Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records & The Birth of Rock 'N' Roll by Colin Escott

Author:Colin Escott [Escott, Colin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media LLC
Published: 2008-05-30T12:00:00+00:00

After a short hospital stay, Perkins was back in Memphis at the beginning of April 1956. The huge Chrysler that was ruined in his wreck had been a loaner from Southern Motors while Carl awaited the delivery of his obligatory Cadillac. Rarely one to miss a photo opportunity, Sam Phillips handed him the keys to the shiny new blue ’56 Fleetwood as he and Perkins stood at the dealership on April 11. Perkins told the press that the car was a gift from Phillips, who had sworn that the first artist to sell a million copies of a record on Sun would receive a Cadillac. “Carl says he’ll drive it mighty careful,” said the report in the Memphis Press Scimitar—although the car would be wrecked on August 29 near Brownsville, Tennessee, when Perkins was speeding.

Perkins resolved that he would not go back on the road before his wife had given birth to their third child, but the pressure from promoters grew too intense. With Jay still in the hospital, Carl hit the road as part of a Big D Jamboree package working out of Dallas. His booking fee was as high as fifteen hundred dollars a night. Perry Como held the invitation open for Perkins to appear on the show, but Perkins would not fulfill the engagement until Jay was ready to perform. They eventually worked the Como show with Jay sporting a neck brace.

“Boppin’ the Blues,” the follow-up to “Blue Suede Shoes,” was released in May. Intended to capture the essence of the new music, instead it showed how closely Perkins was tied to the country tradition. By contrast, Elvis Presley’s second RCA record, “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You,” fit no known definition of country music. “Boppin’ the Blues” reached number 9 in the country charts, but did no more than dart in and out of the lowest reaches of the pop charts while Presley’s song jumped straight to the top.

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