn't afford new strings when they broke, he retied them. The knots would cut into
his fingers when he tried to slide to another note, so he began bending the notes, stumbling onto a type of blue note."
Carl was recruited to be a member of the Lake County Fourth Grade Marching Band, and because of the Perkins'
limited finances, was given a new white shirt, cotton pants, white band cap and red cape by Miss Lee McCutcheon,
who was in charge of the band.
In January 1947, Buck Perkins moved his family from Lake County to Madison County. A replacement radio which ran
on electricity rather than battery, and the nearness of Memphis made it possible for Carl to hear a wider variety of
music. At age fourteen, using the I IV V chord progression common to country songs of the day, he wrote a song that
would be known as "Let Me Take You To the Movie, Magg" around Jackson. (The same song would convince Sam
Phillips to sign Perkins to his Sun Records label.)
Beginnings as a Performer
Perkins and his brother Jay had their first paying job (in tips) as entertainment at the "CottonBoll" on Highway 45
some twelve miles south of Jackson, TN starting on Wednesday nights in late 1946. Carl was only fourteen years
old. One of the songs they played was an uptempo, country blues shuffle version of Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of
Kentucky". Free drinks were one of the perks of playing in a honky tonk, and Carl drank four beers that first night.
Within a month Carl and Jay began playing Friday and Saturday nights at the Sand Ditch near the western boundary
of Jackson. Both places were the scene of frequent fights, and both of the Perkins Brothers gained a reputation as
fighters.
In the next couple of years the Perkins Brothers began playing other tonks, including El Rancho, The Roadside Inn,
and the Hilltop, around Bemis and Jackson as they became a big draw. Carl talked his brother Clayton into playing
the bass fiddle to fill in the sound of the band. Carl began appearing regularly on Jackson radio station WTJS in the
late forties as a sometime member of the Tennessee Ramblers. He also appeared on another show, Hayloft Frolic,
where he performed two single songs; sometime including "Talking Blues" as done by Robert Lunn on the Grand
Ole Opry. Carl, and then his brothers began appearing on The Early Morning Farm and Home Hour. Overwhelmingly
positive listener response led to a fifteen minute segment sponsored by Mother's Best Flour.
By the end of the 40s, the Perkins Brothers were in a league of their own as the best known band in the Jackson
area. Carl had day jobs during most of these early years, working first at picking cotton, then at Day's Dairy in
Malesus, then a mattress factory, and in then a battery plant. He then began as a pan greaser at the Colonial Baking
Company and worked there from 1951 through 1952.
In January 1953 Carl married a woman he had known for a number of years, Valda Crider. When his job at the
bakery was reduced to part time, Valda, who had her own job at the time, encouraged Carl to begin working the tonks
full time. Carl began playing six night a week. Late in the same year he added W.S. "Fluke" Holland, who had no
previous experience as a musician, but a good sense of rhythm, to the band as a drummer.
In July 1954, Perkins and his wife, Valda, heard a new release of "Blue Moon of Kentucky" by Elvis Presley, Scotty,
and Bill on the radio. Valda exclaimed, "Listen! They play like y'all! It sounds like you!" After recording the take of the
song that was released, Presley exclaimed, "That sounds like Carl Perkins!". As "Blue Moon of Kentucky faded out,
Carl said, "There's a man in Memphis who understands what we're doing. I need to go see him."
Sun Records
Perkins successfully auditioned for Sam Phillips at Sun Records early in October 1954. "Movie Magg" and "Turn
Around" were released on the Phillips owned Flip label (151) March 19, 1955 hit. With "Turn Around" becoming a
regional. With "Turn Around" getting airplay across the South and Southwest, Perkins was booked to appear along
with Elvis Presley at theaters in Mariana and West Memphis, Arkansas. Commenting on the audience reaction to
both Presley and himself Perkins said, "When I'd jump around they'd scream some, but they were gettin' ready for
him. It was like TNT, man, it just exploded. All of a sudden the world was wrapped up in rock."
Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two were the next musicians to be added to the performances by Sun musicians.
Over the summer of '55 there were trips to Little Rock, Forrest City, Corinth, and Tupelo. Again performing at El
Rancho, the Perkins brothers were involved in an automobile accident. A friend, who had been driving, was pinned
by the steering wheel. Perkins managed to drag him from the car, which had caught on fire. Clayton had been thrown
from the car, but was not seriously injured."
Another Perkins' tune "Gone Gone Gone", released in October 1955 by Sun, was also a regional hit. It was backed by
the more traditional "Let The Juke Box Keep On Playing", complete with fiddle, "Western Boogie" bass line, steel
guitar, and weepy vocal.
That same fall of 1955, Perkins wrote the song "Blue Suede Shoes" after seeing a dancer at a honky-tonk get mad at
his date for scruffing up his blue suede shoes. Several weeks later, on December 19, 1955, Perkins and his band
recorded the song during a session at the Sun studios in Memphis. Phillips suggested changes to the lyrics ("Go
Cat Go") and the band changed the end of the song to a boogie vamp. During the long session, as liquor flowed, the
sound became tougher, harder and looser, and Perkins played with passion. Phillips knew he had found the right
song to bring out the blues strain in Perkins' music and produce a pop hit. Elvis Presley left Sun for a larger
opportunity with RCA in November, and on December 19, 1955, Phillips, who had begun recording Perkins in late
1954, told Perkins, "Carl Perkins, you're my rockabilly cat now".
Released on January 1, 1956, "Blue Suede Shoes" was a massive chart success. In the United States, it went to #1
on Billboard magazine's country music charts (the only #1 hit he would have) and to #2 on Billboard's Best Sellers
pop music chart. Perkins first performed the song on national television on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee on February 11.
Finally, on March 17, Perkins became the first country artist to reach the #3 spot on the rhythm & blues charts.
In the United Kingdom, the song became a Top Ten hit. It was the first record by a Sun label artist to sell a million
copies. The B side, "Honey Don't", was covered by The Beatles, Wanda Jackson, and (in the 1970s) T. Rex. John
Lennon used to sing lead on the song when the Beatles performed it before the song was given to Ringo Starr to
sing. Lennon performed the song on his own as recorded on the Lost Lennon Tapes.
The Accident
After playing a show in Norfolk, VA on March 21, 1956, the Perkins Brothers Band headed for New York City and their
appearance on the nationally-broadcast Perry Como Show. Shortly before sunrise near Dover, Delaware Stuart
Pinkham (aka Dick Stuart, and Poor Richard) assumed the duties as driver. After running head on into the back of a
pickup truck, their car ended up in a ditch of water about a foot deep, and Carl was lying face down in the water.
Drummer W.S. Holland rolled Carl over, saving him from drowning. Carl had suffered 3 fractured vertebrae in his
neck, a severe concussion, a broken collar bone, and lacerations all over his body in the crash. Carl remained
unconscious for an entire day. The driver of the pickup, Thomas Phillips, a forty year old farmer, died when he was
thrown into the steering wheel of his pickup. Carl's brother Jay had a fractured neck along with severe internal
injuries.
