Carl Perkins | |
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 Perkins in 1977 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Carl Lee Perkins (1932-04-09)April 9, 1932 Tiptonville,Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | January 19, 1998(1998-01-19) (aged 65) |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1946–1997 |
| Labels | |
Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)[1][2] was an American country, rockabilly, and rock and roll guitarist, singer and songwriter. Arockabilly great and pioneer ofrock and roll, he began his recording career at theSun Studio inMemphis in 1954. Among his best known songs are "Blue Suede Shoes", "Honey Don't", "Matchbox" and "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby".
According to fellow musicianCharlie Daniels, "Carl Perkins' songs personified the rockabilly era, and Carl Perkins' sound personifies the rockabilly sound more so than anybody involved in it, because he never changed".[3] Perkins's songs were recorded by artists (and friends) as influential asElvis Presley,the Beatles,Jimi Hendrix,Johnny Cash,Ricky Nelson, andEric Clapton, which further cemented his prominent place in the history of popular music.
Nicknamed the "King of Rockabilly", Perkins was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame, theRockabilly Hall of Fame, theMemphis Music Hall of Fame, and theNashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. His recording of "Blue Suede Shoes" was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame.
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Carl Lee Perkins was born on April 9, 1932, inTiptonville, Tennessee, the son of poorsharecroppers Louise and Buck Perkins (misspelled on his birth certificate as "Perkings").[4] He had two brothers, Jay and Clayton.[5] From the age of six, he worked long hours in the cotton fields with his family whether school was in session or not. The boys grew up hearingSouthern gospel music sung by white friends in church and by black field workers and sharecroppers in the cotton fields.[6] On Saturday nights Perkins would listen to theGrand Ole Opry, broadcast fromNashville on his father's radio.
Roy Acuff's broadcasts from the Opry inspired Perkins to ask his parents for a guitar.[7] Since they could not afford to buy one, his father made one from acigar box and a broomstick. Eventually, a neighbor sold his father a worn-outGene Autry guitar. Perkins could not afford new strings, and when they broke, he had to retie them. The knots cut his fingers when he would slide to another note, so he began bending the notes, stumbling onto a type ofblue note.[3][8]
Perkins taught himself parts of Acuff's "Great Speckled Bird" and "The Wabash Cannonball" having heard them played on theOpry. He also has citedBill Monroe's fast playing and vocals as an early influence.[9] Perkins also learned from John Westbrook, an African-American field worker in his 60s who played blues and gospel music on an old acoustic guitar. Westbrook advised Perkins 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".[3][8]
In January 1947, the Perkins family moved fromLake County, Tennessee, toMadison County, 70 miles fromMemphis, the largest city in West Tennessee and a center of a great variety of music played by both black and white artists.[10] At the age of 14, Perkins wrote a country song called "Let Me Take You to the Movie, Magg".Sam Phillips was later persuaded by the quality of that song to sign Perkins to hisSun Records label.[11]
Perkins and his brother Jay had their first paying job (in tips) as entertainers during late 1946 at the Cotton Boll tavern on Highway 45, twelve miles south of Jackson, Tennessee, starting on Wednesday nights. Perkins was 14 years old. One of the songs they played was an up-tempo country blues shuffle version ofBill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky". Free drinks were one of the perks of playing in a tavern, and Perkins drank four beers that first night. Within a month, Carl and Jay began playing Friday and Saturday nights at the Sand Ditch tavern near Jackson's western border. Both places were the scene of occasional fights and both of the Perkins brothers gained a reputation as fighters.[12]
During the next couple of years, as they became better known, the Perkins brothers began playing other taverns around Bemis and Jackson, including El Rancho, the Roadside Inn, and the Hilltop. Carl persuaded his brother Clayton to join them and play theupright bass, to complete the sound of the band.[13]
Perkins began performing regularly onWTJS in Jackson during the late 1940s as a sometime member of the Tennessee Ramblers with Carl on lead guitar, Junior Vastal on slap bass, and Edd Cisco playing rhythm guitar and singing. He appeared on the radio programHayloft Frolic on which he performed two songs. One was "Talking Blues" as done by Robert Lunn on theGrand Ole Opry. Perkins and his brothers began appearing onThe Early Morning Farm and Home Hour. Positive listener response earned them a 15-minute segment sponsored by Mother's Best Flour. By the end of the 1940s, the Perkins Brothers were the best known band in the Jackson area.[14] Perkins had day jobs during most of these early years including picking cotton, working at various factories and plants and as a pan greaser for the Colonial Baking Company.[15][16] His brothers had similar pick up jobs.
