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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 7, 2023 13:16:20 GMT
In the mid/late 1970s, The Midnight Special was one of the most enjoyable and influential shows on TV. Every Friday night - if you could stay up that late - you could discover, not just the most popular artists of the day, but some upcoming new bands, too. Then, on Saturday I would head to the local record store and check out some of the acts I saw the night before. It's no coincidence that my album collection started to grow.
Well, The Midnight Special has a YouTube channel, and it features quite a few performers from the show. Needless to say, it brings back a lot of great memories. Rock, roll & remember indeed!
Imagine being a 16 year-old high schooler, just getting seriously into rock & roll, and turning on the TV on a Friday night and being greeted by this:
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 7, 2023 14:44:53 GMT
For my generation, there was nothing really similar. We had MTV, of course, but the fact that it was spread out across 24 hours a day, seven days a week, meant that it wasn't must-see viewing at any particular time unless you were really into one of its genre- or personality-specific shows.
Maybe The Headbanger's Ball, which I think was Friday or Saturday nights at 10 or 11 CT, was the closest thing for me in my teens. But that was pretty narrow in its focus to the hard rock and heavy metal of the day. Obviously, that was a big part of popular music at the time (with bands like Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Poison, Motley Crue, Warrant, Winger, Joan Jett, Megadeth, Cinderella, Anthrax, Ratt, Lita Ford, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, and many others having big hits in those years), but it was still a slice of the overall scene that also included pop, R&B, rap, etc.
And regardless, it was mostly just another videos show, albeit with interviews and occasional live snippets. So if you missed it, you could still see that same content on any random Tuesday afternoon.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 5, 2023 1:15:46 GMT
Carl Lee Perkins was born on April 9, 1932. The son of poor sharecroppers, Carl worked long hours in the cotton fields with his family. On Saturday nights, Carl would listen to the Grand Ole Opry on his father's radio, and eventually asked his parents to buy him a guitar. They bought Carl a neighbor's old guitar, and the strings were so bad that, to avoid cutting his fingers, he would slide from note to note, developing his own technique of bending notes. In January 1947, Carl's family moved to Tennessee (70 miles from Memphis) and the fourteen year-old Carl, now self-taught on the guitar, wrote his first song called "Let Me Take You To The Movie, Magg".
In late 1946, Carl and his brother, Jay, began performing and appearing on radio programs. Carl kept his "day jobs" including picking cotton, working in factories, and serving as a pan greaser in a bakery. Carl was now performing six nights a week and recruited drummer, W.S. Holland, to the band. In 1954, a fan heard Carl performing "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" on the radio and traveled from Memphis to see Carl perform live. That fan was Elvis Presley. Also in 1954, Sam Phillips signed Carl to Sun Records and told him, "You're my rockabilly cat now." Carl began recording songs including "Gone Gone Gone", and a song called "Blue Suede Shoes". Released on January 1, 1956, "Blue Suede Shoes" reached #1 on Billboard's Country Music chart, #3 on the Rhythm And Blues chart, and #2 on the Best Sellers Popular Music chart. "Blue Suede Shoes" with its B-side, "Honey Don't", also went to #10 on the British charts.
On March 21, 1956, while traveling after a show from Virginia to New York, the Perkins Brothers Band was involved in a serious automobile accident with a pickup truck. Carl sustained three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a broken collarbone, a severe concussion, and lacerations all over his body. Carl's brother, Jay, suffered a fractured neck and internal injuries. Jay developed a malignant brain tumor and died in 1958. The driver of the pickup truck died as a result of the accident. On April 3, 1956, from his hospital bed, Carl watched Elvis Presley perform his rendition of "Blue Suede Shoes" on the Milton Berle TV show.
Later in 1956, Carl resumed performing and recording. Sun Records released several singles including "Boppin' The Blues", "Dixie Fried", "Matchbox", and "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby". In 1958, Carl left Sun Records and moved to Columbia Records. He continued to record and tour with such artists as Chuck Berry. While on tour with Chuck in 1964 in England, Carl Perkins met The Beatles at a party where he shared stories, played guitar, and sang songs with them. The Beatles were big fans and went on to record a few Carl Perkins' songs. Carl then spent a decade from 1968-1978 as part of Johnny Cash's touring revue. Carl wrote "Daddy Sang Bass" for Johnny Cash which was a huge hit (#1 for six weeks on the Country Music chart) and Carl also played lead guitar on Cash's "A Boy Named Sue". Carl also wrote "Champaign Illinois" with Bob Dylan in 1969 and appeared on Dylan's Nashville Skyline album.
