Search - Carl Perkins :: Blue Suede Shoes: The Very Best of Carl Perkins

Perky Perkins sides in fabulous fidelity

Lee Hartsfeld | Central Ohio, United States | 01/29/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Much better rockabilly than the comparatively refined stuff Elvis recorded for the same label. As a guitarist, Perkins' technique fell somewhere between Link Wray and Les Paul, with more Wray than Paul on these early tracks. But his stuff rocks a lot harder and truer than so much else that is labeled "rockabilly," which is no surprise, considering the fact that, by now, virtually every country record made between 1950 and 1955 has been stuck on a "rockabilly" comp at one time or another. Forget the bit about the Delmore Brothers being rockabilly, and let your ears behold the real thing, here. Tracks to focus on: "Matchbox" (yes, the old blues song), "All Mama's Children," "Lend Me Your Comb" (the same song the Beatles recorded for the BBC), "Dixie Fried," "Right String," and the fumble-fingered "That's Right" (Carl's answer to H. Wolf's "Forty-Four"?) Perkins' technique improved, but his art didn't. These are his greatest moments, and you'll be glad you listened to them. Buy this!!"

Go, Cat, Go

07/31/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Historically, Carl Perkins stands as a shining example, along with Gene Vincent, that one didn't necessarily need a string of hits in order to be inducted into the R&R Hall Of Fame. In fact, he had exactly five Billboard Top/Hot 100 hits, only one of which made the Top 40 {4 of these crossed over to the C&W charts to go along with 11 more that made those charts only].



After two failed singles [Movie Magg b/w Turn Around (the latter not in this set) for Sun's Flip subsidiary, and Gone, Gone, Gone/Let The Jukebox Keep On Playing on Sun], Blue Suede Shoes exploded onto the scene in the spring of 1956.



It crossed all genres by making it to # 1 Country [three weeks] and to # 2 on each of the Top 100 and R&B charts b/w Honey Don't. The only thing keeping it from the # 1 slot in both cases was the phenominal success of Little Richard's Long Tall Sally which stayed there for EIGHT solid weeks.



After that, however, it was tough sledding for Carl, a situation not helped by a serious car accident that kept him out of the limelight for several critical months even as Blue Suede Shoes was moving up. After Sure To Fall/Tennessee (neither in this compilation) failed to chart, Boppin' The Blues made it to # 7 Country/# 70 Top 100 b/w All Mama's Children, while Dixie Fried scored only on the Country charts, reaching # 10 in October 1956 b/w I'm Sorry, I'm Not Sorry [also excluded here].



In spring 1957 Your True Love also scored fairly high on the Country charts at # 13, but could only attain a # 67 Top 100 b/w Matchbox. And the next two, Glad All Over/Forever Yours and That's Right/Lend Me Your Comb, did nothing on either chart.



In 1958 Carl moved over to Columbia where, among a string of releases to 1962, only two made any noise at all on the all-important Top/Hot 100 charts: Pink Pedal Pushers [NOT the same version as included here] which reached # 17 Country/# 91 Top 100 in May b/w the great Jive After Five (which SHOULD have been a hit), and Pointed Toe Shoes [# 93 Hot 100 in June 1959 b/w Highway Of Love]. And that would be his last Pop hit, although he would go on to post nine more Country hits.



Two of those came in 1966/67 when he was with the Dollie label, with Country Boy's Dream hitting # 22 in late 1966/early 1967, and Shine, Shine, Shine going to # 40 in June 1967. By 1969 he was back with Columbia where he racked up four more Country hits (Restless - # 20 in March; Me Without You - # 65 in June 1971; Cotton Top - # 53 in December 1971; and High On Love - # 60 in June 1972). Late 1973 saw him with Mercury where he had a # 61 Country with a remake of his 1956 hit, re-tiled (Let's Get) Dixiefried.



His last two hits came in 1986 and 1987 with the auto-biographical The Birth Of Rock And Roll (# 31 Country) and Class Of '55 (# 83 Country), both of which deserved much better fates on the charts.



This collection presents what Collectables regards as the best of his Sun years, although I think they blew a 5-star rating by not including I'm Sorry, I'm Not Sorry along with the above-mentioned failed singles and, instead, inserted some obscure cuts that were not even released by Sun [Roll Over Bethoven, Put Your Cat Clothes On, You Can Do No Wrong, That Don't Move Me, Caldonia, Perkins Wiggle, and Y-O-U]. Tracks 10 and 16 WERE, however, part of his only Sun LP "Carl Perkins' Dance Album - Teenbeat."



The sound quality is good, and with the insert you get three pages of liner notes written by Mark Marymont and another nice shot of Carl. Recommended in spite of the omissions."

Put Your Cat Clothes On!

Ted Smith | Grand Rapids, Mi | 03/12/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the best choice for a domestic (U.S.) Single CD of Carl Perkins. It contains all but one of the tracks (Sure to Fall) on Rhino's 1990 release "Original Sun Greatest Hits" and adds 8 more tunes. I never noticed anything being off with the sound quality of this disc, maybe I've been too busy enjoying the great music! Get this and when you need more get Bear Family's box set!The Classic"