In January 1953, Perkins married Valda Crider, whom he had known for a number of years. When his job at the bakery was reduced to part-time, Valda, who had her own job, encouraged Perkins to begin working the taverns full-time. He began playing six nights a week. Later the same year, he addedW.S. "Fluke" Holland to the band as a drummer. Holland had no previous experience as a musician but had a good sense of rhythm.[17]
Malcolm Yelvington, who remembered the Perkins Brothers when they played inCovington, Tennessee, in 1953, noted that Perkins had an unusual blues-like style all his own.[18] By 1955, Perkins had made tapes of his material on a borrowed tape recorder and sent them to record companies such as Columbia and RCA. But he used addresses such as Columbia Records, New York City, and seemed dismayed at the lack of response. "I had sent tapes to RCA andColumbia and had never heard a thing from 'em".[19]
In July 1954, Perkins and his wife heard a new release of "Blue Moon of Kentucky" byElvis Presley,Scotty Moore andBill Black on the radio.[20] As the song faded out, Perkins said, "There's a man in Memphis who understands what we're doing. I need to go see him".[21] According to another telling of the story, it was Valda who said that he should go to Memphis.[22] Later, Presley told Perkins he had traveled to Jackson and had seen Perkins and his group playing at the El Rancho.[19]
Years later, the rockabilly singerGene Vincent told an interviewer that, rather than Presley's version of "Blue Moon of Kentucky" being a "new sound", "a lot of people were doing it before that, especially Carl Perkins".[23]
Perkins successfully auditioned forSam Phillips atSun Records in early October 1954. "Movie Magg" and "Turn Around" were released on the Phillips-owned Flip label (151) on March 19, 1955.[24] "Turn Around" became a regional success, and Perkins was booked to appear along with Elvis Presley at theaters inMarianna andWest Memphis, Arkansas.[2][25]Johnny Cash and theTennessee Two were the next Sun musicians to be added to the shows. During the summer of 1955 they had junkets toLittle Rock andForrest City, Arkansas, and toCorinth andTupelo, Mississippi. Again performing at El Rancho, the Perkins brothers were involved in an automobile accident in Woodside, Delaware. A friend who was driving was pinned by the steering wheel. Perkins dragged him from the burning car. Clayton was thrown from the car but was not seriously injured.[26]
Sun released another Perkins song, "Gone Gone Gone",[27][28] in October 1955,[29] which also became a regional success. It was a "bounce blues in flavorsome combined country and R&B idioms".[30] The A-side was the more traditional country song "Let the Jukebox Keep On Playing".[31]
Commenting on Perkins's playing, Sam Phillips has been quoted as saying
I knew that Carl could rock and in fact he told me right from the start that he had been playing that music before Elvis came out on record ... I wanted to see whether this was someone who could revolutionize the country end of the business.[32]
Also in the autumn of 1955, Perkins wrote "Blue Suede Shoes",[6] inspired by seeing a dancer get angry with his date for scuffing up his shoes.[33] Several weeks later, on December 19, 1955, Perkins and his band recorded the song during a session at Sun Studio in Memphis. Phillips suggested changes to the lyrics ("Go, cat, go"), and the band changed the end of the song to a "boogievamp".[34]
After Sun Records headliner Presley left forRCA in November 1955, Phillips told Perkins, "You're my rockabilly cat now".[35] Sun released "Blue Suede Shoes" on January 1, 1956 and it became a massive chart success. In the United States, it reached number one onBillboard magazine'scountry music chart (the only number one success he would have) and number two on the Billboard Best Sellers popular music chart. On February 11, Presley performed it on CBS-TV'sStage Show. On March 17, Perkins became the first country artist to reach number three on therhythm and blues chart.[34][36] That night, he performed the song on ABC-TV'sOzark Jubilee and Presley reprised his performance onStage Show.
