Editing Carl Perkins (section)

==Biography==
===Early life===
Carl Lee Perkins was born on April 9, 1932, in [[Tiptonville, Tennessee]], the son of poor [[sharecropper]]s Louise and Buck Perkins (misspelled on his birth certificate as "Perkings").<ref name="autogenerated2">[https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/carlperkins/biography] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100226181247/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/carlperkins/biography|date=February 26, 2010}}</ref> He had two brothers, Jay and Clayton.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 8–9.]]</ref> From the age of six, he worked long hours in the cotton fields with his family whether school was in session or not. The boys grew up hearing [[Southern gospel]] music sung by white friends in church and by black field workers and sharecroppers in the cotton fields.<ref name=pc8>{{Pop Chronicles|8|3}}</ref> On Saturday nights Perkins would listen to the ''[[Grand Ole Opry]]'', broadcast from [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]] on his father's radio.

[[Roy Acuff]]'s broadcasts from the Opry inspired Perkins to ask his parents for a guitar.<ref>[[#legends|Naylor.]]</ref> Since they could not afford to buy one, his father made one from a [[cigar box guitar|cigar box]] and a broomstick. Eventually, a neighbor sold his father a worn-out [[Gene Autry]] guitar. Perkins could not afford new strings, and when they broke, he had to retie them. The knots cut his fingers when he would slide to another note, so he began bending the notes, stumbling onto a type of [[blue note]].<ref name="naylor118" /><ref name=":0">[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 13–14.]]</ref>

Perkins taught himself parts of Acuff's [[The Great Speckled Bird (song)|Great Speckled Bird]] and [[The Wabash Cannonball]] having heard them played on the ''Opry''. He also has cited [[Bill Monroe]]'s fast playing and vocals as an early influence.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 11–12.]]</ref> Perkins also learned from John Westbrook, an African-American field worker in his sixties who played blues and gospel music on an old acoustic guitar. Westbrook advised Perkins to "Get down close to it. You can feel it travel down the strangs, come through your head and down to your soul where you live. You can feel it. Let it vib-a-rate."<ref name="naylor118" /><ref name=":0" />

In January 1947, the Perkins family moved from [[Lake County, Tennessee]], to [[Madison County, Tennessee|Madison County]], 70 miles from [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], the largest city in West Tennessee and a center of a great variety of music played by both black and white artists.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 30, 55.]]</ref> At age fourteen, Perkins wrote a country song called Let Me Take You to the Movie, Magg. [[Sam Phillips]] was later persuaded by the quality of that song to sign Perkins to his [[Sun Records]] label.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 30, 68.]]</ref>

===Beginnings as a performer===
Perkins and his brother Jay had their first paying job (in tips) as entertainers during late 1946 at the Cotton Boll tavern on Highway 45, twelve miles south of Jackson, Tennessee, starting on Wednesday nights. Perkins was 14 years old. One of the songs they played was an up-tempo country blues shuffle version of [[Bill Monroe]]'s [[Blue Moon of Kentucky]]. Free drinks were one of the perks of playing in a tavern, and Perkins drank four beers that first night. Within a month, Carl and Jay began playing Friday and Saturday nights at the Sand Ditch tavern near Jackson's western border. Both places were the scene of occasional fights and both of the Perkins brothers gained a reputation as fighters.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 36–41.]]</ref>

During the next couple of years, as they became better known, the Perkins brothers began playing other taverns around Bemis and Jackson, including El Rancho, the Roadside Inn, and the Hilltop. Carl persuaded his brother Clayton to join them and play the [[upright bass]], to complete the sound of the band.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, p. 48.]]</ref>

Perkins began performing regularly on [[WTJF (AM)|WTJS]] in Jackson during the late 1940s as a sometime member of the [[Tennessee Ramblers (Tennessee band)|Tennessee Ramblers]]. He appeared on the radio program ''Hayloft Frolic'' on which he performed two songs. One was "Talking Blues" as done by Robert Lunn on the ''Grand Ole Opry''. Perkins and his brothers began appearing on ''The Early Morning Farm and Home Hour''. Positive listener response earned them a 15-minute segment sponsored by Mother's Best Flour. By the end of the 1940s, the Perkins Brothers were the best known band in the Jackson area.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 48–49.]]</ref> Perkins had day jobs during most of these early years including picking cotton, working at various factories and plants and as a pan greaser for the Colonial Baking Company.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 32, 70–71.]]</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://rockabillytennessee.com/legend_carl_perkins.htm |title=The Legend Carl Perkins |publisher=Rockabillytennessee.com |date=1998-01-19 |access-date=2011-11-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117221958/http://www.rockabillytennessee.com/legend_carl_perkins.htm |archive-date=November 17, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> His brothers had similar pick up jobs.

