Birthdays: Carl Perkins

 Carl Perkins was born in Tiptonville, Tennessee on this day in 1932. 

You can do anything but lay off my blue suede shoes.

Carl Perkins early EARLY (1956?) Blue Suede Shoes

Don's Tunes

Remembering Carl Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998) 

Carl Perkins was a rockabilly pioneer who sang with Elvis Presley, hung out and toured with Johnny Cash and wrote classic rock and roll tunes like “Blue Suede Shoes,” the first recording to top the pop, country and R&B charts simultaneously.

The country-inflected guitar licks he coaxed from his 1953 Les Paul Goldtop inspired George Harrison’s early electric leads and solos with the Beatles. The group’s admiration ran deep: They covered at least seven Perkins songs onstage and in the studio, including “Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby,” “Matchbox” and “Honey Don’t.” As Paul McCartney declared, “If there were no Carl Perkins, there would be no Beatles.”

 

Paul coming to terms with his grief! Not a dry eye in the house . . . . . . .

Paul and Carl

In 1981, just after John was killed, Paul and Linda invited legendary rockabilly musician Carl Perkins to stay with them on the Island of Montserrat, where producer George Martin had a studio. Paul wanted Carl’s help in recording a song called “Get It” for his new “Tug of War” album. 

It was literally just weeks after John’s murder, and both George and Ringo came to spend time with their former bandmate.

The night before Carl was scheduled to leave, a song came to him that summed up his warm feelings about the visit. The song was so clear in his mind that he didn’t even write it down, which was unusual for Carl. 

The next morning he played the song, “My Old Friend”, for Paul and Linda, explaining that it was a gift for having him as a guest. 

Halfway through the song when Carl sang the words “if we never meet again this side of life, in a little while, over yonder, where there’s peace and quiet, my old friend, won’t you think about me every now and then?” 

Paul stood up and abruptly left the room with tears streaming down his face. 

Not sure what had just happened, Carl stopped playing, and Linda hugged him. She thanked him for helping Paul grieve, explaining that he hadn’t been able to fully break down since John passed. 

Paul later explained that the last words John spoke to him in the hallway of the Dakota building were “think about me now and then old friend”.

Thank you to Boris for this story and photo. ❤️

Carl Perkins et al - Capitol Theatre 1985 |Top Hat Crew's "Live Music Archives"

 Guessing we have posted this piece of footage before but heck its Carl Perkins with George, Ringo, Dave Edmunds, Clapton and many more besides . . . . . .  

Medley - 9/9/1985 - Capitol Theatre . . . . . how much fun are these guys having . . . . George’s face!!

Matchbox

Top Hat Crew's "Live Music Archives”

the full  concert here

Song of the Day: Classics Revisited | CARL PERKINS, ERIC CLAPTON & JOHNNY CASH ‘MATCHBOX’ [1971]

 Someone posted this clip on Facebook and it amused me . . .how good is Carl Perkins here!?

Like many of us my first hearing of this standard old classic (written of course by the author of Blue Suede Shoes in 1956) was through Ringo’s version covered by the Beatles early on . . . . . loved his version and still do!

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . but this is fun too!

the poster noted:

The video here is JOHNNY CASH, CARL PERKINS & ERIC CLAPTON performing MATCHBOX on The Johnny Cash Show live in 1971. Clapton's then-band, Derek and the Dominos, is joined by Cash and Perkins for a rousing cover of the tune Carl Perkins originally recorded in 1956 and released in 1957. 

Carl Perkins' influence as the quintessential rockabilly artist has played a big part in the development of every generation of rockers to come down the pike since, from the Beatles' George Harrison to the Stray Cats' Brian Setzer to a myriad of others in the country field as well. 

His guitar style is the other twin peak -- along with that of Elvis' lead man Scotty Moore -- of rockabilly's instrumental centre, so pervasive that modern-day players automatically gravitate toward it when called upon to deliver the style, not even realising that they're playing Perkins' licks, sometimes note for note. 

As a singer, his interpretation of country ballads was every bit as fine as his better-known rockers. And within the framework of the best of his music was a strong sense of family and roots, all of which traced straight back to his humble beginnings.

All time classic pop songs . . . . . . . . the roots of Rock 'n' Roll. An all time favourite Carl Perkins and think I first got a taste from Ringo covering 'Honey Don't' which I still love . . . . . . 

On this day in music history: December 19, 1955 - Carl Perkins records “Blue Suede Shoes” at Sun Studios in Memphis, TN. Friend and Sun Records label mate Johnny Cash provides the initial inspiration for Perkins to write song when he tells him of a black airman he met that referred to his military regulation shoes as “blue suede shoes”. A couple of months later on December 4, 1955, he’ll see a couple dancing at a show he’s playing, and from the bandstand hears a voice yell out “uh uh, don’t step on my suedes!” The man in question was wearing a pair of blue suede shoes. Inspired by the statement, Perkins begins writing the song scrawling the lyrics on a brown paper potato sack when he can’t find anything else to write on. Released by Sun Records on January 1, 1956, Perkins recording of the song quickly becomes a smash, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Best Sellers chart on May 19, 1956, also peaking at #3 on the Rhythm & Blues Best Sellers chart. The original single is also backed with the self penned “Honey Don’t” which becomes a rock & roll standard in its own right, being covered by The Beatles,  Wanda Jackson, Johnny Rivers, and Ronnie Hawkins to name a few. “Blue Suede Shoes” is regarded as a rock & roll standard with numerous artists having covered the song, most notably by Elvis Presley later in 1956 on his landmark debut album. Carl Perkins’ original version of “Blue Suede Shoes” is inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1986.

turn 'em up!

together . . . . . . 

check out the band! That's Dave Edmunds on guitar and I do believe that is Lyle Lovett on stand up bass!