Carl Perkins

Musician. Born Carl Lee Perkins in Tiptonville, Tennessee, he was a rockabilly guitarist, singer, songwriter and a rock music pioneer. He began playing guitar at age 7 and at age 13, he won at a talent show with a song he had written titled “Movie Magg”. In the early 1950s, he formed a group called the Perkins Brothers which perform at a local honky tonks and appeared on WDXT radio in Jackson, Tennessee. He was touring with Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, when he was signed by Sam Phillips to Sun Records and released the hit single “Blue Suede Shoes” in 1956. Through the late 1950s and into the 1960s, he continued to record songs to include “Honey Don’t”, “Match Box”, “Boppin’ the Blues” and “Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby”. A major influence, his songs have been covered by artist Elvis Presley, Rick Nelson, John Fogerty, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, The Beatles and many more. Into the 1970s, he toured in rock shows across America, appeared at the Wembley Festival in England and appeared in the film “Into the Night” (1985). In 1986, he won the Grammy Hall of Fame Award for “Blue Suede Shoes”, was inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He died in Jackson, Tennessee and George Harrison paid musical tribute to Perkins singing Perkins’ early tune “Your True Love” at his funeral.