In January 1953, Perkins married Valda Crider, whom he had known for a number of years. When his job at the bakery was reduced to part-time, Valda, who had her own job, encouraged Perkins to begin working the taverns full-time. He began playing six nights a week. Later the same year, he added [[W. S. Holland|W.S. "Fluke" Holland]] to the band as a drummer. Holland had no previous experience as a musician but had a good sense of rhythm.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 70–71.]]</ref>

[[Malcolm Yelvington]], who remembered the Perkins Brothers when they played in [[Covington, Tennessee]] in 1953, noted that Carl had an unusual blues-like style all his own.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, p. 77.]]</ref> By 1955, Perkins had made tapes of his material on a borrowed tape recorder and sent them to record companies such as Columbia and RCA. But he used addresses such as Columbia Records, New York City and seemed dismayed at the lack of response. "I had sent tapes to RCA and [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] and had never heard a thing from 'em."<ref name="Top Beats Bottom"/>

In July 1954, Perkins and his wife heard a new release of "[[Blue Moon of Kentucky]]" by [[Elvis Presley]], [[Scotty Moore]] and [[Bill Black]] on the radio.<ref>[http://rcs-discography.com/rcs/pics/d03/3318.htm]{{dead link|date=November 2011}}</ref> As the song faded out, Perkins said, "There's a man in Memphis who understands what we're doing. I need to go see him."<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 79–90.]]</ref> According to another telling of the story, it was Valda who said that he should go to Memphis.<ref>''Rockabilly Legends''. Naler. p. 121.</ref> Later, Presley told Perkins he had traveled to Jackson and had seen Perkins and his group playing at the El Rancho.<ref name="Top Beats Bottom">"The Top Beats the Bottom: Carl Perkins and his Music". ''The Atlantic''. December 1970. p. 100.</ref>

Years later, the rockabilly singer [[Gene Vincent]] told an interviewer that, rather than Elvis's version of "Blue Moon of Kentucky" being a "new sound", "a lot of people were doing it before that, especially Carl Perkins."<ref>VanHecke, Susan (2000). ''Race with the Devil''. St. Martin's Press. p. 219. {{ISBN|0-312-26222-1}}.</ref>

=== Sun Records ===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Carl perkins 1956.jpg|thumb|Perkins in 1956]] -->
Perkins successfully auditioned for [[Sam Phillips]] at [[Sun Records]] in early October 1954. "[[Movie Magg]]" and "Turn Around" were released on the Phillips-owned Flip label (151) on March 19, 1955.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rcs-discography.com/rcs/labels/f/f461.htm |title=Flip (Tenn.) (RCS Label Listing) |access-date=2014-05-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120713180341/http://rcs-discography.com/rcs/labels/f/f461.htm |archive-date=July 13, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> "Turn Around" became a regional success, and Perkins was booked to appear along with Elvis Presley at theaters in [[Marianna, Arkansas|Marianna]] and [[West Memphis, Arkansas]].<ref name="nytimesobit"/><ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 106–108.]]</ref> [[Johnny Cash]] and the [[Tennessee Two]] were the next Sun musicians to be added to the shows. During the summer of 1955 they had junkets to [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]] and [[Forrest City, Arkansas]], and to [[Corinth, Mississippi|Corinth]] and [[Tupelo, Mississippi]]. Again performing at El Rancho, the Perkins brothers were involved in an automobile accident in Woodside, Delaware. A friend who was driving was pinned by the steering wheel. Perkins  dragged him from the burning car. Clayton was thrown from the car but was not seriously injured.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 122–124.]]</ref>

