If the Shoe Fits.
“Life ain’t nothing but a blending up of all the ups and downs/ Dammit Elvis, don’t you know.”
Mike Cooley’s opening line on the 2004 track ‘Carl Perkins’ Cadillac’. A double sovereign name check. There are definitely many big ups and downs and big names described within the pages of Jeff Apter’s biography on “Carl Perkins The King of Rockabilly”. None bigger than Elvis.
Australian Apter has already written a fair few biographies, about Marc Hunter, The Bee Gees, Bon Scott, Jeff Buckley, and Keith Urban. Roddy Bottum, The Faith No More keyboard player, published his autobiography back in July, telling the Guardian that he was determined not to write a rock memoir, describing them as “the most predictable, name-droppy, sub-literature experiences… with pictures in the middle”. He succeeded. Apter succeeds with meticulous research, a genuine curiosity about the man and the continuous peppering of brilliant facts and anecdotes. All expertly written… with some pictures in the middle! Apter certainly captures the beginnings of a unique American genre as well as Perkins’ personality. There was a whole lot more to the man than his blue suede shoes.
Without giving too much away. Within the chapters, there’s Sam Philips, the story about that Cadillac, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and the Beatles. Perkins was a virtuoso guitarist, playing a Gibson Les Paul or a Fender Stratocaster. Not as beautiful as Elvis, he liked the country songs of the time, but just felt them in another gear. The beginnings of Rockabilly. There’s the origins of the song ‘Blue Suede Shoes’, Sun Records’ first million-selling single. What was the million-dollar quartet at Sun? The long-lasting friendship with George Harrison is explained. Guitarist Harrison’s admiration for a certain American and his music was so strong he was using the stage name Carl Harrison. Paul McCartney describing Harrison’s wild dark quiff of hair in May 1960 to be “like a fucking turban”. The first record that fellow Silver Beetle John Lennon bought with his own money, when he was sixteen, was “Blue Suede Shoes”. The Beatles covered Perkins’ songs such as ‘Honey, Don’t’ and ‘Matchbox’. Perkins thought the Beatles’ renditions of his songs as “okay, but the royalty checks were nicer”. There’s a great titbit about British promoter Don Arden. Perkins performed with Johnny Cash for many years. Recognition, awards and philanthropy played out in Perkins’ later years. Thankful not to have struggled like Elvis.
Bizarrely, the final chapters’ chronology gets less engaging as Perkins’ reputation, influence, and standing regenerates within the musical establishment and among other musicians. The first two-thirds of the book is a great read, regardless of age and a fantastic soundtrack to explore. Those lyrics from Mike Cooley accurately describe the quite remarkable, rock and roll life of a legendary figure. And Apter’s book has validated Carl Perkins’ moniker as “the original king”.
