Composition history of "Blue Suede Shoes" (1956)
Содержание
Rockabilly is one of the most popular trends of the 1950s. The first major hit of this genre was the song about "Blue Suede Shoes", widely known as performed not so much by author Carl Perkins himself, but by Elvis Presley. Why "Blue Suede Shoes" in particular? Suffice it to mention that more than two thousand covers were subsequently recorded to it!
Creating a composition
The song was written by Carl Perkins. The song was first performed by him... But it can be reasonably stated that this composition had a co-writer... It was the legendary "Man in Black" - Johnny Cash - who gave his mate the idea of a future hit!
"When Johnny, Elvis and I were travelling around the Southern United States with the Louisiana Hayride tour, Cash loved to tell army stories! One time he told us about an airman who jokingly referred to his boots as "blue suede shoes"! And then it struck him: "Karl, why don't we write a song about those shoes?" But I said, "I don't know much about shoes... How can I write a song about that?""
But it was a matter of chance that decided everything... One fine December evening that year, drummer W.S. Holland performed with Carl. He later shared his memories:
"That night we were performing in a small club that had no stage! Carl and I were in the very corner. There wasn't much room, everyone was dancing right next to the amplifier... And then we hear some guy start shouting at his girlfriend: "How many times can you trample on my new shoes!" When Carl heard that, he remembered Johnny's idea..."
And here's the Blue Suede Shoes author himself telling us:
"That same night, after the show, I wrote the first words of the song... I jumped out of bed in the middle of the night as if scalded, just to keep the idea in my head... I wrote directly on a potato sack - we didn't need to keep writing paper at home! To my great surprise, "Blue Suede Shoes" turned out to be the easiest composition I've ever written! Although, frankly speaking, I knew nothing about those blue suede shoes, or about shoes in general..."
Release and Achievements
The record appeared on the shelves of music shops in January 1956, just after New Year's Eve. At first, radio stations played "Honey Don't" on the back of the album... But the success of "Blue Suede Shoes" quickly eclipsed this song... In just a few months, the single sold millions of copies worldwide and entered 3 top charts: country, R&B and pop!
Carl Perkins intended to perform his hit song on the Perry Como Show, but the unexpected happened... On the way he was involved in a car crash. The musician's brother was killed. Carl would later say:
"Eighty-five miles separated me from the title of first rockabilly performer on national television..."
The musician couldn't get over the incident for a long time... Afterwards - Carl Perkins never recovered: neither emotionally nor career-wise... However, the composition about "Blue Suede Shoes" was destined to become a smash hit in the history of rock'n'roll.
Elvis Presley's version
"Blue Suede Shoes" is among the frequently recorded songs, so there's no point in listing all the people who gave it a new sound... But it's definitely worth mentioning one of the most popular covers performed by Elvis Presley.
Some critics consider Presley's version much stronger and more successful than the original. Knowing Carl from their time working together on Sun Records, Elvis held back the release of the single until the last minute... However, his label insisted otherwise... Elvis himself wanted Carl's record to have time to develop....
Elvis' guitarist, Scotty Moore, later claimed that Presley recorded the song in order to support Perkins after the accident happened....
"Elvis didn't have a thought to capitalise on Perkins. He did it as a tribute record... Of course, Carl was very pleased to have that kind of support..."
The composition was the first on Elvis Presley's debut album! It was later released as a single, which modestly limited itself to number 20 on the top chart.