On March 23 Bill Black, Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana visited Carl on their way to New York to appear with Elvis the
next day. Bill Black told Carl, "Hey, man, Elvis sends his love", and lit a cigarette for him, in spite of the fact that the
patient in the next bed was in an oxygen tent. A week later, Carl was given a telegram, which had actually arrvied on
the 23rd, from Elvis wishing him a speedy recovery. Sam Philips had planned to surprise Perkins with a gold record
during the Perry Como show. "Shoes" had already sold more than 500,000 copies by March 22. Now, while Carl
recuperated from the accident, "Blue Suede Shoes" rose to number one on most pop, R&B, and country regional
charts. It also held the number two positon on the Billboard Hot 100 and country charts. Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak
Hotel" held the number one position on the pop and country charts, while "Shoes" did better than "Heartbreak" on the
R&B charts. By Mid-April, more than one million copies of "Shoes" had been sold.
On April 3, while still out of commission, but back in Jackson, Perkins would see his friend Elvis Presley perform
"Blue Suede Shoes" on his first Milton Berle Show appearance. Presley performed the song on national television
three times that year, and made references to it twice during an appearance on The Steve Allen Show. Although his
version became more famous than Perkins', it only reached #20 on Billboard's pop chart.
Return to Recording and Touring
Perkins returned to live performances on April 21 of the same year beginning with an appearance in Beaumont,
Texas with the "Big D Jamboree" tour.
Before resuming life on the road, Sam Phillips arranged a recording session at Sun with Ed Cisco filling in for the
still recuperating Jay. By mid-April "Dixie Fried", "Put Your Cat Clothes On", "Right String, Wrong Yo-Yo", "You Can't
Make Love to Somebody", "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby", and "That Don't Move Me" had been recorded.
Perkins was paid $1,000 to play just two songs a night on the extended tour of "Top Stars of '56" beginning in early
summer. A couple of the other performers on this tour were Chuck Berry, and Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers.
When Perkins and the group took the stage in Columbia, SC, Carl was appalled to see a teenager with a bleeding
chin pressed against the stage by the crowd. During the first guitar break of "Honey Don't" they were waved off stage
and into a vacant dressing room behind a double line of police officers. Carl is quoted as saying, "It was dangerous.
Lot of kids got hurt. There was a lot of rioting going on, just crazy, man! The music drove 'em insane." Appalled by
what he had seen and experienced, Carl left the tour.
Sun issued more Perkins' songs in 1956: "Boppin'The Blues"/"All Mama's Children" (Sun 243), "Dixie Fried"/"I'm
Sorry, I'm Not Sorry" (Sun 249). "Matchbox"/"All Mama's Children" (Sun 261) came out in February 1957. "Matchbox"
is considered to be a rockabilly classic, and George Thorogood and the Destroyers covered "Dixie Fried" on their
1985 album Maverick. The Kentucky Headhunters also covered the song as did Keith de Groot on a 1968 album
entitled No Introduction Necessary that featured Jimmy Page on lead guitar and John Paul Jones on bass.
The day "Matchbox" was recorded, Elvis Presley visited the studio. Along with Johnny Cash (who left early), Perkins,
Jerry Lee Lewis, and Presley spent more than an hour singing gospel, country and rhythm-and-blues songs while a
tape rolled. The casual session was called "The Million Dollar Quartet" by a local newspaper the next day, and was
eventually released on a disk in 1990. The 1957 film Jamboree includes a Perkins performance of Glad All Over that
runs 1:55. "Glad All Over", written by Schroeder, Tepper, and Bennett, was released by Sun in January 1958. Perkins
also made at least two appearances on the Town Hall Party in Compton, CA in 1957. Singing both "Blue Suede
Shoes" and "Matchbox". Those performances were included in the Western Ranch Dance Party series filmed and
distributed by Screen Gems.
Life after Sun
In 1958, Perkins moved to Columbia Records where he recorded songs such as "Jive at Five", "Anyway the Wind
Blows", "Hambone", "Pointed Toe Shoes", and "Sister Twister".
The Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas was the site of many performances in 1962 along with appearances in 9
mid Western states and a tour of Germany. Appearances at The Golden Nugget continued through 1963.
In May 1964 Perkins toured England along with Chuck Berry, and Eric Burdon and The Animals backed the two stars
from the States On the last night of the tour, he attended a party that turned out to be for him, and ended up sitting on
the floor sharing stories, playing guitar, and singing songs while surrounded by The Beatles: John, Paul, George,
and Ringo; who were at the time the hottest group in the world. Ringo asked Carl if he could record "Honey Don't."
"Man," answered Carl, "go ahead, have at it." The Beatles, would cover "Matchbox", "Honey Don't", and also
"Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" recorded by Perkins but adapted from a song originally recorded by Rex Griffin in
1936, a song also recorded by Roy Newman. "Glad All Over", also performed by Perkins, but not written by him, and
not to be confused with The Dave Clark Five song of the same name, was also covered. Another tour to Germany
followed in the fall.
Although he had been trying to rehabilitate himself by only drinking beer (but lots of it), in 1968, while on tour with the
Johnny Cash troupe, Perkins began a four day drunk in Tulsa, OK starting with a bottle of Early Times. Nevertheless,
with the urging of Cash, he opened a show in San Diego by playing four songs after seeing "four or five of me in the
mirror", and while being able to see "nothin' but a blur". After drinking yet another pint of Early Times, he passed out
on the tour bus. By morning he started hallucinating "big spiders, and dinosaurs, huge, and they were gonna step on
me." The bus was now parked on a beach at the ocean. He was tempted by yet another pint of whiskey that he had
hidden on the bus. He took the bottle with him onto the beach and fell on his knees and said, "Lord... I'm gonna throw
this bottle. I'm gonna show You that I believe in You." I sailed it into the Pacific... I got up, I knew I had done the right
thing." Perkins and Cash, who had his own problems with drugs, then gave each other support to stay away from
their drug of choice.
In 1968, Johnny Cash took the Perkins-written "Daddy Sang Bass" (that incorporates parts of the American standard
"Will the Circle Be Unbroken") to #1 on the country music charts for 6 weeks. Glen Campbell also covered the song,
as did the Statler Brothers and Carl Story. "Daddy Sang Bass" was also a Country Music Association nominee for
Song of the Year. Carl Perkins also played lead guitar on the Johnny Cash smash single "A Boy Named Sue" which
was no. 1 for 5 weeks on the country chart and no. 2 on the pop chart. Perkins spent a decade in Cash's singer
touring revue and appeared on The Johnny Cash Show. Perkins played "MatchBox" along with Cash and with Eric
Clapton and band mates (Derek and the Dominoes). Cash also featured Perkins in rehearsal jamming with José
Feliciano and Merle Travis.
A Kraft Music Hall episode hosted by Johnny Cash had Perkins singing his song "Restless" on April 16,
1969.Country music fans may recognize The Statler Brothers' song "Flowers on the Wall", which was also featured
on this show.
