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Title details for Carl Perkins by Jeff Apter - Available

Carl Perkins

The King of Rockabilly

by Jeff Apter
ebook
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The definitive and fascinating biography of the musical trailblazer who was the influence behind countless legendary hits, a rock and roll legend in his own right, and the original rockabilly cat—Carl Perkins.

He was the King of Rockabilly, and one of rock and roll's true pioneers. A groundbreaking guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Carl Perkins inspired countless musicians in country, rock, and pop music. As Paul McCartney said, "If there were no Carl Perkins, there would be no Beatles." One Beatle was such a fan that he gave himself the stage name Carl Harrison. Now acclaimed music writer Jeff Apter recounts Carl's remarkable life story—the triumphs, tragedies, and career highlights that include some of the most pivotal moments in music history.

Born in Tennessee to poor sharecroppers, Carl 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 his 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.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    November 26, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780806543543

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780806543543
      • File size: 1734 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 2, 2024
      Biographer Apter (Don’t Dream It’s Over) delivers a ho-hum biography of Carl Perkins (1932–1998), the singer and guitarist who shaped the rockabilly genre. Honing his skills in Tennessee honky-tonks in the 1940s and early ’50s, Perkins developed a “hard and fast” musical style designed to hold an audience’s attention, laying the foundation for the energetic rockabilly style for which he became known. He made his mark with 1956’s “Don’t Step on My Blue Suede Shoes,” which shot up the pop, country, and R&B charts. Yet just as his star began to rise, a car crash halted his momentum, ushering in a yearslong run of bad luck on which Apter lingers: a new record label stymied Perkins’s freewheeling recording style, and he was overshadowed by flashier, rockabilly-adjacent stars like Elvis Presley (Apter paints a particularly pitiful scene of a hospitalized Perkins watching Elvis perform “Blue Suede Shoes” on TV). Perkins later revived his career with appearances on The Johnny Cash Show and other programs, though he never achieved the commercial success of some of his peers. While Perkins’s contributions to rock are undeniable, Apter’s portrait of a genial and undervalued artist feels two-dimensional, sanitizing less-savory aspects of his life, including a mid-career bout with alcoholism. This one’s best suited to ardent rockabilly fans.

    • Library Journal

      October 25, 2024

      Australian music and popular culture writer Apter (Don't Dream It's Over: The Remarkable Life of Neil Finn) adds to his shelf of music biographies with this affectionate look into the life of rockabilly legend Carl Perkins (1932-98). Apter adopts a fairly strict chronology, from Perkins's childhood days picking cotton in rural Tennessee through his signing with Sun Records, his Million Dollar Quartet sessions, and his rise to international fame while rubbing shoulders and singing or playing guitar with a veritable who's-who of the popular music world. From Johnny Cash to the Beatles, Perkins counted almost all the greats as friends. But he may be best remembered for writing songs covered by others, such as Elvis Presley's rendition of "Blue Suede Shoes." Poignant episodes dealing with Perkins's overcoming alcohol-use disorder and family tragedies are juxtaposed with joyful tours in Britain and beyond. Apter also details Perkins's social justice efforts, including establishing a child-abuse prevention center in Jackson, TN. An extensive bibliography and helpful epilogue are included, bringing readers up to date on developments since Perkins's death. VERDICT Other than Perkins's own 1996 autobiography, little has been published about him, and Apter admirably fills the gap with this detailed and emotionally charged biography.--Barry Zaslow

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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