Sun released another Perkins song, "Gone Gone Gone",<ref>[http://rcs-discography.com/rcs/pics/d03/3234.htm]{{dead link|date=November 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://rcs-discography.com/rcs/ss/03/ss3287.mp3 |format=MP3 |title=MP3 recording |publisher=Rcs-discography.com |access-date=2015-08-17}}</ref> in October 1955,<ref name="rcs-discography1">{{cite web |url=http://rcs-discography.com/rcs/artists/p/perk1000.htm |title=Perkins, Carl (RCS Artist Discography) |access-date=2014-05-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717234900/http://rcs-discography.com/rcs/artists/p/perk1000.htm |archive-date=July 17, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> which also became a regional success. It was a "bounce blues in flavorsome combined country and R&B idioms".<ref>''Billboard'', October 22, 1955. "Reviews of New C&W Records." p. 44.</ref> The A-side was the more traditional country song "[[Let the Jukebox Keep On Playing]]".<ref>[http://www.boija.com/skivor/sun_carl.htm The Carl Perkins Sun collection.]</ref>

Commenting on Perkins's playing, Sam Phillips has been quoted as saying

<blockquote>I knew that Carl could rock and in fact he told me right from the start that he had been playing that music before Elvis came out on record&nbsp;... I wanted to see whether this was someone who could revolutionize the country end of the business.<ref>[[Colin Escott|Escott, Colin]]; Hawkins, Martin. ''Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll''. Google eBook. Retrieved 10.11.2011.</ref></blockquote>

Also in the autumn of 1955, Perkins wrote "[[Blue Suede Shoes]]" <ref name=pc8/> inspired by seeing a dancer get angry with his date for scuffing up his shoes.<ref>Perkins, Carl; McGee, David (1996). ''Go, Cat, Go!'' Hyperion Press. p. 129. {{ISBN|0-7868-6073-1}}.</ref> Several weeks later, on December 19, 1955, Perkins and his band recorded the song during a session at Sun Studio in Memphis. Phillips suggested changes to the lyrics ("Go, cat, go"), and the band changed the end of the song to a "[[boogie-woogie|boogie]] [[vamp (music)|vamp]]".<ref name=miller>Miller, James (1999). ''Flowers in the Dustbin: The Rise of Rock and Roll, 1947–1977''. Simon & Schuster. pp. 124–25. {{ISBN|0-684-80873-0}}.</ref>

After Sun records headliner Presley left for [[RCA Records|RCA]] in November 1955, Phillips told Perkins, "You're my rockabilly cat now."<ref>[[#legends|Naylor, p. 135.]]</ref> Sun released "Blue Suede Shoes" on January 1, 1956 and it became a massive chart success. In the United States, it reached number one on [[Billboard magazine]]'s [[country music]] chart (the only number one success he would have) and number two on the Billboard Best Sellers popular music chart. On February 11, Presley performed it on CBS-TV's ''[[Stage Show]]''. On March 17, Perkins became the first country artist to reach number three on the [[rhythm and blues]] charts.<ref name=miller/><ref name="naylor137">[[#legends|Naylor, p. 137.]]</ref> That night, he performed the song on ABC-TV's [[Ozark Jubilee]] and Presley reprised his performance on Stage Show.

In the [[United Kingdom]], Perkins's song reached number 10 on the British charts. It was the first record by a Sun artist to sell a million copies.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Murrells|year=1978|title=The Book of Golden Discs|edition=2nd
|publisher=Barrie and Jenkins Ltd|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/84]|isbn=0-214-20512-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/84}}</ref> The Beatles covered the B side, [[Honey Don't]],<ref name=pc8/> [[Wanda Jackson]] and in the 1970s, [[T. Rex (band)|T. Rex]]. [[John Lennon]] originally sang the song when the Beatles performed it.  Later it was given to [[Ringo Starr]], one of his few leads during his time with the band. Lennon also performed the song on the ''Lost Lennon Tapes''.<ref name="naylor137"/>{{when|date=November 2022}}

===Road crash===
After playing a show in [[Norfolk, Virginia]], on March 21, 1956, the Perkins Brothers Band headed to [[New York City]] for a March 24 appearance on [[NBC|NBC-TV's]] ''[[The Perry Como Show|Perry Como Show]]''. Shortly before sunrise on March 22, on Route 13 between [[Dover, Delaware|Dover]] and [[Woodside, Delaware]], their vehicle hit the back of a pickup truck and went into a ditch containing about 12 inches of water. Holland had to pull Perkins, unconscious, from the water. Perkins had sustained three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a severe concussion, a broken collar bone, and lacerations all over his body. Perkins remained unconscious for an entire day. The driver of the pickup truck, Thomas Phillips, a 40-year-old farmer, died when he was thrown into the steering wheel.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 178, 180.]]</ref> Jay Perkins had a fractured neck and severe internal injuries. Later he developed a malignant brain tumor, and died in 1958.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Morrison|first=Craig|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qAHvUO5GknMC&q=%22jay+perkins%22+1958&pg=PA83|title=Go Cat Go!: Rockabilly Music and Its Makers|date=1999|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-06538-5|pages=83|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NNmFiUnSmUC&q=%22jay+perkins%22+1958|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|date=2011-05-27|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8|pages=1988|language=en}}</ref>