In February 1969 Perkins joined with Bob Dylan to write the song "Champaign, Illinois". Dylan was recording in
Nashville from February 12 through February 21 for an album that would be titled Nashville Skyline, and met Perkins
when he appeared on The Johnny Cash Show on June 7. Dylan had written one verse of a song, but was stuck. After
Perkins worked out a loping rhythm and improvised a verse ending lyric, Dylan said, "Your song. Take it. Finish it."
The co authored song was included in Perkins' 1969 album On Top.
Perkins was also united in 1969 by Columbia's Murray Krugman with a long-hair rockabilly group based in New
York's Hudson Valley, the New Rhythm and Blues Quartet. Carl and NRBQ recorded "Boppin' the Blues" which
featured the New York band backing Perkins on some songs like his staples "Turn Around" and "Boppin' the Blues"
and included songs recorded separately by Carl and NRBQ. One of his TV appearances with Cash was on the
popular country series Hee Haw in an episode aired February 16, 1974.
After a long legal battle with Sam Phillips over royalties, Perkins gained ownership of his songs in the 1970s.
In 1981 Perkins recorded the song 'Get It' with Paul McCartney, providing vocals and playing guitar with the former
Beatle. This recording was included on the chart topping album Tug Of War released in 1982. This track also
appeared as the B-side of the title track single in a slightly edited form. One source states that Perkins "wrote the
song with Paul McCartney".
The rockabilly revival of the 1980s helped bring Perkins back into the limelight. In 1985, he re-recorded "Blue Suede
Shoes" with two members of the Stray Cats, as part of the soundtrack for the movie, Porky's Revenge. That same
year, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Ringo Starr appeared with him on a television special taped in London,
England, called Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session. Perkins and his friends ended the session by singing his
signature song, 30 years after its writing, which brought Perkins to tears.
In 1985, Perkins was inducted to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 1987, wider recognition of his
contribution to music came with his induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In addition, "Blue Suede Shoes"
was chosen as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, and as a Grammy
Hall of Fame Award recipient. His pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of
Fame.
Perkins' only notable film performance as an actor was in John Landis' 1985 film Into the Night, a cameo-laden film
that includes a scene where characters played by Carl and David Bowie die at each other's hand.
In 1986, he returned to the Sun Studios in Memphis, joining Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison on the
album Class of '55. The record was a tribute to their early years at Sun and, specifically, the Million Dollar Quartet jam
session involving Perkins, Presley, Cash, and Lewis on December 4, 1956.
In 1989, he co-wrote and played guitar on The Judd's #1 country hit, "Let Me Tell You About Love".
Last years
In 1989 Perkins signed a record deal for an album with the title Friends, Family, and Legends, featuring
performances by Chet Atkins, Travis Tritt, Steve Wariner, Joan Jett, Charlie Daniels, along with Paul Shaffer and Will
Lee. In 1992 Perkins developed throat cancer during the production of this CD. Perkins returned to Sun Studio in
Memphis to record with Scotty Moore, Presley's first guitar player. The CD was called 706 ReUNION, released on
Belle Meade Records, and featured D.J. Fontana, Marcus Van Storey and The Jordanaires. In 1993, Perkins
appeared with the Kentucky Headhunters in a music video remake, shot in Glasgow, Kentucky, of his song Dixie
Fried. Perkins' last album, Go Cat Go!, was released in 1996, and featured new collaborations with many of the
above artists, as well as George Harrison, Paul Simon, John Fogerty, Tom Petty, and Bono. It was released by the
independent label Dinosaur Records, and distributed by BMG.
His last major concert appearance was the "Music for Montserrat" all-star charity concert at Royal Albert Hall on
September 15, 1997.
Death and legacy
Four months later at Jackson-Madison County Hospital, Jackson, Tennessee, Carl Perkins died at the age of 65
from throat cancer after suffering several strokes. Among those in attendance at the funeral at Lambuth University in
1998 were ex-Beatle George Harrison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Wynonna Judd, Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash and June Carter
Cash. He is interred at Ridgecrest Cemetery in Jackson, Tennessee.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him #69 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Carl Perkins' wife, Valda deVere Perkins, died November 15, 2005 in Jackson, Tennessee.
Drive-By Truckers, on their album The Dirty South, recorded a song "Carl Perkins' Cadillac" that gives a poignant
history of the artist and his relationships.
Perkins is the subject of an acclaimed biography, Go, Cat, Go, by noted New York-based music writer David McGee.
The Perkins family still owns his songs which are administered by former Beatle Paul McCartney's company MPL
Communications.
Plans for a biographical film about Perkins have been announced by Santa Monica-based production company
Fastlane Entertainment. The Carl Perkins Story is slated for release in 2009.
Southern gospel music sung by whites in church and by black field workers when he started working in the cotton
fields at age six. In the spring and fall, the school day would be followed by several hours of work in the fields. During
the summer workdays were 12 - 14 hours, "from can to can't". Carl and his brother Jay together would earn 50 cents
per day. With all family members working, and credit, there was enough money for beans and potatoes, some
tobacco for Carl's father Buck, and every so often the luxury of a five cent bag of hard candy.
On Saturday nights he would listen to the radio along with his father and hear music from the Grand Ole Opry. Roy
Acuff's broadcast performances on the Opry inspired Perkins to ask his parents for a guitar. Because they couldn't
afford a real guitar, Carl's father fashioned one from a cigar box and a broomstick. When a neighbor in tough straits
offered to sell his dented and scratched Gene Autry signature model guitar with worn out strings, Buck purchased it
for a couple of dollars. For the next year Carl taught himself parts of Roy Acuff's "Great Speckled Bird" and "The
Wabash Cannonball", which he had heard on the Opry. Perkins also cites the sped up, driving. straight time playing
and detached but determined, wispy but challenging vocals of Bill Monroe as an early influence.
Carl began learning more about playing his guitar from a fellow field worker named John Westbrook who befriended
him. "Uncle John", as Carl called him, was an African American in his sixties who played blues and gospel on his
battered acoustic guitar. Most famously, "Uncle John" advised Carl when playing the guitar to "Get down close to it.
You can feel it travel down the strangs, come through your head and down to your soul where you live. You can feel it.
Let it vib-a-rate." Because Carl couldn't afford new strings when they broke, he retied them. The knots would cut into
his fingers when he tried to slide to another note, so he began bending the notes, stumbling onto a type of blue note."
Carl was recruited to be a member of the Lake County Fourth Grade Marching Band, and because of the Perkins'
limited finances, was given a new white shirt, cotton pants, white band cap and red cape by Miss Lee McCutcheon,
who was in charge of the band.
In January 1947, Buck Perkins moved his family from Lake County to Madison County. A replacement radio which ran
on electricity rather than battery, and the nearness of Memphis made it possible for Carl to hear a wider variety of
music. At age fourteen, using the I IV V chord progression common to country songs of the day, he wrote a song that
would be known as "Let Me Take You To the Movie, Magg" around Jackson. (The same song would convince Sam
Phillips to sign Perkins to his Sun Records label.)
