Carl Perkins
Carl Lee Perkins (born April 9, 1932 in Tiptonville , Tennessee , USA , † January 19, 1998 in Jackson , Tennessee) was an American musician. He is considered a pioneer of rockabilly .
life and career
youth
Carl Perkins' parents were Fonie and Louise Brantley Perkins, his brothers were Jay and Clayton. His father worked on a leased cotton farm that poorly fed the family. Perkins grew up in the small town of Tiptonville in northwest Tennessee. His earliest musical influences included gospel music, sung by black workers in the cotton fields. Carl Perkins got his first guitar when he was seven years old. His father had built the instrument out of a cigar box, a broomstick and wire.
Beginnings
In 1950 the family moved to Jackson, Tennessee. There Carl Perkins formed a group with his brothers called The Perkins Brothers Band. Carl played electric guitar and did most of the vocals, Jay played acoustic rhythm guitar , and Clayton did the bass . In order to make a living, Perkins also worked as a baker during the day. On January 24, 1953, Perkins married his girlfriend Valda Crider, with whom he had three sons and a daughter.
The Perkins Brothers Band had little choice in terms of performance options in Jackson. Mostly they performed in rough honky tonks because the atmosphere was perfect for Perkins' musical experiments. Mistakes the band made were often overheard in the background noise, and many people wanted music to dance to. Although the brothers' repertoire contained many country classics such as Jealous Heart , Honky Tonk Blues or Lovesick Blues , their music was a mixture of common country music and black rhythm and blues : “I just speeded up some of the slow blues licks. I put a little speed and rhythm to what Uncle John had slowed down. That's all, "Perkins later described his beginnings himself. In order to create a stronger rhythm, Perkins brought drummer Tony Austin into the band in 1953, who was replaced after a few appearances by WS" Fluke "Holland . Drummers were still largely frowned upon in country music at that time, but Perkins justified his commitment by saying that the music had to remain danceable.
Rise (1950s) and Alcohol Addiction (1960s)
On January 25, 1955 Carl Perkins signed a record deal with Flip Records , a label of Sun Records in Memphis . His first release was Movie Magg , a piece he had already composed at the age of 14. The record sold moderately, but gave him the opportunity to appear in the opening act at concerts by Elvis Presley .
Sun Records owner Sam Phillips believed he could turn Perkins into a rockabilly star with the right song. That song was Blue Suede Shoes . The song is based on a story by Johnny Cash .
Blue Suede Shoes was recorded in December 1955 and appeared on the Sun label on January 1, 1956. It took a while, but after a few promotional appearances, the record sold millions of times. Then Perkins had a serious car accident in which he sustained a broken skull and arm. Instead of being able to use the moment to succeed, he had to spend the time in the hospital. Elvis Presley recorded his own successful version of Blue Suede Shoes . It can be said that Presley's fabulous rise helped prevent Carl Perkins from making the leap to the top. Perkins later said in an interview: "I was bucking a good-looking cat called Elvis who had beautiful hair, wasn't married, and had all kinds of great moves."
After Perkins recovered from his accident, he got other chart placements with Boppin 'The Blues and Dixie Fried , but the success of Blue Suede Shoes could not be repeated. In addition to Perkins 'releases with Sun, he recorded numerous other songs with his band in the Memphis studios, including covers of Everybody's Tryin' To Be My Baby and Only You . As an alternative to his published titles, there are "Alternate Takes" of many of his hits, which were released during the "Rockabilly Revival" in the late 1970s. His well-known title Matchbox is also a cover. The piece was recorded by well-known blues musicians as early as the late 1920s, and in 1937 Roy Newman recorded a country version for the first time, which Perkins later followed.
In the spring of 1958 Perkins moved to Columbia Records , where he was granted only one chart placement. Pink Pedal Pushers , which he recorded for Sun, reached number 17 on the country charts and number 91 on the pop charts. Perkins began to drink alcohol excessively due to the continued failure; According to his own statements, he struggled with his alcohol addiction until 1967 .
During his shots from 4 December 1956 found the other Sun sizes Elvis Presley , Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis in the studio and played with him a jam session known as Million Dollar Quartet in the history of the 'n' Rock Roll received should .