In Britain, Perkins's song reached number 10 on theUK singles chart. It was the first record by a Sun artist to sell a million copies.[37] The Beatles covered the B side, "Honey Don't",[6] followed byWanda Jackson and in the 1970s,T. Rex.John Lennon originally sang the song when the Beatles performed it. Later it was given toRingo Starr, one of his few leads during his time with the band. Lennon also performed the song on theLost Lennon Tapes.[36][when?]
After playing a show inNorfolk, Virginia, on March 21, 1956, the Perkins Brothers Band headed toNew York City for a March 24 appearance onNBC-TV'sPerry Como Show. Shortly before sunrise on March 22, on Route 13 betweenDover andWoodside, Delaware, their vehicle hit the back of a pickup truck and went into a ditch containing about 12 inches of water. Holland had to pull Perkins, unconscious, from the water. Perkins had sustained three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a severe concussion, a broken collar bone, and lacerations all over his body. Perkins remained unconscious for an entire day. The driver of the pickup truck, Thomas Phillips, a 40-year-old farmer, died when he was thrown into the steering wheel.[38] Jay Perkins had a fractured neck and severe internal injuries. Later he developed a malignant brain tumor, and died in 1958.[39][40]
On March 23, Presley's band membersBill Black,Scotty Moore andD.J. Fontana visited Perkins on their way to New York to appear with Presley. Fontana recalled Perkins saying, "You looked like a bunch of angels coming to see me".[41] Black told him, "Hey man, Elvis sends his love", and lit a cigarette for him, even though the patient in the next bed was in anoxygen tent.[42] Presley also telegraphed Perkins his well wishes.[42]
"Blue Suede Shoes" had sold more than 500,000 copies by March 22, and Sam Philips had planned to celebrate by presenting Perkins with agold record onThe Perry Como Show.[43] While Perkins recuperated from his injuries, "Blue Suede Shoes" reached number one on regional pop, R&B, and country charts. It also reached number two on the Billboard pop and country charts, below Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel". By mid-April, more than one million copies of "Blue Suede Shoes" had sold.[44] On April 3, while still recuperating in Jackson, Perkins watched Presley perform "Blue Suede Shoes" in his first appearance onThe Milton Berle Show. This was the third time he performed the song on national television.[45][46]
Perkins returned to live performances on April 21, 1956 beginning with an appearance inBeaumont, Texas, with the Big D Jamboree tour.[47] Before he resumed touring, Sam Phillips arranged a recording session at Sun with Edd Cisco filling in for the still-recuperating Jay. By mid-April, they recorded "Dixie Fried", "Put Your Cat Clothes On", "Wrong Yo-Yo", "You Can't Make Love to Somebody", "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby", and "That Don't Move Me".[48] On May 26, Perkins and his band (with Jay Perkins performing wearing a visible neck brace), finally appeared onThe Perry Como Show to perform "Blue Suede Shoes".[49]
Beginning early that summer, Perkins was paid $1,000 to play two songs a night on the extended tour of Top Stars of '56. Other performers on the tour wereChuck Berry andFrankie Lymon and the Teenagers. When Perkins and the group entered the stage inColumbia, South Carolina, he was shocked to see a teenager with a bleeding chin pressed against the stage by the massed crowd. During the first guitar intermission of "Honey Don't", they were waved offstage and into a vacant dressing room behind a double line of police officers. Appalled by what he had seen and felt, Perkins left the tour.[50] Appearing withGene Vincent andLillian Briggs in a rock 'n' roll show, he helped attract 39,872 people to the Reading Fair in Pennsylvania on a Tuesday night in late September. Soon after, a full grandstand and one thousand people stood in a heavy rain to hear Perkins and Briggs at the Brockton Fair in Massachusetts.[51]
Sun issued more Perkins songs in 1956: "Boppin' the Blues" / "All Mama's Children" (Sun 243), the B side co-written with Johnny Cash; and "Dixie Fried" / "I'm Sorry, I'm Not Sorry" (Sun 249). "Matchbox" / "Your True Love" (Sun 261)[52] came out in February, 1957.[29] "Boppin' the Blues" reached number 47 on theCashbox pop singles chart, number nine on theBillboard country and western chart, and number 70 on theBillboard Hot 100.