Beginnings as a Performer
Perkins and his brother Jay had their first paying job (in tips) as entertainment at the "CottonBoll" on Highway 45
some twelve miles south of Jackson, TN starting on Wednesday nights in late 1946. Carl was only fourteen years
old. One of the songs they played was an uptempo, country blues shuffle version of Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of
Kentucky". Free drinks were one of the perks of playing in a honky tonk, and Carl drank four beers that first night.
Within a month Carl and Jay began playing Friday and Saturday nights at the Sand Ditch near the western boundary
of Jackson. Both places were the scene of frequent fights, and both of the Perkins Brothers gained a reputation as
fighters.
In the next couple of years the Perkins Brothers began playing other tonks, including El Rancho, The Roadside Inn,
and the Hilltop, around Bemis and Jackson as they became a big draw. Carl talked his brother Clayton into playing
the bass fiddle to fill in the sound of the band. Carl began appearing regularly on Jackson radio station WTJS in the
late forties as a sometime member of the Tennessee Ramblers. He also appeared on another show, Hayloft Frolic,
where he performed two single songs; sometime including "Talking Blues" as done by Robert Lunn on the Grand
Ole Opry. Carl, and then his brothers began appearing on The Early Morning Farm and Home Hour. Overwhelmingly
positive listener response led to a fifteen minute segment sponsored by Mother's Best Flour.
By the end of the 40s, the Perkins Brothers were in a league of their own as the best known band in the Jackson
area. Carl had day jobs during most of these early years, working first at picking cotton, then at Day's Dairy in
Malesus, then a mattress factory, and in then a battery plant. He then began as a pan greaser at the Colonial Baking
Company and worked there from 1951 through 1952.
In January 1953 Carl married a woman he had known for a number of years, Valda Crider. When his job at the
bakery was reduced to part time, Valda, who had her own job at the time, encouraged Carl to begin working the tonks
full time. Carl began playing six night a week. Late in the same year he added W.S. "Fluke" Holland, who had no
previous experience as a musician, but a good sense of rhythm, to the band as a drummer.
In July 1954, Perkins and his wife, Valda, heard a new release of "Blue Moon of Kentucky" by Elvis Presley, Scotty,
and Bill on the radio. Valda exclaimed, "Listen! They play like y'all! It sounds like you!" After recording the take of the
song that was released, Presley exclaimed, "That sounds like Carl Perkins!". As "Blue Moon of Kentucky faded out,
Carl said, "There's a man in Memphis who understands what we're doing. I need to go see him."
Sun Records
Perkins successfully auditioned for Sam Phillips at Sun Records early in October 1954. "Movie Magg" and "Turn
Around" were released on the Phillips owned Flip label (151) March 19, 1955 hit. With "Turn Around" becoming a
regional. With "Turn Around" getting airplay across the South and Southwest, Perkins was booked to appear along
with Elvis Presley at theaters in Mariana and West Memphis, Arkansas. Commenting on the audience reaction to
both Presley and himself Perkins said, "When I'd jump around they'd scream some, but they were gettin' ready for
him. It was like TNT, man, it just exploded. All of a sudden the world was wrapped up in rock."
Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two were the next musicians to be added to the performances by Sun musicians.
Over the summer of '55 there were trips to Little Rock, Forrest City, Corinth, and Tupelo. Again performing at El
Rancho, the Perkins brothers were involved in an automobile accident. A friend, who had been driving, was pinned
by the steering wheel. Perkins managed to drag him from the car, which had caught on fire. Clayton had been thrown
from the car, but was not seriously injured."
Another Perkins' tune "Gone Gone Gone", released in October 1955 by Sun, was also a regional hit. It was backed by
the more traditional "Let The Juke Box Keep On Playing", complete with fiddle, "Western Boogie" bass line, steel
guitar, and weepy vocal.
That same fall of 1955, Perkins wrote the song "Blue Suede Shoes" after seeing a dancer at a honky-tonk get mad at
his date for scruffing up his blue suede shoes. Several weeks later, on December 19, 1955, Perkins and his band
recorded the song during a session at the Sun studios in Memphis. Phillips suggested changes to the lyrics ("Go
Cat Go") and the band changed the end of the song to a boogie vamp. During the long session, as liquor flowed, the
sound became tougher, harder and looser, and Perkins played with passion. Phillips knew he had found the right
song to bring out the blues strain in Perkins' music and produce a pop hit. Elvis Presley left Sun for a larger
opportunity with RCA in November, and on December 19, 1955, Phillips, who had begun recording Perkins in late
1954, told Perkins, "Carl Perkins, you're my rockabilly cat now".
Released on January 1, 1956, "Blue Suede Shoes" was a massive chart success. In the United States, it went to #1
on Billboard magazine's country music charts (the only #1 hit he would have) and to #2 on Billboard's Best Sellers
pop music chart. Perkins first performed the song on national television on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee on February 11.
Finally, on March 17, Perkins became the first country artist to reach the #3 spot on the rhythm & blues charts.
In the United Kingdom, the song became a Top Ten hit. It was the first record by a Sun label artist to sell a million
copies. The B side, "Honey Don't", was covered by The Beatles, Wanda Jackson, and (in the 1970s) T. Rex. John
Lennon used to sing lead on the song when the Beatles performed it before the song was given to Ringo Starr to
sing. Lennon performed the song on his own as recorded on the Lost Lennon Tapes.
The Accident
After playing a show in Norfolk, VA on March 21, 1956, the Perkins Brothers Band headed for New York City and their
appearance on the nationally-broadcast Perry Como Show. Shortly before sunrise near Dover, Delaware Stuart
Pinkham (aka Dick Stuart, and Poor Richard) assumed the duties as driver. After running head on into the back of a
pickup truck, their car ended up in a ditch of water about a foot deep, and Carl was lying face down in the water.
Drummer W.S. Holland rolled Carl over, saving him from drowning. Carl had suffered 3 fractured vertebrae in his
neck, a severe concussion, a broken collar bone, and lacerations all over his body in the crash. Carl remained
unconscious for an entire day. The driver of the pickup, Thomas Phillips, a forty year old farmer, died when he was
thrown into the steering wheel of his pickup. Carl's brother Jay had a fractured neck along with severe internal
injuries.
On March 23 Bill Black, Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana visited Carl on their way to New York to appear with Elvis the
next day. Bill Black told Carl, "Hey, man, Elvis sends his love", and lit a cigarette for him, in spite of the fact that the
patient in the next bed was in an oxygen tent. A week later, Carl was given a telegram, which had actually arrvied on
the 23rd, from Elvis wishing him a speedy recovery. Sam Philips had planned to surprise Perkins with a gold record
during the Perry Como show. "Shoes" had already sold more than 500,000 copies by March 22. Now, while Carl
recuperated from the accident, "Blue Suede Shoes" rose to number one on most pop, R&B, and country regional
charts. It also held the number two positon on the Billboard Hot 100 and country charts. Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak
Hotel" held the number one position on the pop and country charts, while "Shoes" did better than "Heartbreak" on the
R&B charts. By Mid-April, more than one million copies of "Shoes" had been sold.