On March 23, Presley's band members [[Bill Black]], [[Scotty Moore]] and [[D.J. Fontana]] visited Perkins on their way to New York to appear with Presley. Fontana recalled Perkins saying, "You looked like a bunch of angels coming to see me."<ref>Burke, Ken; Griffin, Dan (2006). ''The Blue Moon Boys: The Story of Elvis Presley's Band''. Chicago Review Press. p. 88. {{ISBN|1-55652-614-8}}.</ref> Black told him, "Hey man, Elvis sends his love", and lit a cigarette for him, even though the patient in the next bed was in an [[oxygen tent]].<ref name=":1" /> Presley also telegraphed Perkins his well wishes.<ref name=":1">[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 182, 184.]]</ref>

"Blue Suede Shoes" had sold more than 500,000 copies by March 22, and Sam Philips had planned to celebrate by presenting Perkins with a [[Gold Record|gold record]] on ''The Perry Como Show''.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, p. 173.]]</ref> While Perkins recuperated from his injuries, "Blue Suede Shoes" reached number one on regional pop, R&B, and country charts. It also reached number two on the Billboard pop and country charts, below Elvis Presley's "[[Heartbreak Hotel]]". By mid-April, more than one million copies of "Blue Suede Shoes" had sold.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, p. 187.]]</ref> On April 3, while still recuperating in Jackson, Perkins watched Presley perform "Blue Suede Shoes" in his first appearance on ''[[The Milton Berle Show]]''. This was the third time he performed the song on national television.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, p. 184.]]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kki.pl/elvisal/elvis_tv.htm |title=Elvis's Television Appearances 1956–1973 |publisher=Kki.pl |access-date=2011-11-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718225753/http://www.kki.pl/elvisal/elvis_tv.htm |archive-date=July 18, 2011 |df=mdy }}</ref>

===Return to recording and touring===
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| filename     = Dixiefried.ogg
| title        = "Dixie Fried"
| description  = The rockabilly song "[[Dixie Fried]]" performed by Carl Perkins
| format       = [[ogg]]
}}
Perkins returned to live performances on April 21, 1956 beginning with an appearance in [[Beaumont, Texas]], with the Big D Jamboree tour.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, p. 191.]]</ref> Before he resumed touring, Sam Phillips arranged a recording session at Sun with Ed Cisco filling in for the still-recuperating Jay. By mid-April, they recorded [[Dixie Fried]], Put Your Cat Clothes On, Wrong Yo-Yo, You Can't Make Love to Somebody, [[Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby]], and That Don't Move Me.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, p. 198.]]</ref> On May 26, Perkins and his band (with Jay Perkins performing wearing a visible neck brace), finally appeared on ''The Perry Como Show'' to perform "Blue Suede Shoes".<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRNyvO4QouY Youtube: "Carl Perkins - Blue Suede Shoes - Perry Como Show -1956"]</ref>

[[File:Jamboree Carl Perkins.jpg|thumb|250 px|Perkins (front) performing "[[Glad All Over (Carl Perkins song)|Glad All Over]]" with (left to right) Clayton Perkins, W.S. "Fluke" Holland, and Jay Perkins in the 1957 movie ''[[Jamboree (1957 film)|Jamboree]]'']]