Carl Perkins was a permanent member of the Johnny Cash Show until the 1970s. There he not only appeared as a sideman of Cash, but was an independent music act with his own songs. Perkins also played at Cash's concerts At Folsom Prison 1968 and At San Quentin 1969 as a further rhythm guitarist alongside Luther Perkins and Bob Wootton, and in 1969 also appeared as a solo artist in Madison Square Garden .
Comeback (1980s) and death (1990s)
The Beatles were great admirers of Perkins. This was evident in the cover versions they recorded of his tracks ( Matchbox , Honey Don't and Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby ). This statement, which Carl Perkins made on the cover versions of the Beatles, shows that the respect was mutual: “They put a nice suit on rockabilly. They never really strayed from the simplicity of it. They just beautified it. ”The appreciation was later reflected in Perkins' collaboration with Paul McCartney . On his 1982 album Tug of War there is the duet Get It with Perkins, who also played guitar.
On October 21, 1985, there was a special concert in London : For a television special, Carl Perkins appeared with illustrious colleagues on the show Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session . There were among others George Harrison , Eric Clapton , Ringo Starr , Dave Edmunds and Rosanne Cash as well as Slim Jim Phantom and Lee Rocker from the Stray Cats .
A year later, Perkins recorded the album Class of '55 at Sun Studios in Memphis with old companions Johnny Cash , Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison . The record was a tribute to her early years on the Sun label and, in part, a replay of an informal jam session that had taken place with Presley, Lewis and Cash on December 4, 1956.
1987 was honored Perkins' contribution to rock music with the inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland ( Ohio ). Perkins received another late honor in 1996 when he released another studio album, Go Cat Go! with many well-known guest stars such as Paul McCartney , Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson , Tom Petty , Paul Simon , Bono and Ringo Starr .
Carl Perkins died in 1998 at the age of 65 from complications from multiple strokes . His grave is in Ridgecrest Cemetery in Jackson, Tennessee.
The Rolling Stone listed Perkins 99th of the 100 greatest musicians and 88th of the 100 best guitarists of all time .
Discography
Singles
| year | title | Chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Hot Country Songs | Billboard Pop Charts | |||||
| Sun Records | ||||||
| 1954 | Movie Magg / Turn Around | - | - | |||
| 1955 | Let the Jukebox Keep on Playing / Gone Gone Gone | - | - | |||
| 1956 | Blue Suede Shoes / Honey Don't | 1 | 2 | |||
| 1956 | Sure to Fall / Tennessee | - | - | |||
| 1956 | Boppin 'the Blues / All Mama's Children | 7th | 70 | |||
| 1956 | Dixiefried / I'm Sorry, I'm Not Sorry | 10 | - | |||
| 1957 | Your True Love / Matchbox | 13 | 67 | |||
| 1957 | Forever Yours / That's Right | - | - | |||
| 1957 | Glad All Over / Lend Me Your Comb | - | - | |||
| Columbia Records | ||||||
| 1958 | Pink Pedal Pushers / Jive After Five | 17th | 91 | |||
| 1958 | Levi Jacket / Pop Let Me Have a Car | - | - | |||
| 1958 | YOU / This Life I Live | - | - | |||
| 1959 | Highway of Love / Pointed Toe Shoes | - | - | |||
| 1959 | I Don't See Me in Your Arms Anymore / One Ticket to Loneliness | - | - | |||
| 1960 | Too Much For a Man to Understand / Loveville | - | - | |||
| 1960 | Just for You / Honey (Cause I Love You) | - | - | |||
| 1961 | Anyway the Wind Blows / Unhappy Girls | - | - | |||
| 1961 | Hollywood City / Forget Me | - | - | |||
| 1962 | Hollywood City / Fool I Used to Be | - | - | |||
| 1962 | Sister Twister / Hambone | - | - | |||
| 1963 | Forget Me (Next Time Around) / I've Just Got Back From There | - | - | |||
| Decca Records | ||||||
| 1963 | For a Little While / Help Me Find My Baby | - | - | |||
| 1964 | After Sundown / It Wouldn't Have You | - | - | |||
