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THIS WEEK'S ARTIST
Mention the name "Carl Perkins" and the song that jumps to your mind is probably "Blue Suede Shoes". But to dismiss him as a "one hit wonder" is to do an injustice to one of the most influential, not to mention nicest, rock'n'rollers of all time.
Born in Tennessee in 1932, Carl passed away on January 19, 1998 from heart failure. From a poor rural farming family, Carl built his first guitar from a cigar box and bailing wire, and shortly after that his Daddy bought him a real guitar. With his brothers Buck and Jay and friend W.S. Holland, Carl formed a band that became local favorites, and in 1955, they headed to Memphis to audition for Sam Phillips at Sun Records. Impressed by Carl's raw talent, Sam signed the band and they joined Sun Records' roster that included Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. When Sam Phillips sold Elvis to RCA, he did so because he thought that Carl Perkins had as much potential as Elvis.
In 1956, Carl had struck gold with his song "Blue Suede Shoes". It is said that this was the first song to top all three of Billboard's three music charts, Pop, Country & Western, and , Rhythm & Blues.
Loading their gear into Carl's new Cadillac, the band headed to New York City for a national television broadcast to promore the song. In Wilmington, Delaware, the first of several setbacks to Carl's career occured in the form of a horrible car accident. Carl lost his brother in this accident, and spent months in the hospital recovering from his own injuries. While in the hospital he got to watch Elvis, on national television, sing "Blue Suede Shoes", as he was starting his phenomenal rise to becoming "The King".
By the time he had recovered, it was too late for Carl. The momentum of "Blue Suede Shoes" had long gone by and Elvis had carried the fickle world of popular music so far down the road that Carl could never hope to catch up. He continued a slow comeback, only once again to be handed another setback. This time, he was playing in a restaurant for a political fundraiser, and after his performance, while taking his customary bow, his left hand went into an uncovered fan. His fingers were severly damaged, and it was feared that he was going to lose some fingers. Once again, a long period of recovery was in order as he had to re-learn the guitar in order to compensate for fingers that would never function for him the way they once did.
By now Carl was in a battle with alchoholism, a battle that would last 15 years, until he hurled his last whiskey bottle into the Pacific Ocean in 1967. He spent much of this time touring as a member of Johnny Cash's band, until embarking on his own with his sons, forming a family band of sorts.
In addition to "Blue Suede Shoes" and the familiar versions of his other songs covered by the Beatles ("Honey Don't", "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby" etc..) Carl had a fairly prolific career as a songwriter. He co-wrote "Champaign, Illinois" with Bob Dylan and wrote several hits for other artists, notably, "Daddy Sang Bass" for Johnny Cash, "So Wrong" for Patsy Cline and "Silver and Gold" for Dolly Parton.
A natural showman, Carl continued to tour constantly until a few months before his death when a series of strokes slowed him down. His last recorded album was probably "Go, Cat, Go" (1996).

THIS WEEK'S SONG : So what happened to Carl after "Blue Suede Shoes" ? Well, Sam Phillips followed it up with "Sure To Fall", and in hindsight, it was a pretty odd choice. While "Blue Suede Shoes" set the style for Rock-A-Billy music , its' follow up seemed to have left out the "rock" and featured too much of the "billy". It was a tough stylistic adjustment for his new fans to make, especially as they were expecting something closer to the sound and style of "Blue Suede Shoes" And without Carl being available to promote it, it went absolutely nowhere.....remember, at this time Carl was still recovering from his auto accident. Also worth noting that on the original version of this song, it is Carl's brother Jay who sings lead with Carl supplying the vocal harmony.

NEXT WEEK'S ARTIST : Less than a year after "Blue Suede Shoes" a 16 year old boy named Eric, tells his Dad that he wants to make a record to impress his girlfriend. In May of 1957 , this song becomes the #2 hit on Billboard's chart, the first of 35 Top 40 hits he would have while defining a clean, smooth style that worked equally well on ballads and uptempo rock & roll songs.


Mr.Moonlight
Send e-mail to mr.moonlight@angelfire.com