Beginning early that summer, Perkins was paid $1,000 to play two songs a night on the extended tour of Top Stars of '56. Other performers on the tour were [[Chuck Berry]] and [[Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers]]. When Perkins and the group entered the stage in [[Columbia, South Carolina]], he was shocked to see a teenager with a bleeding chin pressed against the stage by the massed crowd. During the first guitar intermission of Honey Don't, they were waved offstage and into a vacant dressing room behind a double line of police officers. Appalled by what he had seen and felt, Perkins left the tour.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 188, 210, 212.]]</ref> Appearing with [[Gene Vincent]] and [[Lillian Briggs]] in a rock 'n' roll show, he helped attract 39,872 people to the Reading Fair in Pennsylvania on a Tuesday night in late September. Soon after, a full grandstand and one thousand people stood in a heavy rain to hear Perkins and Briggs at the Brockton Fair in Massachusetts.<ref>''Billboard'', September 29, 1956. pages 73, 78.</ref>

Sun issued more Perkins songs in 1956: [[Boppin' the Blues]] / All Mama's Children (Sun 243), the B side co-written with Johnny Cash; and [[Dixie Fried]] / I'm Sorry, I'm Not Sorry (Sun 249). [[Matchbox (song)|Matchbox]] / [[Your True Love]] (Sun 261)<ref>[http://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/pics/d03/3238.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205180927/http://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/pics/d03/3238.htm|date=February 5, 2009}}</ref> came out in February, 1957.<ref name="rcs-discography1"/> [[Boppin' the Blues]] reached number 47 on the ''Cashbox'' pop singles chart, number nine on the ''Billboard'' country and western chart, and number 70 on the ''Billboard'' Top 100 chart.

Matchbox became a rockabilly classic. It was recorded with Perkins on lead guitar and vocals, and then Sun studio piano player, [[Jerry Lee Lewis]].  Later that day, there was an impromptu session with Perkins, Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis informally referred to as the [[Million Dollar Quartet]].<ref name=pc8/> Sun released the full recordings from this jam session, a selection of gospel, country, and R&B songs in 1990.<ref name="nytimesobit"/>

On February 2, 1957, Perkins again appeared on ''Ozark Jubilee'', singing Matchbox and Blue Suede Shoes. He also made at least two appearances on ''[[Town Hall Party]]'' in [[Compton, California]], in 1957,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hillbilly-music.com/programs/story/index.php?prog=170 |title=Town Hall Party |publisher=hillbilly-music.com |access-date=2011-11-25}}</ref> singing both songs. Those performances were included in the ''Western Ranch Dance Party'' series filmed and distributed by Screen Gems.

He released [[That's Right (Carl Perkins song)|That's Right]], co-written with Johnny Cash, backed with the ballad Forever Yours, as Sun single 274 in August, 1957. Neither side made it onto the charts.

The 1957 film ''[[Jamboree (1957 film)|Jamboree]]'' included Perkins performing [[Glad All Over (Carl Perkins song)|Glad All Over]]. The song was written by [[Aaron Schroeder]], [[Sid Tepper]], and [[Roy C. Bennett]],<ref>[http://rcs-discography.com/rcs/pics/d03/3240.htm]{{dead link|date=November 2011}}</ref> Sun released it in January, 1958.<ref>[http://rcs-discography.com/rcs/artists/p/perk1000.htm#l2w] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120717234900/http://rcs-discography.com/rcs/artists/p/perk1000.htm|date=July 17, 2012}}</ref>

===Life after Sun===
In 1958, Perkins moved to [[Columbia Records]] for which he recorded "Jive After Five", "Rockin' Record Hop", "Levi Jacket (And a Long Tail Shirt)", "Pop, Let Me Have the Car", "Pink Pedal Pushers", "Any Way the Wind Blows", "Hambone", "Pointed Toe Shoes", "Sister Twister", "L-O-V-E-V-I-L-L-E" and other songs.<ref name="rcs-discography1"/>

In 1959, he wrote the [[country & western]] song [[The Ballad of Boot Hill]] for Johnny Cash who recorded it on an [[extended play|EP]] for Columbia Records. That same year, Perkins was cast in a Filipino movie produced by People's Pictures, ''Hawaiian Boy'' in which he sang Blue Suede Shoes.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

He performed often at the [[Golden Nugget Las Vegas|Golden Nugget Casino]] in Las Vegas in 1962 and 1963.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} During this time, he toured nine Midwestern states and made a tour in Germany.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} In 1962, [[Patsy Cline]] recorded [[So Wrong]], which Carl wrote with [[Mel Tillis]] and [[Danny Dill]], and had a #14 hit on the Country charts.