"Matchbox" became a rockabilly classic. It was recorded with Perkins on lead guitar and vocals, and then Sun studio piano player,Jerry Lee Lewis. Later that day, there was an impromptu session with Perkins, Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis informally referred to as theMillion Dollar Quartet.[6] Sun released the full recordings from this jam session, a selection of gospel, country, and R&B songs in 1990.[2]
On February 2, 1957, Perkins again appeared onOzark Jubilee, singing "Matchbox" and "Blue Suede Shoes". He also made at least two appearances onTown Hall Party inCompton, California, in 1957,[53] singing both songs. Those performances were included in theWestern Ranch Dance Party series filmed and distributed by Screen Gems.
He released "That's Right", co-written with Johnny Cash, backed with the ballad "Forever Yours", as Sun single 274 in August, 1957. Neither side made it onto the charts.
The 1957 filmJamboree included Perkins performing "Glad All Over". The song was written byAaron Schroeder,Sid Tepper, andRoy C. Bennett,[54] Sun released it in January, 1958.[55]
In 1958, Perkins moved toColumbia Records for which he recorded "Jive After Five", "Rockin' Record Hop", "Levi Jacket (And a Long Tail Shirt)", "Pop, Let Me Have the Car", "Pink Pedal Pushers", "Any Way the Wind Blows", "Hambone", "Pointed Toe Shoes", "Sister Twister", "L-O-V-E-V-I-L-L-E" and other songs.[29]
In 1959, he wrote thecountry & western song "The Ballad of Boot Hill" for Johnny Cash who recorded it on anEP for Columbia Records. That same year, Perkins was cast in a Filipino movie produced by People's Pictures,Hawaiian Boy, in which he sang "Blue Suede Shoes".[citation needed]
He performed often at theGolden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas in 1962 and 1963.[citation needed] During this time, he toured nine Midwestern states and made a tour in Germany.[citation needed] In 1962,Patsy Cline recorded "So Wrong", which Perkins wrote withMel Tillis andDanny Dill, and had a No. 14 hit on the country chart.
In May 1964, Perkins touredBritain withChuck Berry with the popular, young rock group,The Animals backing them.[56] Perkins had been reluctant to undertake the tour, convinced that as forgotten as he had become in America, he would be even more obscure in the UK and did not want to be humiliated by drawing meager audiences. Berry assured him that they had remained much more popular in Britain since the 1950s than they had in the United States, and that there would be large crowds of fans at every show. On the last night of the tour, Perkins attended a party where he sat on the floor sharing stories, playing guitar, and singing songs while surrounded by theBeatles.Ringo Starr asked if he could record "Honey Don't". Perkins answered, "Man, go ahead, have at it".[57] The Beatles later recorded covers of "Matchbox", "Honey Don't" and "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby", which Perkins adapted from a song originally recorded in 1936 byRex Griffin which he added new music to. (A song with the same title was recorded by Roy Newman in 1938). Starr sang the lead on the first two,George Harrison sang a rare lead on the third. The Beatles also recorded two versions of "Glad All Over" in 1963.[58] Another tour to Germany followed in the autumn.
