Carl Perkins, born in Tipton, Tennessee,
in 1932, is one of the fathers of rock and roll music. Perkins started his
career playing country music and then became a rockabilly performer when that style
gained prominence on the strength of Elvis Presley’s first recordings with Sun
Records. Perkins also recorded for Sun Records with Presley, Johnny Cash and
Jerry Lee Lewis as label mates.
Perkins recorded his first single in 1955,
and in 1956, he recorded his classics, “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Honey Don’t.”
The former tune would become a rock standard and be recorded by a plethora of
artists including Elvis Presley. The latter song would be covered by The
Beatles in the early Sixties. By the Sixties, Perkins had returned to country
music.
Among Perkin’s classics recordings are the
following albums and compilations: “Dance Album of Carl Perkins” (1958), “Whole
Lotta Shakin’,” (1958), “Original Golden Hits” (1970), and “Original Sun
Greatest Hits” (1986).
Perkins, one of the true gentlemen of rock
and roll and country music, died in 1998.
Lewis’s musical journey started in his
hometown of Ferriday, Louisiana, where he was born on September
29, 1935. Lewis was a cousin of television evangelist, Jimmy Swaggart and country
singer Mickey Gilley. Lewis studied the piano from the age of ten, and his
mother enrolled him in a bible college in Texas.
According to a famous story, Lewis was thrown out of the school on his first
day for performing a raucous version of “My God Is Real”. It is stories such as
this one and Lewis’s fervent performances that earned him the moniker, “The
Killer.”
At 21, Lewis auditioned for Sun Records, and Sam Phillips signed him as soon as
he heard the tape of the audition. His first single, “Crazy Arms,” was a minor
hit, and. Phillips believed that Lewis could become another Elvis Presley.
Accordingly, Phillips poured out money for the promotion of Lewis’s follow-up,
“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.”
The record was banned on many radio stations across America, but it went to be a huge
hit on the country, R&B and pop charts. His next single, “Great Balls of
Fire,” became his trademark song, and another release, “Breathless,” made for
three huge Lewis hits in a row. In the meantime, Lewis was also gaining a
reputation as a live performer unequalled in intensity.
Lewis had secretly married his 13-year-old cousin, Myra Gale Brown, the
daughter of his bass player and uncle, J.W. Brown. While on a trip to England, the British press found out about the
marriage and ripped him to shreads, causing Lewis to retreat to the U.S. His career
went into rapid decline as a result. Smash Records signed Lewis, and he began
recording country music in his own style, and due to the label’s bargaining
with country music disc jockeys, Lewis became a star again.
After overcoming a series of personal problems with drugs and alcohol and a
divorce from Myra Gale, Lewis became one of the first inductees to the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame, in 1986. In 1989, Lewis was the subject of the film, “Great
Balls of Fire,” which told his life story. Lewis re-recorded all of his old
hits for the film, and has continued to record and play live since.
Several fine compilations of Lewis’ early
hits are available, including the three-volume, “Original Golden Hits” (1969)
and “Original Sun Greatest Hits” (1983).
Of all
the Chicago Bluesman who recorded for Chess Records in the Fifties and Sixties,
Howlin’ Wolf may have produced the most affecting music. Howlin Wolf was a 300-pound
powerhouse of a man who was known to wield his size and mean streak when he deemed
it necessary. This intimidating image coupled with a ferocious, otherworldly
voice is what earned him the name, “Howlin’ Wolf.”
He was
born Chester Arthur Burnett in West Point, Mississippi, in 1910. He was born as
one of the poorest of the Southern poor, son of a Mississippi sharecropper, who
in his early adult life seemed destined for a life of sharecropping himself. In
1930, Burnett met the Mississippi Delta blues singer Charley Patton, and Patton
instructed Burnett on guitar for a time. In addition to Patton, Burnett admired
and drew influence from Jimmie Rodgers, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Ma Rainey,
Lonnie Johnson, and Blind Blake. What would become Howlin’ Wolf’s famous howl,
started as the singer’s attempt to replicate the yodeling of country singer,
Rodgers.
During
the Thirties, Burnett traveled through The South often in the company of other
blues singers. When he was 30-years-old in 1940, he was drafted into the US
Army. He stayed in the army for three years before being discharged in 1943,
without having seen action. After his discharge, he returned home for a time to
help with farming. He formed a band with guitarists Willie Johnson and Matt
“Guitar” Murphy and began performing on the West Memphis, Arkansas, radio
station, KWEM. Burnett’s performances on the station brought him to the attention
of Sam Phillips of The Memphis Recording Service (later called Sun Records),
the same man who would discover Elvis Presley years later.
In 1951,
Burnett, now dubbed, “Howlin’ Wolf,” recorded the singles, “Moanin after
Midnight” and “How Many More Years” for Chess records, and he relocated to
Chicago. Wolf convinced the brilliant blues guitarist, Hubert Sumlin, to join
his band in Chicago, and with Sumlin on board, Wolf would enter his classic
period with terrific singles such as “Smokestack Lightning,” “Little Red
Rooster,” “Wang Dang Doodle,” “300 Pounds of Joy,” and “Killing Floor.”
In 1962,
Howlin’ Wolf recorded his famous self-titled, “rocking chair” album, “Howlin’
Wolf,” a seminal and brilliant recording of Chicago blues. The album was
recorded for Chess and included his tight band led by guitarist Sumlin.
Other
brilliant Howlin’ Wolf albums include “The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions” (1971)
and “Ridin’ in the Moonlight” (1982), and the compilations “Moanin’ in the
Moonlight” (1959), “The Real Folk Blues” (1965), “Chester Burnett AKA Howlin’
Wolf’” (1972), “Change My Way” (1975), “His Greatest Sides Vol. 1” (1984), “The
Chess Box” (1991), “His Best” (1997), and “The Geniune Article” (1997).
Roy Orbison was
one of the early greats of rock and roll music who is now best remembered for
his hit song, “Pretty Woman.” In the Fifties and early Sixties, however,
Orbison had a slew of hits and was one of the most successful of the early
rockers.
Orbison was born
in Vernon, Texas, in 1936. By the late Fifties, Orbison had become a member of
Sun Records’ legendary roster of musicians which included Jerry Lee Lewis,
Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins. Sun Records had just recently lost Elvis Presley.
Like Cash and Perkins, Orbison was a rockabilly performer in his earliest
incarnation, recording the rockabilly classics, “Ooby Dooby,” “Trying to Get to
You,” and “Go! Go! Go!”
By the Sixties,
Orbison was recording for Monument and added pop ballads to his repertoire with
the hits, “Only the Lonely,” “Running Scared,” and “Crying.” In 1964, Orbison
would record his biggest hit, “Pretty Woman.”
Orbison would
continue to record singles for the remainder of the Sixties and Seventies, but
would not score another major hit. Orbison would become a member of The
Traveling Willburys in the early Eighties along with Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan,
George Harrison and Tom Petty.
Orbison’s best
albums include, “Crying” (1962), “In Dreams” (1963), “Orbisongs” (1965), “Cry
Softly Lonely One” (1967), “Roy Orbison’s Many Moods” (1969), and “Mystery
Girl” (1989).