Carl Perkins' later years were spent with more recording and touring. He recorded with Paul McCartney (on "Get It" from Tug Of War), two of The Stray Cats, The Judds, and Dolly Parton. Carl's last album, Go Cat Go!, was released in 1996 and featured duets with Bono, Tom Petty, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Johnny Cash, John Fogerty, and Paul Simon. Carl Perkins died on January 19. 1998 at the age of 65 after suffering a series of strokes. George Harrison performed an acoustic version of "Your True Love" at the funeral. Carl was survived by his wife, a daughter, and three sons.
Carl Perkins' legacy and influence is incalculable. To many musicians and fans, Carl's songs and sound personified the Rockabilly Era. He was one of the true pioneers of rock and roll. Carl influenced a variety of artists including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton. Not bad company, Carl, not bad at all. Carl Perkins was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall Of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame, and he received a Grammy Hall Of Fame award. In addition to that, Carl Perkins performed at numerous charity events through the years, and was a strong advocate for the prevention of child abuse, helping to raise millions of dollars for that cause. Carl Perkins was a great man and loved by all who knew him.
Below are a few select videos of Carl Perkins performing his best-known songs with a little help from his friends. This is some of the greatest rock and roll performed by some of the greatest musicians in the history of rock and roll. It doesn't get much better than this. Rock, roll, and remember!
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Post by lonelysummer on Oct 5, 2023 1:50:14 GMT
I feel that Carl Perkins is very underrated these days. Buddy Holly is always mentioned and praised, but Perkins is like an afterthought. Well, he was HUGE to the Beatles, Rick Nelson, and many others. He's the King of Rockabilly.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 5, 2023 2:02:55 GMT
I feel that Carl Perkins is very underrated these days. Buddy Holly is always mentioned and praised, but Perkins is like an afterthought. Well, he was HUGE to the Beatles, Rick Nelson, and many others. He's the King of Rockabilly. I totally agree. Only recently in researching Carl Perkins did I realize that he was one of the first artists to write, record, and perform rock and roll (or rockabilly; I don't care what you call it). Most came after him. And when you look at who he influenced - Elvis, The Beatles, Johnny Cash, and some of the great rock guitarists of the 1960s - it simply doesn't get any bigger than that.
Also, in the articles and interviews I read, it was always mentioned what a truly great guy Carl Perkins was. He was a very humble man, always supportive of other musicians, and he loved his audiences. If you watch the above videos, you can see how moved he was by the reception and admiration he got, not just by the audience, but by the musicians on stage.
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Post by lonelysummer on Oct 6, 2023 0:38:20 GMT
I feel that Carl Perkins is very underrated these days. Buddy Holly is always mentioned and praised, but Perkins is like an afterthought. Well, he was HUGE to the Beatles, Rick Nelson, and many others. He's the King of Rockabilly. I totally agree. Only recently in researching Carl Perkins did I realize that he was one of the first artists to write, record, and perform rock and roll (or rockabilly; I don't care what you call it). Most came after him. And when you look at who he influenced - Elvis, The Beatles, Johnny Cash, and some of the great rock guitarists of the 1960s - it simply doesn't get any bigger than that.
Also, in the articles and interviews I read, it was always mentioned what a truly great guy Carl Perkins was. He was a very humble man, always supportive of other musicians, and he loved his audiences. If you watch the above videos, you can see how moved he was by the reception and admiration he got, not just by the audience, but by the musicians on stage.
Yes, everybody that met Carl loved him. Carl and Cash were close friends; they were together when Cash was taking pills like they were candy, and Carl was drowning in the bottle. They helped each other get sober; John often said Carl deserved more recognition than he got. When Rick Nelson finally met him at the Sun reunion in 1985, he walked up to Carl and said "it's an honor to meet you, I've been a fan of yours for a long time", and Carl said "I've been a fan of yours, too". They talked about doing some shows together in 1986, but fate prevented that from happening. If you wanted to narrow down George Harrison's musical idols to just three people, I would say it's Carl Perkins, Bob Dylan, and Ravi Shankar. All of the Beatles just loved him. And look at the roster on Carl's final album, "Go Cat Go" - John Fogerty, Johnny Cash, Paul Simon, Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, Bono, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Ringo Starr...that's a hall of fame lineup!
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 1, 2023 16:53:13 GMT
Rock, Roll & Remember - Special Christmas Edition
It was 50 years ago, Christmas of 1973, when the music world was treated to three holiday songs from three unlikely sources - Slade, Wizzard, and Elton John. Oh, when it came to partying, Noddy Holder, Roy Wood, and Elton John could celebrate with the best of 'em. I guess the surprise was that they chose Christmas to target, and boy, did they hit the mark! All three songs were catchy, hook-filled, and fun - and the AM radio airways welcomed them with open arms. Who would've thought that 50 years later, all three songs would attain holiday classic status. So, step into Christmas. Yes, I wish it could be Christmas everyday. It's Chrissssttttmassss!
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