He released "Big Bad Blues" backed with "Lonely Heart" as a single on Brunswick Records withthe Nashville Teens in June, 1964.[59]
In 1966, Perkins signed with Dollie Records and released as his first single for them, "Country Boy's Dream", which reached No. 22 in the country chart. That same yearBob Luman had a Top 40 Country hit with Perkins's song, "Poor Boy Blues".
While on tour with the Johnny Cash show in 1968, Perkins went on a four day drinking binge that ended with him hallucinating floridly and passing out. When he regained consciousness, he went out to the beach with his last bottle of alcohol. In his autobiography, he described falling to his knees and declaring, "Lord, ... I'm gonna throw this bottle. I'm gonna show You that I believe in you" before hurling the bottle into the sea and vowing to remain sober. Perkins and Cash, who had his own substance-abuse issues, supported each other in their bids to remain sober.[60]
In 1968, Cash recorded the Perkins-written "Daddy Sang Bass" which incorporates parts of the gospel standard "Will the Circle Be Unbroken". It rose to the top of the country music chart where it stayed for six weeks. It was aCountry Music Association nominee for 'Song of the Year' the next year. Perkins also played lead guitar on Cash's single "A Boy Named Sue", recorded live atSan Quentin prison. It went to number one for five weeks on the country chart and number two on the pop chart. (The performance was also filmed byGranada Television for broadcast).
Perkins spent a decade in Cash's touring revue, often as an opening act for Cash as at the Folsom and San Quentin prison concerts, where he was recorded singing "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Matchbox" before Cash took the stage. These performances were not released until the 2000s. He also appeared on the television seriesThe Johnny Cash Show. On the television programKraft Music Hall on April 16, 1969, which Cash hosted, Perkins performed his song "Restless".[61][62]
Perkins andBob Dylan wrote "Champaign, Illinois" in 1969. Dylan was in Nashville from February 12 to February 21, recording his albumNashville Skyline, a crossover into country. He met Perkins when he appeared onThe Johnny Cash Show on June 7.[63] Dylan hadwriter's block and was unable to complete the song until Perkins contributed the rhythm and some lyrics upon which Dylan said to him, "Your song. Take it. Finish it".[64] Perkins registered the song as co-authored and recorded it on his 1969 album,On Top.[65][66]
Also in 1969, Columbia's Murray Krugman placed Perkins with theNew Rhythm and Blues Quartet, the NRBQ, a rockabilly group based in New York's Hudson Valley. With the group backing him, he recorded two of his staples, "Boppin' the Blues" and "Turn Around", plus songs they sang separately.[67]
Tommy Cash (brother of Johnny Cash) had a Top Ten country gospel hit in 1970 with the song "Rise and Shine" which Perkins wrote. It reached number nine on theBillboard country chart and number eight on the Canadian country chart.Arlene Harden had a Top 40 country hit in 1971 with the Perkins composition "True Love Is Greater Than Friendship", from the filmLittle Fauss and Big Halsy (1971). That same year,Al Martino's cover of the song reached number 22 on theBillboard country chart and number 33 on theBillboard Adult Contemporary chart. Perkins appeared with Cash on the popular TV country seriesHee Haw on February 16, 1974.
After a long legal struggle with Sam Phillips overroyalties, Perkins gained ownership of his songs in the 1970s and, in 2003, his widow, who by then owned the catalog, entered into an administration contract with Paul McCartney'sMPL Communications.[68]
The rockabilly revival of the 1980s helped bring Perkins back into the limelight. In 1981, Perkins recorded the song "Get It" withPaul McCartney. According to one source, he fully co-wrote the song with McCartney.[69] This recording was included on the chart-topping albumTug of War, released in 1982.[70] During 1985, Perkins re-recorded "Blue Suede Shoes" withLee Rocker andSlim Jim Phantom of theStray Cats as part of the soundtrack for the filmPorky's Revenge.