In May 1964, Perkins toured [[UK|Britain]] with [[Chuck Berry]] with the popular, young rock group, [[The Animals]] backing them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chuckberry.de/tour1964.htm#Chuck%20Berry |title=Tour Information 1964 |publisher=Chuckberry.de |access-date=2011-11-25}}</ref> Perkins had been reluctant to undertake the tour, convinced that as forgotten as he had become in America, he would be even more obscure in the U.K. and did not want to be humiliated by drawing meager audiences. Berry assured him that they had remained much more popular in Britain since the 1950s than they had in the United States and that there would be large crowds of fans at every show. On the last night of the tour, Perkins attended a party where he sat on the floor sharing stories, playing guitar, and singing songs while surrounded by the [[The Beatles|Beatles]]. Ringo Starr asked if he could record Honey Don't. Perkins answered, "Man, go ahead, have at it."<ref>[[#legends|Naylor, p. 142.]]</ref> The Beatles later recorded covers of [[Matchbox (song)|Matchbox]], [[Honey Don't]] and [[Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby]] which Perkins adapted from a song originally recorded in 1936 by [[Rex Griffin]] which he added new music to. (A song with the same title was recorded by Roy Newman in 1938). Ringo sang the lead on the first two, [[George Harrison]] sang a rare lead on the third. The Beatles also recorded two versions of Glad All Over in 1963.<ref>{{cite web|author=The Beatles "Glad All Over" |url=http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/the_beatles/glad_all_over.html |title=The Beatles Lyrics - Glad All Over |publisher=Oldielyrics.com |access-date=2011-11-25}}</ref> Another tour to Germany followed in the autumn.

He released Big Bad Blues backed with Lonely Heart as a single on Brunswick Records with [[the Nashville Teens]] in June, 1964.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/05909 |title=Carl Perkins - Big Bad Blues / Lonely Heart - Brunswick - UK - 05909 |publisher=45cat |access-date=2015-08-17}}</ref>

In 1966, Perkins signed with Dollie Records and released as his first single for them, Country Boy's Dream, which reached #22 in the country charts. That same year [[Bob Luman]] had a Top 40 Country hit with Carl's song Poor Boy Blues.

While on tour with the Johnny Cash show in 1968, Perkins went on a four day drinking binge that ended with him hallucinating floridly and passing out. When he regained consciousness, he went out to the beach with his last bottle of alcohol. In his autobiography, he described falling to his knees and declaring, "Lord,&nbsp;... I'm gonna throw this bottle. I'm gonna show You that I believe in you" before hurling the bottle into the sea and vowing to remain sober. Perkins and Cash, who had his own substance-abuse issues, supported each other in their bids to remain sober.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 309–310.]]</ref>

In 1968, Cash recorded the Perkins-written [[Daddy Sang Bass]] which incorporates parts of the gospel standard [[Can the Circle Be Unbroken (Bye and Bye)|Will the Circle Be Unbroken]]. It rose to the top of the country music charts where it stayed for six weeks. It was a [[Country Music Association]] nominee for Song of the Year the next year. Perkins also played lead guitar on Cash's single [[A Boy Named Sue]], recorded live at [[San Quentin]] prison. It went to number one for five weeks on the country chart and number two on the pop chart. (The performance was also filmed by [[Granada Television]] for broadcast).

