Million Dollar Quartet

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The Million Dollar Quartet
Studio album by Elvis Presley , Jerry Lee Lewis , Carl Perkins , Johnny Cash

Publication
(s)

2006

Label (s) RCA Records

Format (s)

LP, CD (RR)

Genre (s)

Rockabilly , gospel , country music

Title (number)

47

occupation
  • Vocals, guitar, piano: Elvis Presley
  • Guitar, vocals: Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash
  • Piano, vocals: Jerry Lee Lewis
  • Drums: WS Holland
  • Bass: Clayton Perkins

The Million Dollar Quartet is an album of recordings made at Sun Studios on December 4, 1956 , when former Sun artist Elvis Presley was having a jam session with Sun musicians Carl Perkins , Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash .

admission

The recordings were not planned and were taken as a spontaneous jam session. Carl Perkins, who was already a successful Sun artist and had a hit with Blue Suede Shoes , came into the studio with his brothers Clayton and Jay and the drummer WS Holland to record new songs, including the later very successful Matchbox . Sam Phillips , owner of Sun Records and Perkins' producer, brought the young and unknown pianist Jerry Lee Lewis with him because he wanted to break with the economical instrumentation of rockabilly artists.

In the early afternoon, former Sun artist Elvis Presley, who was signed to RCA Records , appeared with his girlfriend Marilyn Evans to pay a visit to his old colleagues. Presley had worked his way up to the most sought-after rock 'n' roll star with five number one singles and two number one albums in the past twelve months and had appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show four months earlier , the one Reached a market share of 83 percent with around 55 million viewers.

While talking to Sam Phillips, Presley overheard Perkins' recordings in the background, which he liked, and spontaneously decided to play along a little. Philips let the recording continue to capture the jam session. Shortly afterwards, Johnny Cash, who had already had some hits in the country charts, joined the rest of the musicians. According to Cash's autobiography, he is said to have been the first musician in the studio that day.

Phillips took the opportunity and notified the regional daily "Memphis Press-Scimitar", which among other things sent the renowned journalist Bob Johnson . The following day, Johnson's article entitled "Million Dollar Quartet" and the photograph that later graced the recordings' publications appeared.

On most of the recordings, Presley can be heard as the lead singer and pianist, while the others merely accompany him. Carl Perkins was content with the lead vocals on Keeper of the Key , played mostly the guitar and often sang along as the background voice. Clayton Perkins, Jay Perkins and WS Holland can mainly be heard on the first songs, as well as Charles Underwood as rhythm guitarist. Cliff Gleaves , who came into the studio with Presley, can also be heard in some vocal parts . Jerry Lee Lewis often sings in duets with Presley and takes over the piano at the end.

Johnny Cash cannot be clearly heard. According to Bob Johnson, Cash will be heard on Blueberry Hill and Isle Of Golden Dreams , which was confirmed in 1972 by Carl Perkins, who said that Cash had Blueberry Hill , Island Of Golden Dreams , I Won't Have To Cross The Jordan Alone , The Old Rugged Cross , Peace in the Valley , Tutti Frutti and Big Boss Man . Of these songs, however, only Peace in the Valley was released. In Cash's autobiography it is also said that he stood far from the microphone and sang higher than usual in order to better accompany Presley.

Song selection

In addition to a variety of country classics by the likes of Bill Monroe , Ernest Tubb , Hank Snow and Gene Autry , the Sun artists played gospel songs , Broadway ballads by Rodgers and Hammerstein such as There's No Place Like Home and hits of the time such as Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind , songs by Chuck Berry , Little Richard and Pat Boone .

Presley also played some of the songs he would later record for RCA, such as Is It So Strange and That's When Your Heartaches Begin . Presley's hit Don't Be Cruel can be heard several times, including the way Jackie Wilson is said to have imitated it.

publication

Shelby Singleton , now owner of Sun Records, which re-released many Sun recordings in the 1980s, was the first to release recordings of the jam session. The Million Dollar Quartet , comprising 17 songs, was released in Europe in 1981 and only contained gospel recordings.

With the discovery of new recordings, public interest in publishing them as completely as possible increased. The Complete Million Dollar Session was released in 1987 and was released in 1990 by RCA Records in the United States as Elvis Presley - The Million Dollar Quartet .

In 2006 the most complete version to date was published for the 50th anniversary of the recordings, which also organizes the recordings chronologically. This contains six additional pieces or twelve minutes of previously unpublished material.