On April 3, while still out of commission, but back in Jackson, Perkins would see his friend Elvis Presley perform
"Blue Suede Shoes" on his first Milton Berle Show appearance. Presley performed the song on national television
three times that year, and made references to it twice during an appearance on The Steve Allen Show. Although his
version became more famous than Perkins', it only reached #20 on Billboard's pop chart.
Return to Recording and Touring
Perkins returned to live performances on April 21 of the same year beginning with an appearance in Beaumont,
Texas with the "Big D Jamboree" tour.
Before resuming life on the road, Sam Phillips arranged a recording session at Sun with Ed Cisco filling in for the
still recuperating Jay. By mid-April "Dixie Fried", "Put Your Cat Clothes On", "Right String, Wrong Yo-Yo", "You Can't
Make Love to Somebody", "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby", and "That Don't Move Me" had been recorded.
Perkins was paid $1,000 to play just two songs a night on the extended tour of "Top Stars of '56" beginning in early
summer. A couple of the other performers on this tour were Chuck Berry, and Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers.
When Perkins and the group took the stage in Columbia, SC, Carl was appalled to see a teenager with a bleeding
chin pressed against the stage by the crowd. During the first guitar break of "Honey Don't" they were waved off stage
and into a vacant dressing room behind a double line of police officers. Carl is quoted as saying, "It was dangerous.
Lot of kids got hurt. There was a lot of rioting going on, just crazy, man! The music drove 'em insane." Appalled by
what he had seen and experienced, Carl left the tour.
Sun issued more Perkins' songs in 1956: "Boppin'The Blues"/"All Mama's Children" (Sun 243), "Dixie Fried"/"I'm
Sorry, I'm Not Sorry" (Sun 249). "Matchbox"/"All Mama's Children" (Sun 261) came out in February 1957. "Matchbox"
is considered to be a rockabilly classic, and George Thorogood and the Destroyers covered "Dixie Fried" on their
1985 album Maverick. The Kentucky Headhunters also covered the song as did Keith de Groot on a 1968 album
entitled No Introduction Necessary that featured Jimmy Page on lead guitar and John Paul Jones on bass.
The day "Matchbox" was recorded, Elvis Presley visited the studio. Along with Johnny Cash (who left early), Perkins,
Jerry Lee Lewis, and Presley spent more than an hour singing gospel, country and rhythm-and-blues songs while a
tape rolled. The casual session was called "The Million Dollar Quartet" by a local newspaper the next day, and was
eventually released on a disk in 1990. The 1957 film Jamboree includes a Perkins performance of Glad All Over that
runs 1:55. "Glad All Over", written by Schroeder, Tepper, and Bennett, was released by Sun in January 1958. Perkins
also made at least two appearances on the Town Hall Party in Compton, CA in 1957. Singing both "Blue Suede
Shoes" and "Matchbox". Those performances were included in the Western Ranch Dance Party series filmed and
distributed by Screen Gems.
Life after Sun
In 1958, Perkins moved to Columbia Records where he recorded songs such as "Jive at Five", "Anyway the Wind
Blows", "Hambone", "Pointed Toe Shoes", and "Sister Twister".
The Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas was the site of many performances in 1962 along with appearances in 9
mid Western states and a tour of Germany. Appearances at The Golden Nugget continued through 1963.
In May 1964 Perkins toured England along with Chuck Berry, and Eric Burdon and The Animals backed the two stars
from the States On the last night of the tour, he attended a party that turned out to be for him, and ended up sitting on
the floor sharing stories, playing guitar, and singing songs while surrounded by The Beatles: John, Paul, George,
and Ringo; who were at the time the hottest group in the world. Ringo asked Carl if he could record "Honey Don't."
"Man," answered Carl, "go ahead, have at it." The Beatles, would cover "Matchbox", "Honey Don't", and also
"Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" recorded by Perkins but adapted from a song originally recorded by Rex Griffin in
1936, a song also recorded by Roy Newman. "Glad All Over", also performed by Perkins, but not written by him, and
not to be confused with The Dave Clark Five song of the same name, was also covered. Another tour to Germany
followed in the fall.
Although he had been trying to rehabilitate himself by only drinking beer (but lots of it), in 1968, while on tour with the
Johnny Cash troupe, Perkins began a four day drunk in Tulsa, OK starting with a bottle of Early Times. Nevertheless,
with the urging of Cash, he opened a show in San Diego by playing four songs after seeing "four or five of me in the
mirror", and while being able to see "nothin' but a blur". After drinking yet another pint of Early Times, he passed out
on the tour bus. By morning he started hallucinating "big spiders, and dinosaurs, huge, and they were gonna step on
me." The bus was now parked on a beach at the ocean. He was tempted by yet another pint of whiskey that he had
hidden on the bus. He took the bottle with him onto the beach and fell on his knees and said, "Lord... I'm gonna throw
this bottle. I'm gonna show You that I believe in You." I sailed it into the Pacific... I got up, I knew I had done the right
thing." Perkins and Cash, who had his own problems with drugs, then gave each other support to stay away from
their drug of choice.
In 1968, Johnny Cash took the Perkins-written "Daddy Sang Bass" (that incorporates parts of the American standard
"Will the Circle Be Unbroken") to #1 on the country music charts for 6 weeks. Glen Campbell also covered the song,
as did the Statler Brothers and Carl Story. "Daddy Sang Bass" was also a Country Music Association nominee for
Song of the Year. Carl Perkins also played lead guitar on the Johnny Cash smash single "A Boy Named Sue" which
was no. 1 for 5 weeks on the country chart and no. 2 on the pop chart. Perkins spent a decade in Cash's singer
touring revue and appeared on The Johnny Cash Show. Perkins played "MatchBox" along with Cash and with Eric
Clapton and band mates (Derek and the Dominoes). Cash also featured Perkins in rehearsal jamming with José
Feliciano and Merle Travis.
A Kraft Music Hall episode hosted by Johnny Cash had Perkins singing his song "Restless" on April 16,
1969.Country music fans may recognize The Statler Brothers' song "Flowers on the Wall", which was also featured
on this show.
In February 1969 Perkins joined with Bob Dylan to write the song "Champaign, Illinois". Dylan was recording in
Nashville from February 12 through February 21 for an album that would be titled Nashville Skyline, and met Perkins
when he appeared on The Johnny Cash Show on June 7. Dylan had written one verse of a song, but was stuck. After
Perkins worked out a loping rhythm and improvised a verse ending lyric, Dylan said, "Your song. Take it. Finish it."
The co authored song was included in Perkins' 1969 album On Top.
Perkins was also united in 1969 by Columbia's Murray Krugman with a long-hair rockabilly group based in New
York's Hudson Valley, the New Rhythm and Blues Quartet. Carl and NRBQ recorded "Boppin' the Blues" which
featured the New York band backing Perkins on some songs like his staples "Turn Around" and "Boppin' the Blues"
and included songs recorded separately by Carl and NRBQ. One of his TV appearances with Cash was on the
popular country series Hee Haw in an episode aired February 16, 1974.
