We were talking yesterday morning at breakfast about the ‘legend’ of a jam session in Memphis back in the day that had Elvis, Johnny Cash, and a couple of other musicians that we couldn’t remember…
Sanford found it on YouTube, so here ya go…
Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and a ‘kid’ named Jerry Lee Lewis at Sun Studios in Memphis in December 1956.
Yes, it is a gospel song, but back in those days, most if not all musicians were able to do gospel as easily as they did country, since most of them started singing in church.
They don’t say who actually started the tape running, but I for one am glad that they did! Maybe it was Sam Perkins himself…
The thing one has to remember about that quartet — and most (I’d say all?) the other country guys and gals — is that for better or worse gospel and Christianity were essential to their lives when they were young. Sure, some of them went astray to varying degrees; fame and fortune will do that. But it was always there as the foundation, and for many who went astray they were able to come back. Praise the Lord!
There is a play about that session called The Million Dollar Quartet.
I saw it when I worked Job#2 and it’s worth seeing.
Ian- Excellent point!
Gerry- Didn’t know that!
God save the King!
Elvis is one of the artists I grew up listening to. Started when I found my father’s old cassette tapes of Elvis, Don Ho, and Sinatra. That was an experience for an 8 year old boy. I started sharing about that with some of the older sisters at church, and several of them shared about seeing Elvis perform back in his heydays. I am forever jealous of that.
And that should have been in the Elvis movie that just came out.