if i had a nickel for every time blue suede shoes has been played i would not be writing this column. “blue suede shoes” is probably the most popular song ever recorded. carl perkins had a smash hit with it in 1956 and it went to no.1 on the pop, country, and rhythm and blues charts. no other song has ever done that. carl had only one hit in his long and successful career, however he didn’t need but one. shortly after elvis left sun and went to rca he recorded “blue suede shoes” and the song became a smash hit all over again. most people then and today believed that elvis was the originator of “shoes”. carl just racked in all extra money and went quietly about making more records. carl perkins was a great guitar picker and song writer. why sam phillips kept so much of carl perkins material in the can we’ll never know. carl recorded many songs at sun and the release of those songs could have been done on a monthly basis. sun released “matchbox” b/w “your true love” which flopped and should have been a hit. carl had an auto accident after the release of “shoes” and when he recovered “elvis” had covered the song and carl never got back his momentum. carl perkins was born in 1932 in tiptonville,tennessee, and grew up working in the fields helping his family make a living. carl’s dad had tuberculosis and he and his brothers worked where ever they could to make some money. they picked cotton and any other type of work. finally the family had to go on welfare as there just wasn’t enough work to be found to support them selves. carl had an obsession with music and put together a cigar box with two strings. today a cigar box guitar seems unreal and in fact would be. however in 1937 it was a way of life in the south and in many other places when you have no money. carl saved up $3.00 dollars so the story goes and bought a a very used second hand guitar from a field hand named john westbrook. let me stop here and bring a very important point to light. we seem to have a lot of problem “today” with race relations. white and blacks can’t seem to get along. we don’t seem to agree on much of anything except that we can’t “agree” on anything. such was not the case years ago among “poor” whites and blacks. when your “poor” it hurts and it makes no difference what color you are it doesn’t take away the hurt of not having anything. you can’t feel your better than some one else when your both “dirt poor”. hank williams knew what it was like to be “poor” and he learned to play guitar from a black man named “teetot”. elvis knew the pain of being “poor” and always had a special “love” for black people, he learned his music from them and helped them from time to time. no different with carl perkins he learned many lessons about life and music from black people. we can all get along if we have “two things in common. “a humble heart”, “and a love for music”. carl and his brothers had hard times for years working in mills mattress factories, moving here and there to find work. carl married valda crider in 1953. she was from corinth, ms and played the piano and encouraged carl to keep playing music. by 1954 carl was back living with his father in the back room of of his house with two children. it was at this point that carl decided that playing music was at least steady even if the the pay was only three dollars a night. carl would mix rhythm and blues with country and when the folks got “dixie fried” carl would do a little experimenting and since no one came to hear the music as their first choice anyway why not mess around with some different styles of music. everyone was there to drink, fight, pick up women and all in all have a good time. perkins has recalled that it was rough, real rough and at times right down dangerous. someone would throw a beer can then the “blood” would start rolling we’d play louder and louder and when all hell began to break loose we’d try to get out of there before our equipment got busted up. by the summer of 1954 carl was making $30.00 a week. he met a singer by the name of curley griffin who had a local radio show in jackson. curley let carl use the radio stations recording equipment to make some demo tapes. carl sent tapes all over and most came back unopened. even though he was making $30.00 a week playing music and it was the most money he had ever made he became pessimistic about making music a career. then one day he heard “elvis” singing “blue moon of kentucky” on the radio. carl couldn’t believe what he had heard. it was exactly what he was doing. carl had been mixing bill monroe and john lee hookers electric stuff for a long time. when carl found out elvis recorded for “sun” he decided to make a trip to memphis. when carl introduced himself to sam’s secretary marion kiesker she turned him away telling carl they were to busy with elvis to take on any new acts. carl decided to wait for sam and when he showed up in his new cadillac, carl was dumb founded. he had never seen a better dressed man in his entire life. carl said even the man’s socks and tie were the color of his cadillac. man was a “snappy dresser” for sure and he had an hear for raw talent. he liked carl’s compositions and promised him a contract. it has been said that sam phillips made the comment that carl perkins was the greatest “plough-head” in the world. carl’s first release wasn’t on “sun” sam released “movie-magg” and “turn around” on his “flip” label. “carl perkins” invented “rock a billy”. he has been called the “father” of “rock a billy’ and for my money i give the “crown” of “rock a billy” to the one and only “carl perkins”. he wrote songs he played lead guitar on his recording’s he arranged his recording sessions and for the most part he produced all his “sun” recordings. in 1956 carl perkins sold one million copies of “blue suede shoes”. he was the first “sun” artist to do so. sam phillips bought carl a new cadillac fleetwood and gave carl the the keys to the car in front of the cadillac dealership. carl perkins made some great recordings at “sun’. in 1958 his career took back seat as pat boone, ricky nelson and many other rock a billy wanna-be’s came on the scene. ricky nelson took carl’s sound, watered it down and made millions in the process. carl kept his rough edges and that sound of carl’s is what makes his recordings sound so good to this very day. carl made one movie while at “sun” “jamboree” and sang “glad all over” it was carl’s last release on the sun label. carl left “sun” in 1958 and signed with “columbia”. sun records played an important in carl’s career. carl also played an important role in the sun record story. sun never made any money until carl recorded “blue suede shoes”. when “shoes” broke nationwide it paid back all the investments sam had put into the label. carl recorded for many record labels during his life time. he kept rockin’ and did what he enjoyed most, playing music. carl perkins remained a humble man throughout out his life even though he became bigger than life. carl perkins was also a true “american icon” and made many contributions to american music and brought a new style of music to america called “rock a billy”. some people when they pass we really miss them. edgar bergen and charlie mccarthy, red skelton, roy rogers, bob hope and carl perkins. i bought carl’s records and i never passed a chance to buy something by carl that i didn’t have, in some cases i bought two of them just so i would more than one. carl perkins was with us from 1932 till 1998 and i still miss him. i can’t think of one “bad thing” about carl perkins and i never heard anyone say anything “bad” about him. when you write about most “entertainers” there are things you don’t mention. with carl perkins you can say it all because he was one nice human being. i plan to meet him in heaven and ask him to show me the lead off riff on “your true love”. and i suppose the rest of you will have your favorite song for him to show you. carl perkins played the most satisfying rock n roll you’d ever want to hear and made it sound easy.

~ Widmarc Clark