After a long legal battle with Sam Phillips over royalties, Perkins gained ownership of his songs in the 1970s.
In 1981 Perkins recorded the song 'Get It' with Paul McCartney, providing vocals and playing guitar with the former
Beatle. This recording was included on the chart topping album Tug Of War released in 1982. This track also
appeared as the B-side of the title track single in a slightly edited form. One source states that Perkins "wrote the
song with Paul McCartney".
The rockabilly revival of the 1980s helped bring Perkins back into the limelight. In 1985, he re-recorded "Blue Suede
Shoes" with two members of the Stray Cats, as part of the soundtrack for the movie, Porky's Revenge. That same
year, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Ringo Starr appeared with him on a television special taped in London,
England, called Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session. Perkins and his friends ended the session by singing his
signature song, 30 years after its writing, which brought Perkins to tears.
In 1985, Perkins was inducted to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 1987, wider recognition of his
contribution to music came with his induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In addition, "Blue Suede Shoes"
was chosen as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, and as a Grammy
Hall of Fame Award recipient. His pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of
Fame.
Perkins' only notable film performance as an actor was in John Landis' 1985 film Into the Night, a cameo-laden film
that includes a scene where characters played by Carl and David Bowie die at each other's hand.
In 1986, he returned to the Sun Studios in Memphis, joining Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison on the
album Class of '55. The record was a tribute to their early years at Sun and, specifically, the Million Dollar Quartet jam
session involving Perkins, Presley, Cash, and Lewis on December 4, 1956.
In 1989, he co-wrote and played guitar on The Judd's #1 country hit, "Let Me Tell You About Love".
Last years
In 1989 Perkins signed a record deal for an album with the title Friends, Family, and Legends, featuring
performances by Chet Atkins, Travis Tritt, Steve Wariner, Joan Jett, Charlie Daniels, along with Paul Shaffer and Will
Lee. In 1992 Perkins developed throat cancer during the production of this CD. Perkins returned to Sun Studio in
Memphis to record with Scotty Moore, Presley's first guitar player. The CD was called 706 ReUNION, released on
Belle Meade Records, and featured D.J. Fontana, Marcus Van Storey and The Jordanaires. In 1993, Perkins
appeared with the Kentucky Headhunters in a music video remake, shot in Glasgow, Kentucky, of his song Dixie
Fried. Perkins' last album, Go Cat Go!, was released in 1996, and featured new collaborations with many of the
above artists, as well as George Harrison, Paul Simon, John Fogerty, Tom Petty, and Bono. It was released by the
independent label Dinosaur Records, and distributed by BMG.
His last major concert appearance was the "Music for Montserrat" all-star charity concert at Royal Albert Hall on
September 15, 1997.
Death and legacy
Four months later at Jackson-Madison County Hospital, Jackson, Tennessee, Carl Perkins died at the age of 65
from throat cancer after suffering several strokes. Among those in attendance at the funeral at Lambuth University in
1998 were ex-Beatle George Harrison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Wynonna Judd, Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash and June Carter
Cash. He is interred at Ridgecrest Cemetery in Jackson, Tennessee.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him #69 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Carl Perkins' wife, Valda deVere Perkins, died November 15, 2005 in Jackson, Tennessee.
Drive-By Truckers, on their album The Dirty South, recorded a song "Carl Perkins' Cadillac" that gives a poignant
history of the artist and his relationships.
Perkins is the subject of an acclaimed biography, Go, Cat, Go, by noted New York-based music writer David McGee.
The Perkins family still owns his songs which are administered by former Beatle Paul McCartney's company MPL
Communications.
Plans for a biographical film about Perkins have been announced by Santa Monica-based production company
Fastlane Entertainment. The Carl Perkins Story is slated for release in 2009.
Carl Perkins at Sun
Carl Perkins played a ‘52/’53 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top with two P-90 Pickups and a "trapeze" tailpiece through a
small Fender Amp when he recorded “Honey Don’t” with "The Perkins Brothers Band" (Carl Perkins + his two
brothers on upright bass (Clayton) and rhythm guitar (Jay) + W.S.Holland on drums). The general understanding is
that “Honey Don’t” and “Blue Suede Shoes” were recorded at the same session (Sun 234 rel. 1/56). In fact he
recorded "Honey Don't" first, several weeks prior to the "Blue Suede Shoes" session.
The guitar that Carl Perkins played on "Blue Suede Shoes" is also a Les Paul Gold Top but a ’55 with a Bigsby. After
“Blue Suede Shoes” became a hit, Carl painted the guitar blue and later his youngest son Greg Perkins painted it
black. It’s currently in Stan Perkins' vault in Jackson, TN. In early '56, after the massive success of "Blue Suede
Shoes", Carl Perkins purchased an $800 blonde Gibson ES-5 maple-top with three P-90 pickups with separate tone
and volume controls for each. He also got himself one of the hand built EchoSonic amps from Ray Butts out of Cairo,
Illinois for $250 down and $250 on delivery.
The "All Mama's Children" / "Boppin' The Blues" session (Sun 243 5/56) was his first recording date after he got his
new ES-5. I’ve been told though, that he started recording with it on the later “Matchbox” (Sun 261 rel. 2/57) session
and onwards. He didn't trade in the “Blue Suede Shoes”-Les Paul when he bought the ES-5 but kept it. He used it
again to record "Her Love Rubbed Off” where you can hear him using the Bigsby vibrato.
Carl Perkins' Gibson ES-5 is currently on display at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland.
Carl's last single for Sun:
Sun 287 released 12/57.
Glad All Over/Lend Me Your Comb
Notice on the right it says:
Vocal Carl & Jay. Carl Perkins' EchoSonic amp
From listening to his recordings it seems he used the EchoSonic for the first time - or at least the built in tape-echo
for the first time - on "Glad All Over" / "Lend Me Your Comb", which was his very last single and session for Sun.
The guitar sound of Carl Perkins:
It is important to notice that the split-second tape delay the Sun was famous for was never a part of Carl's sound and
actually the echo from the EchoSonic amp didn't suit Carl's way of playing. Basically, if you want to sound like Carl
Perkins, don't think echo. When trying to define how Carl Perkins got his sound, it should also be noted that he loved
turning the knobs on his LP and ES-5 to get different tones out of them. I guess that’s why his guitar sound varies so
much on his Sun recordings compared to Luther Perkins’ (Played lead guitar for Johnny Cash) sound for instance.
Carl Perkins after Sun Studios:
When Carl Perkins left Sun for Columbia in '58 he was still playing his ES-5 and Les Pauls (More than two – possibly
three or four), so even though Carl Perkins has a reputation of having played 1000+ different guitars this is not the
case with his most famous work that was recorded from late '54 to late '57 at Sun.
Carl Perkins' guitar closet:
In Carl Perkins’ later years he played a G&L Broadcaster (renamed ASAT Special in '85) strung with Dean Markley
Blue Steel 9-42's strings. This was reportedly his ultimate favorite guitar. His preferred amp and rider requirement
was the ‘66 Fender Twin and the Fender Pro Reverb.
