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While some ill-informed
revisionist writers of rock history would like to dismiss Carl
Perkins as a rockabilly artist who became a one-hit wonder at
the dawn of rock & roll's early years, a deeper look at his
music and career reveals much more. A quick look at his
songwriting portfolio shows that he composed “Daddy Sang Bass”
for Johnny Cash, “I Was So Wrong” for Patsy Cline, and “Let Me
Tell You About Love” for the Judds, big hits and classics all.
His guitar style is the
other twin peak -- along with that of Elvis’ lead man Scotty
Moore -- of
rockabilly’s instrumental center, so pervasive
that modern-day players automatically gravitate toward it when
called upon to deliver the style, not even realizing that
they're playing Perkins licks, sometimes note for note. As a
singer, his interpretation of country ballads is every bit as
fine as his better-known rockers. And within the framework of
the best of his music is a strong sense of family and roots,
all of which trace straight back to his humble beginnings.
He was born to
sharecroppers Buck and Louise Perkins and was soon out in the
fields picking cotton and living in a shack with his parents,
older brother Jay, and his younger brother Clayton. Working
alongside blacks in the field every day, it's not at all
surprising that when Carl was gifted with a secondhand guitar,
he went to a local sharecropper for lessons, learning
firsthand the boogie rhythm that he would later build a career
on. By his teens, Carl was playing electric guitar and had
recruited his brothers Jay on rhythm guitar and Clayton on
string bass to become his first band.
A 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 SamPhillips of Sun Records 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 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.
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
MSN Entertainment
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