THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

664-Elvis Presley-Blue Suede Shoes.

1956-Number 9 single.

Best Bit-At 1.12.Carl Perkins was the first to admit there was no way he could compete with Elvis, ’He had everything, he had the looks, the moves, the manager, and the talent, and he didn’t look like Mr Ed, like a lot of us did.’

Carl Lee Perkins was born on April 9th, 1932, in Tiptonville, Tennessee, United States, he died of throat cancer on January 19th, 1998, at the age of 65. Carl Perkins who was nicknamed the ‘King of Rockabilly,’ was a leading player in the development of the genre of music that would become known as ‘Rockabilly,’ he is also recognised as a pioneer in the early days of ‘Rock ‘N Roll.’ It was Paul McCartney (see also best songs 646-599-238-218-157-141-107-80-51-10 and 5) who probably paid him the his highest compliment, saying, ‘If there was no Carl Perkins, there would be no Beatles.

Carl Perkins was born the son of poor sharecroppers, and from the age of six he worked long hours in the cotton fields with his family. His first introduction to music was listening to the ‘Grand Ole Opry,’ broadcast from Nashville, on his father’s radio. At the age of 14, Perkins and his brother Jay (?-1958) began performing together at the ‘Cotton Boll’ tavern on Highway 45, near Jackson, Tennessee, with payment being from tips, and free drinks. By the late 1940’s Carl Perkins was performing regularly on the radio station ‘WTJS.’ in Jackson, and was playing regularly six nights a week in the Jackson area. It was in July 1954, after hearing Elvis Presley’s version of the 1945 ‘Bluegrass’ standard ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky’ on the radio, that Perkins decided to audition for Sam Phillips, (1923-2003) at the legendary ‘Sun Records,’ (see also best songs 678) allegedly saying after hearing the song,’There’s a man in Memphis who understands what we’re doing. I need to go see him.’

The discography of Carl Perkins includes 44 original Albums released between 1957-2000, unfortunately I cannot find a comprehensive list of his singles discography, but his only charting single on the Billboard Hot 100 in America, is his original version of ‘Blue Suede Shoes,’ which peaked at Number 2, being held off the top spot by Elvis Presley’s ‘Heartbreak Hotel.’ Carl Perkins has had nine of his singles reach the top 40 on the Billboard ‘Hot Country Songs’ chart, with ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ going all the way to Number 1. ‘Blue Suede Shoes,’ which was the 15th best selling single of 1956 in America, was also Carl Perkins only UK top 40 entry, peaking at Number 10.

‘Rockabilly’ is considered to be an early style of ‘Rock ‘N Roll,’ that dates back to the early 1950’s in the United States, but especially in the South. As a genre it blends the sound of ‘Country’ music, with that of ‘Rhythm and Blues.’ The term ‘Rockabilly’ is a mixture of ‘Rock,’ from ‘Rock ‘N Roll,’ and ‘Billy,’ from ‘Hillbilly.’ ‘Hillbilly’ is a reference to ‘Country Music’ that was often called ‘Hillbilly Music’ in the 1940’s and 1950’s that contributed strongly to the style. Most of the songs that the teenage Carl Perkins played were Country standards in a faster rhythm, which led to him composing his own songs in that style, and heavily influencing the development of ‘Rockabilly.’

The version of ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ I have chosen is the Elvis Presley (1935-1977) (see also best songs 954-442 and 194) recording from January 30th, 1956, which was released on September 8th, 1956. The song which was produced by Presley’s long term collaborator Steve Sholes, (1911-1968) who in total produced 15 of Elvis Presley’s UK Number 1 singles. ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ first appeared for Presley on his self titled debut Album, which was issued in the UK as ‘Elvis Presley Rock n’ Roll,’ in March 1956. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ gave Elvis Presley his fourth top 40 hit, when peaking at Number 20, while in the UK, it was his seventh top 40 entry, peaking at Number 9.

Legend has it, that it was fellow ‘Sun Records’ artist Johnny Cash (1932-2003) (see also best songs 857-428 and 199) who gave Carl Perkins the idea for ‘Blue Suede Shoes. Johnny Cash told Carl Perkins about an airman he had met while serving in the military in Germany, who had referred to his regulation shoes as ‘Blue suede shoes.’ Perkins thought no more of it until one night while on stage he noticed a couple dancing. Between songs he heard a stern voice say ‘Uh-uh, don’t step on my suede’s.’ Perkins noted that the boy was more interested in keeping his shoes in pristine condition, than the ‘pretty little thing’ he was dancing with.

‘You can knock me down, step in my face, slander my name all over the place, and do anything that you want to do, but uh uh honey lay off of my shoes.’