Among Carl Perkins' other guitars were:
A 1995 Gibson Country Gentleman finished in 'Blue Suede' blue with an identification plate from Gibson/Nashville
stating it's the only one of it's kind. A 1998 Special edition "Go Cat Go" Fender Telecaster with Bigsby. The only one of
its kind. A sunburst Peavey T-25 that he used on the legendary "Carl Perkins and Friends - Blue Suede Shoes: A
Rockabilly Session" TV show from '85 where he performed with his two sons, Stan (drums) and Greg (bass),
George Harrison (Who plays original Carl Perkins solos on a 1957 Gretsch 6120), Eric Clapton, Dave Edmunds,
Rosanne Cash and Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom from Stray Cats among others. He also had a blonde T-60
and played Peavey amps as he was endorsed by Peavey at a time.
I asked Jerry Elston, who was in Carl Perkins' road band, why Carl changed guitars so many times, and Jerry's take
on it was this:
"He changed guitars several times looking for a sound and a look. No guitar up until he got the G & L ever really
suited him in my opinion. He would use different guitars for different sounds. He liked the sound of the Strats but did
not like the centre pick up or the three control set up. The pick up got in his way because that's where he did most of
his playing. The 'comfort zone' as he called it. The Tele's gave him part of what he wanted but the G & L apparently
brought it all home."
Credits:
This information has very kindly been verified by Jerry Elston (Former member of Carl Perkins’ road band and booker
for Stan Perkins). In addition he has also provided substantial new information. Also thanks to Peter Dijkema of The
Netherlands for his detective work.
Phillips flipped over Carl's
singing and guitar playing. A scant
four months later, he had issued
the first Carl Perkins record, "Movie
Magg"/"Turn Around," both sides
written by the artist. By his second
session, he had added W.S.
Holland -- a friend of Clayton's -- to
the band playing drums, a
relatively new innovation to country
music at the time. Phillips was still
channeling Perkins in a strictly
hillbilly vein, feeling that two artists
doing the same type of music (in
this case, Elvis and rockabilly)
would cancel each other out. But
after selling Elvis' contract to RCA
Victor in December, Perkins was
encouraged to finally let his
rocking soul come up for air at his
next Sun session. And rock he did
with a double whammy blast that
proved to be his ticket to the bigs.
The chance overhearing of a
conversation at a dance one night
between two teenagers coupled
with a song idea suggestion from
labelmate Johnny Cash inspired
Perkins to approach Phillips with a
new song he had written called
"Blue Suede Shoes." After cutting
two sides that Phillips planned on
releasing as a single by the
Perkins Brothers Band, Perkins
laid Perkins Brothers Band,
Perkins laid down three takes
each of "Blue Suede Shoes" and
another rocker, "Honey Don't." A
month later, Phillips decides to
shelve the two country sides and
go with the rockers as Perkins'
next single. Three months later,
"Blue Suede Shoes," a tune that
borrowed stylistically from pop,
country, and R&B music, sat at the
top of all charts, the first record to
accomplish such a feat while
becoming Sun's first million-seller
in the bargain.
in the bargain.
Ready to cash in on a national
basis, Carl and the boys headed
up to New York for the first time to
appear on The Perry Como Show.
While en route their car rammed
the back of a poultry truck, putting
Carl and his brother Jay in the
hospital with a cracked skull and
broken neck, respectively. While in
traction, Perkins saw Presley
performing his song on The
Dorsey Brother Stage Show, his
moment of fame and recognition
snatched away from him. Perkins
shrugged his shoulders and went
back to the road and the Sun
studios, trying to pick up where he
left off.
The follow-ups to "Shoes" were, in
many ways, superior to his initial
hit, but each succeeding Sun
single held diminishing sales, and
it wasn't until the British Invasion
and the subsequent rockabilly
revival of the early '70s that the
general public got to truly savor
classics like "Boppin' the Blues,"
"Matchbox," "Everybody's Trying to
Be My Baby," "Your True Love,"
"Dixie Fried," "Put Your Cat Clothes
On," and "All Mama's Children."
While labelmates Cash and Jerry
Lee Lewis (who played piano on
"Matchbox") were scoring hit after
hit, Perkins was becoming
disillusioned with his fate, fueled
by his increasing dependence on
alcohol and the death of his
brother Jay to cancer. He kept
plugging along, and when Cash
left Sun to go to Columbia in 1958,
Perkins followed him over. The
royalty rate was better, and Perkins
had no shortage of great songs to
record, but Columbia's Nashville
watch-the-clock production
methods killed any of the
spontaneity that was the charm of
the Sun records. By the early '60s,
after being dropped by Columbia
and moving over to Decca with little
success, Perkins was back
playing the honky tonks and
contemplating getting out of the
business altogether. A call from a
booking agent in 1964 offering a
tour of England changed all of that.
Temporarily swearing off the bottle,
Perkins was greeted in Britain as a
conquering hero, playing to
sold-out audiences and being
particularly lauded by a young beat
group on the top of the charts
named the Beatles. George
Harrison had cut his musical teeth
on Perkins' Sun recordings (as
had most British guitarists) and
the Fab Four ended up recording
more tunes by him than any other
artist except themselves. The
British tour not only rejuvenated his
outlook, but suddenly made him
realize that he had gone -- through
no maneuvering of his own -- from
has-been to legend in a country he
had never played in before. Upon
his return to the States, he hooked
up with old friend and former
labelmate Cash and was a regular
fixture of his road show for the next
ten years, bringing his battle with
alcohol to an end. The '80s
dawned with Perkins going on his
own with a new band consisting of
his sons backing him. His election
to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in the mid-'80s was no less than
his due. After a long battle with
throat cancer, Perkins died in early
1998, his place in the history
books assured. ~ Cub Koda, All
Music Guide
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
You decide. Carl Perkins is
regarded by many as one of the
founding fathers of rock-and-roll.
Although he placed only one
record in the pop top forty, it
became a legendary one in the
annals of rock-and-roll and
propelled Perkins, one of the
original rockabilly singers, into his
legendary status.
He was born Carl Lee Perkings
near Tiptonville, Tennessee in
1932. Growing up in Tennessee
with his brothers, Jay B. and
Clayton, Carl learned to play the
guitar and became quite proficient
at it. He listened to country music,
gospel, and blues, and began to
write some of his own
compositions. At age 13 he
performed a song that he had
written, Movie Magg, at a local
talent show and won. He formed a
group with Jay and Clayton called
the Perkins Brothers which began
to perform at a local honky tonk
known as the El Rancho Club in
1947 and 1948. W. B. Holland
joined the group as a drummer.
They appeared on WDXT radio in
his hometown of Jackson,
Tennessee from 1950 to 1952.
Meanwhile, Carl spent many years
working during the day at Colonial
Baking Company in Jackson as a
baker.