Perkins spent a decade in Cash's touring revue, often as an opening act for Cash as at the Folsom and San Quentin prison concerts where he was recorded singing Blue Suede Shoes and Matchbox before Cash took the stage. These performances were not released until the 2000s. He also appeared on the television series ''[[The Johnny Cash Show (TV series)|The Johnny Cash Show]]''. On the television program ''[[Kraft Music Hall]]'' on April 16, 1969, which Cash hosted, Perkins performed his song [[Restless (Carl Perkins song)|Restless]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rockabillyeurope.com/lyrics3/r0051.htm |title=Restless - Carl Perkins |publisher=Rockabillyeurope.com |access-date=2011-11-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929222820/http://www.rockabillyeurope.com/lyrics3/r0051.htm |archive-date=September 29, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tv.com/kraft-music-hall/johnny-cash...on-the-road/episode/170681/summary.html |title=Kraft Music Hall: Johnny Cash&nbsp;... On The Road Episode Summary |publisher=TV.com |access-date=2011-11-25 |archive-date=January 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101144225/http://www.tv.com/kraft-music-hall/johnny-cash...on-the-road/episode/170681/summary.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Perkins and [[Bob Dylan]] wrote "Champaign, Illinois" in 1969. Dylan was in Nashville from February 12 to February 21  recording his album ''[[Nashville Skyline]]'', a crossover into country. He met Perkins when he appeared on ''The Johnny Cash Show'' on June 7.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tv.com/the-johnny-cash-show/show/8950/episode.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=tabssh&tag=tabs;episodes |title=The Johnny Cash Show Season 2 Episode Guide |publisher=TV.com |access-date=2011-11-25 |archive-date=June 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110601094808/http://www.tv.com/the-johnny-cash-show/show/8950/episode.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=tabssh&tag=tabs;episodes |url-status=dead }}</ref> Dylan had [[writer's block]] and was unable to complete the song until Perkins contributed the rhythm and some lyrics upon which Dylan said to him, "Your song. Take it. Finish it."<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins.]]</ref> Perkins registered the song as co-authored and recorded it on his 1969 album ''On Top''.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.rockabillyhall.com/CarlPerkins.html | title=RAB Hall of Fame: Carl Perkins | access-date= 2007-01-18 | publisher= Rockabilly Hall of Fame}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= http://music.aol.com/album/on-top/12282 | archive-url= https://archive.today/20120717200303/http://music.aol.com/album/on-top/12282 | url-status= dead | archive-date= 2012-07-17 | title= On Top: Carl Perkins | access-date= 2007-01-18 | publisher= AOL Music }}</ref>

Also in 1969, Columbia's Murray Krugman placed Perkins with the [[New Rhythm and Blues Quartet]], the NRBQ, a rockabilly group based in New York's Hudson Valley. With the group backing him, he recorded two of his staples, ''Boppin' the Blues'' and ''Turn Around'' plus songs they sang separately.<ref>''Boppin' the Blues''. Columbia CS9981 (1969).</ref>

[[Tommy Cash]] (brother of Johnny Cash) had a Top Ten country gospel hit in 1970 with the song "Rise and Shine" which Perkins wrote. It reached number nine on the ''Billboard'' country chart and number eight on the Canadian country chart. [[Arlene Harden]] had a Top 40 country hit in 1971 with the Perkins composition True Love Is Greater Than Friendship, from the film ''[[Little Fauss and Big Halsy]]'' (1971). That same year, [[Al Martino]]'s cover of the song reached number 22 on the ''Billboard'' country chart and number 33 on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart. Perkins appeared with Cash on the popular TV country series ''[[Hee Haw]]'' on February 16, 1974.

After a long legal struggle with Sam Phillips over [[royalties]], Perkins gained ownership of his songs in the 1970s and, in 2003, his widow, who by then owned the catalog, entered into an administration contract with Paul McCartney's [[MPL Communications]].<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web |author=Mike Kovacich |url=http://www.macca-central.com/macca-news/morenews.php?id=1157 |title=MACCA-News: McCartney to Administer Perkins's Music |publisher=Macca-central.com |date=April 17, 2003 |access-date=2011-11-25 |archive-date=February 13, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213055837/http://www.macca-central.com/macca-news/morenews.php?id=1157 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Later years===
The rockabilly revival of the 1980s helped bring Perkins back into the limelight. In 1981, Perkins recorded the song "Get It" with [[Paul McCartney]]. According to one source, he fully co-wrote the song with McCartney.<ref>[[#legends|Naylor, p. 145.]]</ref> This recording was included on the chart-topping album ''[[Tug of War (Paul McCartney album)|Tug of War]]'', released in 1982.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jpgr.co.uk/pctc259.html |title=Tug Of War |publisher=Jpgr.co.uk |access-date=2011-11-25}}</ref>  During 1985, Perkins re-recorded "Blue Suede Shoes" with [[Lee Rocker]] and [[Slim Jim Phantom]] of the [[Stray Cats]] as part of the soundtrack for the film ''[[Porky's Revenge]]''.