In October 1985, Perkins performed on stage inLondon for a television special,Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session, withGeorge Harrison,Eric Clapton,Dave Edmunds, Lee Rocker,Rosanne Cash andRingo Starr. The show was taped live at theLimehouse Studios. It was broadcast onChannel 4 on January 1, 1986. Perkins sang 16 songs plus two encores. He and his friends ended the session by singing "Blue Suede Shoes", 30 years after its writing, which brought Perkins to tears.[citation needed] The concert special was a highlight of his later career.[citation needed] The concert was released for DVD by Snapper Music in 2006.[71]
Perkins was inducted into theNashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985. Wider recognition of his contributions to music came with his induction into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. The Hall chose "Blue Suede Shoes" as one of its500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. The song also received aGrammy Hall of Fame Award. Perkins was inducted into theRockabilly Hall of Fame in recognition of his pioneering contributions to the genre.
Perkins's only notable film performance as an actor was inJohn Landis's 1985 filmInto the Night. The cameo-laden film includes a scene in which characters played by Perkins andDavid Bowie die by each other's hand.[72]
Perkins returned to the Sun Studio in Memphis in 1986, joining Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, andRoy Orbison on the albumClass of '55. The record was a tribute to their early years at Sun and, specifically, the Million Dollar Quartetjam session involving Perkins, Presley, Cash, and Lewis in 1956.
In 1989, Perkins co-wrote and played lead guitar onthe Judds' number-one country hit, "Let Me Tell You About Love".[73] That same year, he signed a record deal with Platinum Records for the albumFriends, Family, and Legends, featuring performances byChet Atkins,Travis Tritt,Steve Wariner,Joan Jett, andCharlie Daniels, along withPaul Shaffer andWill Lee. The song "Wild Texas Wind" became the title track to a made-for-TVmovie featuringDolly Parton andGary Busey. In 1996,Willie Nelson, who also appeared in that movie, joined Perkins in a duet version of the song. During the production of this album, Perkins was diagnosed withthroat cancer.
Dolly Parton had a Top 20 Country hit in 1991 with "Silver and Gold", which she and Perkins co-wrote.Mark O'Connor recorded a version of the Perkins "Restless" in 1991 and had a No. 25 country hit with it in the US, (No. 19 in Canada).
Perkins again returned to Sun Studio to record with Scotty Moore, Presley's first guitar player, for the album706 ReUNION, released by Belle Meade Records which also featuredD. J. Fontana, Marcus Van Storey, andthe Jordanaires. In 1993, Perkins performed with theKentucky Headhunters in the music video for a re-recording of his song "Dixie Fried" filmed inGlasgow, Kentucky. In 1994, he teamed up withDuane Eddy andthe Mavericks to contribute "Matchbox" to theAIDS benefit albumRed Hot + Country, produced by theRed Hot Organization.
His last album,Go Cat Go!, released by the independent Dinosaur Records label in 1996, showcased Perkins singing duets withBono, Johnny Cash,John Fogerty, George Harrison, Paul McCartney,Willie Nelson,Tom Petty,Paul Simon, and Ringo Starr.[74][75]
His last major concert performance was theMusic for Montserrat all-star charity concert at London'sRoyal Albert Hall on September 15, 1997, four months before his death.