Carl signed a recording contract
with Flip Records, a subsidiary of
Sun in Memphis, in 1954. His first
release was Movie Magg the
following year, and it was followed
by other songs such as Gone,
Gone, Gone, Let The Juke Box
Keep On Playing, and Blue Suede
Shoes. The latter song, which Carl
wrote after overhearing a remark
made at a local dance and
recorded at Sun in December,
1955, was released on the Sun
label and took off nationally. It
reached number two on the pop
and country charts in 1956.
The song put 23-year old Carl
Perkins in the national spotlight.
Appearances were arranged on
the Ed Sullivan and Perry Como TV
shows, but while traveling to New
York for those engagements he
was involved in a terrible
automobile accident that
hospitalized him. Another
up-and-coming Sun artist, Elvis
Presley, covered Blue Suede
Shoes, which became Elvis' third
top forty hit. These events served to
steal some of the thunder from
Carl Perkins' rise, and Carl never
quite recovered his momentum in
the world of pop, although his
place in music history was
assured.
Carl continued to record songs
that were country hits, such as
Dixie Fried, Boppin' The Blues, and
Your True Love, the latter two of
which became minor pop hits.
Always an excellent guitar player,
he continued doing music in his
own style, which was pure
rockabilly. The flip side of Blue
Suede Shoes was Honey Don't,
which had originally been intended
as the A-side. Honey Don't was
discovered by the Beatles who
covered it along with two more of
Carl's songs, Everybody's Trying
To Be My Baby and Matchbox.
Latter day pop artists who would
acknowledge the influence of Carl
Perkins include Rick Nelson, John
Fogerty, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton,
and Paul McCartney, who said "If
there were no Carl Perkins, there
would be no Beatles."
Following the death of his brother
Jay in 1958, Carl signed a deal
with Columbia. Songs by country
influenced singers such as Buddy
Knox and the Everly Brothers were
crossing over to the pop charts.
Carl had some more minor pop
hits with records such as Pink
Pedal Pushers and Pointed Toe
Shoes, but he eventually went back
to country music. He signed with
the Dollie label in 1963 and joined
his friend Johnny Cash's road
show in 1965. He was to stay with
Cash for ten years, exhibiting his
fine guitar-playing, performing solo
at times, and occasionally writing
songs. Carl continued recording
country songs into the 70's. His
brother Clayton passed away in
1974.
In the mid-70's he appeared at the
Wembley Festival in England and
advertised his new album, Old
Blue Suede Shoes Is Back Again,
on British television. He continued
to record songs for various labels,
including his own, the
appropriately named Suede. He
worked with a five-man band that
included his sons Stan and Gregg.
He also collaborated with other
notable artists over the years,
including his work on the album
The Million Dollar Quartet with
Cash, Presley, and Jerry Lee
Lewis and on The Trio Plus with
Lewis, Charley Pride, and others.
Carl Perkins appeared in the 1985
film Into The Night and won the
Grammy Hall of Fame Award in
1986 for Blue Suede Shoes. He
took his place in the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame in 1987. In later
years, Carl suffered a series of
strokes. He died in his hometown
of Jackson, Tennessee on January
19, 1998.
regarded by many as one of the
founding fathers of rock-and-roll.
Although he placed only one
record in the pop top forty, it
became a legendary one in the
annals of rock-and-roll and
propelled Perkins, one of the
original rockabilly singers, into his
legendary status.
He was born Carl Lee Perkings
near Tiptonville, Tennessee in
1932. Growing up in Tennessee
with his brothers, Jay B. and
Clayton, Carl learned to play the
guitar and became quite proficient
at it. He listened to country music,
gospel, and blues, and began to
write some of his own
compositions. At age 13 he
performed a song that he had
written, Movie Magg, at a local
talent show and won. He formed a
group with Jay and Clayton called
the Perkins Brothers which began
to perform at a local honky tonk
known as the El Rancho Club in
1947 and 1948. W. B. Holland
joined the group as a drummer.
They appeared on WDXT radio in
his hometown of Jackson,
Tennessee from 1950 to 1952.
Meanwhile, Carl spent many years
working during the day at Colonial
Baking Company in Jackson as a
baker.
Carl signed a recording contract
with Flip Records, a subsidiary of
Sun in Memphis, in 1954. His first
release was Movie Magg the
following year, and it was followed
by other songs such as Gone,
Gone, Gone, Let The Juke Box
Keep On Playing, and Blue Suede
Shoes. The latter song, which Carl
wrote after overhearing a remark
made at a local dance and
recorded at Sun in December,
1955, was released on the Sun
label and took off nationally. It
reached number two on the pop
and country charts in 1956.
The song put 23-year old Carl
Perkins in the national spotlight.
Appearances were arranged on
the Ed Sullivan and Perry Como TV
shows, but while traveling to New
York for those engagements he
was involved in a terrible
automobile accident that
hospitalized him. Another
up-and-coming Sun artist, Elvis
Presley, covered Blue Suede
Shoes, which became Elvis' third
top forty hit. These events served to
steal some of the thunder from
Carl Perkins' rise, and Carl never
quite recovered his momentum in
the world of pop, although his
place in music history was
assured.
Carl continued to record songs
that were country hits, such as
Dixie Fried, Boppin' The Blues, and
Your True Love, the latter two of
which became minor pop hits.
Always an excellent guitar player,
he continued doing music in his
own style, which was pure
rockabilly. The flip side of Blue
Suede Shoes was Honey Don't,
which had originally been intended
as the A-side. Honey Don't was
discovered by the Beatles who
covered it along with two more of
Carl's songs, Everybody's Trying
To Be My Baby and Matchbox.
Latter day pop artists who would
acknowledge the influence of Carl
Perkins include Rick Nelson, John
Fogerty, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton,
and Paul McCartney, who said "If
there were no Carl Perkins, there
would be no Beatles."
Following the death of his brother
Jay in 1958, Carl signed a deal
with Columbia. Songs by country
influenced singers such as Buddy
Knox and the Everly Brothers were
crossing over to the pop charts.
Carl had some more minor pop
hits with records such as Pink
Pedal Pushers and Pointed Toe
Shoes, but he eventually went back
to country music. He signed with
the Dollie label in 1963 and joined
his friend Johnny Cash's road
show in 1965. He was to stay with
Cash for ten years, exhibiting his
fine guitar-playing, performing solo
at times, and occasionally writing
songs. Carl continued recording
country songs into the 70's. His
brother Clayton passed away in
1974.
In the mid-70's he appeared at the
Wembley Festival in England and
advertised his new album, Old
Blue Suede Shoes Is Back Again,
on British television. He continued
to record songs for various labels,
including his own, the
appropriately named Suede. He
worked with a five-man band that
included his sons Stan and Gregg.
He also collaborated with other
notable artists over the years,
including his work on the album
The Million Dollar Quartet with
Cash, Presley, and Jerry Lee
Lewis and on The Trio Plus with
Lewis, Charley Pride, and others.
Carl Perkins appeared in the 1985
film Into The Night and won the
Grammy Hall of Fame Award in
1986 for Blue Suede Shoes. He
took his place in the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame in 1987. In later
years, Carl suffered a series of
strokes. He died in his hometown
of Jackson, Tennessee on January
19, 1998.