In its mid-‘50s heyday, Sun Records launched the careers of some high-wattage talents, among them Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Roy Orbison. Though not the first name that comes to mind when you think of the revolutionary Memphis label, Carl Perkins got his start there, too. As gifted as those bigger stars in his own unassuming way, the Tennessee farm boy wrote and performed the 1956 smash “Blue Suede Shoes,” the quintessential rockabilly song, subsequently covered by Elvis and a host of other artists, including Jimi Hendrix. The Beatles also paid homage to this rock ’n’ roll pioneer in the ‘60s, cutting three of his tunes (“Honey Don’t,” “Matchbox,” and “Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby”).
Perkins continued to write and record through the decades, collaborating with everyone from Bob Dylan to Dolly Parton to Paul McCartney. In 1990 he teamed up with producer Bill Lloyd (of Foster and Lloyd repute) for sessions that went unreleased at the time but are now available as Some Things Never Change, and on the rebooted Sun label no less.