In October 1985, Perkins performed on stage in [[London]] for a television special, ''[[Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session]]'', with [[George Harrison]], [[Eric Clapton]], [[Dave Edmunds]], Lee Rocker, [[Rosanne Cash]] and [[Ringo Starr]]. The show was taped live at the [[Limehouse Studios]]. It was broadcast on [[Channel 4]] on January 1, 1986. Perkins sang 16 songs plus two encores, in an extraordinary performance. He and his friends ended the session by singing "Blue Suede Shoes", his most famous song, 30 years after its writing, which brought Perkins to tears. The concert special was a highlight of his later career. Fans praised it for Perkins and his guests' spirited performances. The concert was released for DVD by Snapper Music in 2006.<ref>DVD ''Carl Perkins & Friends''. Released by Graham Nolder/Snapper Music. 2006. Cat:SDVD514</ref>

Perkins was inducted into the [[Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame]] in 1985. Wider recognition of his contributions to music came with his induction into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in 1987. The Hall chose "Blue Suede Shoes" as one of its [[500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll|500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll]]. The song also received a [[Grammy Hall of Fame Award]]. Perkins was inducted into the [[Rockabilly Hall of Fame]] in recognition of his pioneering contributions to the genre.

Perkins's only notable film performance as an actor was in [[John Landis]]'s 1985 film ''[[Into the Night (1985 film)|Into the Night]]''. The cameo-laden film includes a scene in which characters played by Perkins and [[David Bowie]] die by each other's hand.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089346/fullcredits#cast|title=Into the Night (1985): Full Cast & Crew|publisher=IMDb.com|access-date=2015-08-17}}</ref>

Perkins returned to the Sun Studio in Memphis in 1986, joining Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and [[Roy Orbison]] on the album ''[[Class of '55]]''. The record was a tribute to their early years at Sun and, specifically, the Million Dollar Quartet [[jam session]] involving Perkins, Presley, Cash, and Lewis in 1956.

In 1989, Perkins co-wrote and played lead guitar on [[the Judds]]' number-one country hit, "[[Let Me Tell You About Love]]".<ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=River of Time |others=The Judds |year=1989 |type=cassette liner |publisher=RCA/Curb |id=9595-2-R}}</ref>  That same year, he signed a record deal with Platinum Records for the album ''Friends, Family, and Legends'', featuring performances by [[Chet Atkins]], [[Travis Tritt]], [[Steve Wariner]], [[Joan Jett]], and [[Charlie Daniels]], along with [[Paul Shaffer]] and [[Will Lee (bassist)|Will Lee]]. The song "Wild Texas Wind" became the title track to a made-for-TV [[Wild Texas Wind|movie]] featuring [[Dolly Parton]] and [[Gary Busey]].  In 1996, [[Willie Nelson]], who also appeared in that movie, would join Carl in a duet version of the song. During the production of this album, Perkins was diagnosed with [[Esophageal cancer|throat cancer]]. 

Dolly Parton had a Top 20 Country hit in 1991 with [[Silver and Gold (Dolly Parton song)|"Silver and Gold"]] which she and Perkins co-wrote.  [[Mark O'Connor]] recorded a version of the Perkins classic [[Restless (Carl Perkins song)|"Restless"]] in 1991 and had a #25 Country hit with it in the US, (#19 in Canada).

Perkins again returned to Sun Studio to record with Scotty Moore, Presley's first guitar player, for the album ''706 ReUNION'', released by Belle Meade Records which also featured [[D. J. Fontana]], Marcus Van Storey, and [[the Jordanaires]]. In 1993, Perkins performed with the [[Kentucky Headhunters]] in the music video for a re-recording of his song "Dixie Fried" filmed in [[Glasgow, Kentucky]]. In 1994, he teamed up with [[Duane Eddy]] and [[the Mavericks]] to contribute Matchbox to the [[AIDS]] benefit album ''[[Red Hot + Country]]'', produced by the [[Red Hot Organization]].

His last album, ''[[Go Cat Go!]]'', released by the independent Dinosaur Records label in 1996 showcases Perkins singing duets with [[Bono]], Johnny Cash, [[John Fogerty]], George Harrison, Paul McCartney, [[Willie Nelson]], [[Tom Petty]], [[Paul Simon]], and [[Ringo Starr]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theband.hiof.no/albums/go_cat_go.html |title=Carl Perkins/Various Artists: Go Cat Go! |publisher=Theband.hiof.no |access-date=2011-11-25}}</ref><ref>[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=Carl Perkins|chart=all}} ]{{dead link|date=November 2011}}</ref>

His last major concert performance was the [[Music for Montserrat]] all-star charity concert at London's [[Royal Albert Hall]] on September 15, 1997, four months before his death.