In 2025, Sun Records released a new Perkins album,Some Things Never Change, which had originally been recorded in 1990 but whose recordings were thought to be lost until being rediscovered in 2024. The album was produced by Bill Lloyd and featured Perkins backed by his sons Stan (drums) and Greg (bass), augmented by studio musicians Joe Schenk (piano), Jerry Douglas, and Pete Finney.[76]
In January 1953, Perkins married Valda Crider, whom he had known for a number of years. When his job at the bakery was reduced to part-time, Valda, who had her own job, encouraged Perkins to begin working the taverns full-time. He began playing six nights a week. Later the same year, he addedW.S. "Fluke" Holland to the band as a drummer. Holland had no previous experience as a musician but had a good sense of rhythm.[77]
A strong advocate for child welfare, Perkins worked with the Jackson Exchange Club to establish the first center in Tennessee for the prevention of child abuse, the fourth in the nation. Proceeds from a concert which he planned were combined with a grant from theNational Exchange Club to establish the Prevention of Child Abuse in October 1981. For years, its annual Circle of Hope Telethon generated one quarter of the center's annual operating budget.[citation needed]
Perkins had one daughter, Debbie, and three sons, Stan, Greg, and Steve. Stan, Perkins' firstborn son, is also a recording artist. In 2010, he joined forces withJerry Naylor to record a duet tribute, "To Carl: Let It Vibrate". Stan has been inducted into theRockabilly Hall of Fame. Greg played bass on stage alongside his father at the 1985Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session concert in London and co-wrote "Birth of Rock and Roll" with his father.[78] In 1983, a jury in Jackson, Tennessee found Greg Perkins "innocent on two felony counts of vehicular homicide, and guilty on a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of alcohol".[79] In 1997, Perkins' wife Valda was "recovering from a year long illness,"[80] and his son Greg collapsed as a result of liver damage that may have resulted in a liver transplant.[80]
Perkins died on January 19, 1998, at the age of 65 at Jackson-Madison County Hospital inJackson, Tennessee, from complications from several minorstrokes the previous month.[81][82] Among the mourners at his standing room only funeral atLambuth University were George Harrison, Johnny Cash andJune Carter Cash,Jerry Lee Lewis,Wynonna Judd, Sam Phillips,Ricky Skaggs,Brian Setzer,Garth Brooks, andBilly Ray Cyrus. During the service, Cyrus and Skaggs sang and the funeral ended with George Harrison singing an acoustic version of "Your True Love".[83] Perkins was buried at Ridgecrest Cemetery in Jackson.
Perkins' widow, Valda deVere Perkins, died on November 15, 2005, in Jackson. Carl and Valda Perkins' son Greg (born January 15, 1959) died three days later at the age of 46 on November 18, 2005.[78]
As a guitarist, Perkins used finger picking, imitations of the pedal steel guitar,palm muting,arpeggios, open strings, single and doublestring bending,chromaticism, country and blues licks, andtritone and other tonality clashing licks (short phrases that include notes from other keys and move in logical, often symmetric patterns).[84] A rich vocabulary of chords including sixth and thirteenth chords, ninth and added ninth chords, and suspensions show up in his rhythm parts and solos. Free use of syncopations, chord anticipations (arriving at a chord change before the other players, often by an eighth-note) andcrosspicking (repeating a three eighth-note pattern so that an accent falls variously on the upbeat or downbeat) were also in his bag of tricks.[85]
Perkins wrote his autobiography,Go, Cat, Go, published in 1996, in collaboration with music writer David McGee in 1996. Plans for a biographical film were announced by Santa Monica-based production company Fastlane Entertainment;[86][87] it was slated for release in 2009.[citation needed]
In 2004,Rolling Stone ranked Perkins number 99 on itslist of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[88]
TheNational Recording Preservation Board included his version of "Blue Suede Shoes" in itsNational Recording Registry of theLibrary of Congress in 2006.[89]
The Perkins family still owns his songs.[68]
Ricky Nelson covered Perkins's "Boppin' the Blues" and "Your True Love" on his 1957 debut album,Ricky.
Many[which?] of the Beatles' live shows had rock 'n' roll covers of Carl Perkins's songs such as "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby", "Matchbox" and "Honey Don't".
Drive-By Truckers, on their albumThe Dirty South, recorded a song about him, "Carl Perkins' Cadillac".The Carl Perkins Arena in Jackson, Tennessee, is named in his honor.
