Over the relative short span of Rock and Roll history some people do not gain as much credit as they should. Elvis Presley, Bill Halley and the Comets, and the Beatles were all great Rock and Roll legends who got the recognition they deserved, but there are some artists that stand out to be just as influential that maybe did not get they eye of the public as easy as those guys. Carl Perkins is one musician that had a few hits but never really gained the fame and fortune that he deserved. The life that Carl Perkins lived is one filled with many important people, events, and songs. From the very beginning he has had a major influence on the history of Rock and Roll.
Carl Lee Perkins was born on April 9, 1932 in the small town of Ridgely, Tennessee (Larkin 4196). He grew up in a farming community so he lived the stressful life of a farmer early on in his life. When he was very young, around the age of five, he got his first real guitar. While on the farm there was a black migrant farmer by the name of Uncle John that taught him how to play rhythm and blues (Busnar 67). In 1953 Carl, his brother Jay and his other brother Clayton all formed a band that played hillbilly songs. Carl made the band special though, because he was knowledgeable of the African American rhythm and blues techniques. After hearing an Elvis Presley recording on the radio he decided he wanted to have a musical career. He then left to audition for Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee. Sam Phillips was skeptical at first but signed him because he felt Carl had. .
After Sam Phillips sold off Elvis's contract to RCA, he began to push Carl and support him more and more. In 1955 Perkins recorded two country songs that did not sell to well they were "Movie Magg" and "Turn Around". Later that year Perkins recorded the song that he will always be remembered for, "Don't Step on My Blue Suede Shoes". It entered the billboard charts in 1956 as number three.