Track list

Jingle Bells
Softly and tenderly
Jesus Walked That Lonesome Valley
Farther Along
  1. "Instrumental" (Unknown) - 1:44
  2. " Love Me Tender - Instrumental" ( Elvis Presley / Vera Matson ) - 1:02
  3. " Jingle Bells - Instrumental" (Traditional, James Lord Pierpont ) - 1:57
  4. " White Christmas - Instrumental" ( Irving Berlin ) - 2:05
  5. " Reconsider Baby " ( Lowell Fulson ) - 2:45
  6. "Don't Be Cruel" (Elvis Presley / Otis Blackwell ) - 2:20
  7. "Don't Be Cruel" (Elvis Presley / Otis Blackwell) - 2:20
  8. "Paralyzed" (Elvis Presley / Otis Blackwell) - 3:00
  9. "Don't Be Cruel" (Elvis Presley / Otis Blackwell) - 0:36
  10. "There's No Place Like Home" ( John Howard Payne / Henry Bishop ) - 3:36
  11. " When the Saints Go Marching In " (Traditional) - 2:18
  12. "Softly and Tenderly" (Traditional) - 2:42
  13. "When God Dips His Love in My Heart" (Traditional) - 0:23
  14. "Just a Little Talk With Jesus" ( Cleavant Derricks ) - 4:09
  15. "Jesus Walked That Lonesome Valley" (Traditional) - 3:28
  16. "I Shall Not Be Moved" (Traditional) - 3:49
  17. "Peace in the Valley" ( Thomas A. Dorsey ) - 1:33
  18. " Down by the Riverside " (Traditional) - 2:26
  19. "I'm With a Crowd But so Alone" ( Ernest Tubb / Carl Story ) - 1:16
  20. "Farther Alone" (Traditional) - 2:08
  21. "Blessed Jesus (Hold My Hand)" (Traditional) - 1:26
  22. "On the Jericho Road" (Traditional) - 0:52
  23. "I Just Can't Make It By Myself" ( Herbert W. Brewster ) - 1:04
  24. "Little Cabin Home on the Hill" ( Bill Monroe / Lester Flatt ) - 0:46
  25. "Summertime Is Past and Gone" (Bill Monroe) - 0:14
  26. "I Hear a Sweet Voice Calling" (Bill Monroe) - 0:36
  27. "Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong" (Bill Monroe) - 0:28
  28. "Keeper of the Key (Carl Lead)" ( Wynn Stewart / Harlan Howard / Ken Devine / Lance Guynes ) - 2:08
  29. "Crazy Arms" ( Ralph Mooney / Charles Seals ) - 0:17
  30. "Don't Forbid Me" ( Charles Singleton ) - 1:19
  31. " Too Much Monkey Business " ( Chuck Berry ) - 0:05
  32. "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" (Chuck Berry) - 1:14
  33. "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" ( Ivory Joe Hunter / Clyde Otis ) - 0:37
  34. "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" (Chuck Berry) - 1:53
  35. "Don't Forbid Me" (Charles Singleton) - 0:50
  36. "You Belong to My Heart" ( Ray Gilbert / Agustín Lara ) - 1:10
  37. "Is It So Strange" ( Faron Young ) - 1:21
  38. "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" ( Billy Hill / Fred Fisher / William Raskin ) - 4:58
  39. "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" (Chuck Berry) - 0:17
  40. "Rip It Up" ( Robert Blackwell / John Marascalco ) - 0:23
  41. "I'm Gonna Bid My Blues Goodbye" ( Hank Snow ) - 0:55
  42. "Crazy Arms" (Ralph Mooney / Charles Seals) - 3:36
  43. "That's My Desire" ( Caroll Loveday / Helmy Kresa ) - 2:02
  44. "End of the Road" ( Jerry Lee Lewis ) - 1:44
  45. "Black Bottom Stomp" ( Ferdinand Joseph La Menthe ) - 1:11
  46. "You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven" ( Gene Autry ) - 1:12
  47. Elvis Says Goodbye - 0:40

Jukebox musical

Apollo Theater in Chicago

Also in 2006, the jukebox musical Million Dollar Quartet, written by Floyd Mutrux and Colin Escott , premiered at the Seaside Music Theater in Daytona Beach, Florida, and was inspired by the recording session. From 2008 to 2016 the musical ran in Chicago , initially for about a month at the Goodman Theater, then from October 31, 2008 to January 17, 2016 at the Apollo Theater. The piece ran on New York Broadway from April 11, 2010 to June 12, 2011. An original cast album was released in 2011. The musical has been running in Las Vegas at Harrah’s since February 2013 . A Canadian production ran from February 12, 2016 to March 26, 2016 at the Chemainus Theater Festival in Chemainus, British Columbia. In London's West End , the musical could be seen from February 2011 to January 2012 at the Noël Coward Theater. In addition to the permanent venues, there were and are touring productions with performances in various cities in the USA, Australia and the UK.

literature

  • Elvis Presley - The Million Dollar Quartet (RCA CD # 2023-2-R), sleeve notes by Colin Escott of Showtime Music, Toronto
  • Cash, Johnny, and Patrick Carr. Cash: The Autobiography. New York: Harper Collins, 1997

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ globetheatrelive.com: Main Stage . Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  2. ↑ www.milliondollartour.net: About the Show . Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  3. ↑ lasvegassun.com: Felice Garcia cries it out in 'Million Dollar Quartet' at Harrah’s . Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  4. ↑ www.caesars.com: Million Dollar Quartet . Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  5. ↑ chemainustheatrefestival.ca: Jukebox Musical . ( Memento of the original from September 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 20, 2016. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / chemainustheatrefestival.ca
  6. ↑ milliondollarquartetlive.co.uk: Million Dollar Quartet UK Tour . Retrieved September 20, 2016.