George Thorogood and the Destroyers covered "Dixie Fried" on their 1985 albumMaverick. The Kentucky Headhunters also covered the song, as did Keith de Groot on his 1968 albumNo Introduction Necessary withJimmy Page on lead guitar and John Paul Jones on bass.[90]
Johnny "Kid Memphis" Holiday portrayed Perkins by in the 2005Johnny Cash biopicWalk the Line.
Perkins was honored with the Lifetime Achievement award during the Tennessee Music Awards event in 2018 at the University of Memphis Lambuth in Jackson, Tennessee.[citation needed]
The bridge connecting South Portsmouth, Kentucky to West Portsmouth, Ohio is named after Perkins.[citation needed]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: a more complete record of recognition received, and awards given, over the course of Perkins' career. You can help byadding to it.(August 2014) |
The following recording by Carl Perkins was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance".[citation needed]
| Carl Perkins: Grammy Hall of Fame Awards[91] | |||||
| Year released | Title | Genre | Label | Year Inducted | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | "Blue Suede Shoes" | Rock and Roll (single) | Sun Records | 1986 | |
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Label | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [92] | US Country [92] | UK [93] | |||
| 1969 | Carl Perkins' Greatest Hits (re-recordings) | — | 32 | — | Columbia |
| On Top | — | 42 | — | ||
| Original Golden Hits | — | 43 | — | Sun | |
| 1973 | My Kind of Country | — | 48 | — | Mercury |
| 1978 | Ol' Blue Suede's Back | — | — | 38 | Columbia |
| 1982 | The Survivors Live (withJohnny Cash andJerry Lee Lewis) | — | 21 | — | Columbia |
| 1986 | Class of '55 (with Jerry Lee Lewis,Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash) | 87 | 15 | — | America/Mercury |
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Country [92] | US Billboard | US Cashbox | US Cashbox Country | CAN Country | UK [93] | |||
| 1956 | "Blue Suede Shoes" | 1 | 2 | 2[94][95] | 2[nb 1] | — | 10 | Dance Album of ... Carl Perkins |
| "Boppin' the Blues" | 7 | 70 | 47[105] | 12[106] | — | — | ||
| "Dixie Fried" | 10 | — | — | 15[nb 2] | — | — | Original Golden Hits | |
| "I'm Sorry, I'm Not Sorry" | flip | — | — | — | — | — | Blue Suede Shoes | |
| 1957 | "Your True Love" | 13 | 67 | — | 15[110] | — | — | Dance Album of ... Carl Perkins |
| "Lend Me Your Comb" | — | — | 60[111] | — | — | — | ||
| 1958 | "Pink Pedal Pushers" | 17 | 91 | — | 17[112] | — | — | The King of Rock |
| 1959 | "Pointed Toe Shoes" | — | 93[92] | 86[113] | — | — | — | |
| 1966 | "Country Boy's Dream" | 22 | — | — | 28[114] | — | — | Country Boy's Dream |
| 1967 | "Shine, Shine, Shine" | 40 | — | — | 41[115] | — | — | |
| 1969 | "Restless" | 20 | — | — | 30[116] | — | — | Carl Perkins' Greatest Hits |
| 1971 | "Me Without You" | 65 | — | — | — | — | — | The Man Behind Johnny Cash |
| "Cotton Top" | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972 | "High on Love" | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | Single only |
| 1973 | "(Let's Get) Dixiefried"(1973 version) | 61 | — | — | — | — | — | My Kind of Country |
| 1986 | "Birth of Rock and Roll" | 31 | — | — | — | 44 | — | Class of '55 |
| 1987 | "Class of '55" | 83 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1989 | "Charlene" | — | — | — | — | 74 | — | Born to Rock |
| Year | Song | Year-end Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | "Blue Suede Shoes" | 18 |
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
| International | |
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| National | |
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