Born in Tennessee to poor sharecroppers, Carl Perkins grew up listening to gospel and country music, learned blues guitar from a fellow field hand, and started writing songs at age fourteen. He plied his trade in rough and rowdy honky-tonks, performing with his brothers before beginning his recording career at the legendary Sun Studio in Memphis. It was there that Carl became a member of the fabled “Million Dollar Quartet,” alongside Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis. In 1955, he wrote and recorded “Blue Suede Shoes,” the first record by a Sun artist to sell over a million copies. But then a fateful car crash stalled his career, one of many tragedies in Carl’s life.
Over the following decades, Presley, Cash, and countless other artists, from the Beatles, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan to Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, performed and recorded his songs and became Carl’s friends, collaborators, and champions. Rich with insider detail and background into Carl’s private battles, humanitarian work, and personal inspirations, this is a fascinating, in-depth look at “Mr. Blue Suede Shoes” and his one-of-a-kind legacy.
Carl Perkins: The King of Rockabilly by Jeff Apter will be published on November 26, 2024. Kensington Publishing provided an early galley for review.
Apter is no stranger to writing about the world of music. He has worked on over thirty titles, many biographies ranging from the Bee Gees to Angus Young. With such a track record, I felt like I was in good hands when checking out his latest that dives back into the roots of rock 'n' roll.
I appreciate that the author sticks to the facts and only embellishes the details when needed to set the mood and tone. Like rockabilly itself, this telling of Perkins' story moves fast while keeping the reader engaged. I know I certainly learned a lot of music history here, especially about the interconnected paths of Perkins and so many other music legends.
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