| 1964 | Big Bad Blues / Lonely Heart (UK release, Brunswick Records) | - | - | |||
| 1964 | Monkeyshine / Let My Baby Be | - | - | |||
| 1965 | One of These Days / Mama of My Song | - | - | |||
| Dollie Records | ||||||
| 1966 | Country Boy's Dream / I Could Come Back | 22nd | - | |||
| 1967 | Shine Shine Shine / Almost Love | 40 | - | |||
| 1967 | Without You / You Can Take the Boy out of the Country | 65 | - | |||
| 1968 | My Old Home Town / Back to Tennessee | - | - | |||
| 1968 | Lake County Cotton Country / It's You | - | - | |||
| Columbia Records | ||||||
| 1968 | Restless / 1-1-4-3 | 20th | - | |||
| 1969 | For Your Love / Four Letter Words | - | - | |||
| 1969 | CC Rider / Soul Beat | - | - | |||
| 1970 | All Mama's Children / Step Aside | - | - | |||
| 1970 | My Son, My Son / State of Confusion | - | - | |||
| 1970 | What Every Little Boy Ought to Know / Just as Long | - | - | |||
| 1971 | Me Without You / Red Headed Woman | 65 | - | |||
| 1971 | Cotton Top / About All I Can Give Is My Love | 53 | - | |||
| 1972 | Take Me Back to Memphis / High on Love | - | - | |||
| 1972 | Someday / The Trip | - | - | |||
| Mercury Records | ||||||
| 1973 | Help Me Dream / You Tore My Heaven All to Hell | - | - | |||
| 1973 | (Let's Get) Dixiefried / One More Loser Goin 'Home | 61 | - | |||
| 1974 | Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town / Sing My Song | - | - | |||
| 1975 | Low Class / You'll Always Be a Lady to Me | - | - | |||
| 1975 | EP Express / Big Bad Blues | - | - | |||
| 1977 | EP Express / Big Bad Blues (re-release) | - | - | |||
| Suede Records | ||||||
| 1976 | Green Green Grass of Home / A Little Teardrop | - | - | |||
| Music Mill Records | ||||||
| 1976 | Born to Boogie / Take Me Back | - | - | |||
| 1977 | We Did in '54 / Don't Get Off Gettin 'in Out | - | - | |||
| 1977 | Standing in the Need of Love / Georgia Courtroom | - | - | |||
| Jet Records | ||||||
| 1978 | Blue Suede Shoes / Rock on Around the World | - | - | |||
| 1977 | Mustang Wine / The Whole World Misses You | - | - | |||
| Suede Records | ||||||
| 1981 | We Did in '54 / I Don't Want to Fall in Love Again | - | - | |||
| 1981 | Rock-a-Billy Fever / Till You Get Through With Me | - | - | |||
| Smash America Records | ||||||
| 1986 | Birth Of Rock 'n' Roll / Rock 'n' Roll (Fais Do-Do) (Class of '55) | 31 | - | |||
| 1986 | Class of '55 / We Remember the King | - | - | |||
| Universal Records | ||||||
| 1989 | Charlene / Love Makes Dreams Come True | - | - | |||
| 1989 | Hambone / Love Makes Dreams Come True | - | - | |||
| Unpublished titles | ||||||
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Albums
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literature
- Colin Escott , Martin Hawkins: Good Rockin 'Tonight. Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll . St. Martin's Press, New York City 1991, pp. 125-144.
- Carl Perkins, David McGee: Go, Cat, Go! The Life and Times of Carl Perkins, the King of Rockabilly . 1st edition. Hyperion, New York 1996.
Web links
- Carl Perkins in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Colin Escott, Martin Hawkins: Good Rockin 'Tonight. Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll. St. Martin's Press, New York City 1991, p. 128.
- ^ Franz Dobler : The Beast in me. Johnny Cash . Kunstmann, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-88897-302-3 , p. 70.
- ↑ 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Rolling Stone , December 2, 2010, accessed August 8, 2017 .
- ↑ 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Rolling Stone , December 18, 2015, accessed August 8, 2017 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Perkins, Carl |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Perkins, Carl Lee (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American rockabilly musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 9, 1932 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tiptonville , Tennessee , USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 19, 1998 |
| Place of death | Jackson , Tennessee , USA |