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Author Topic: Beach Boys & Carl Perkins 1989?  (Read 5007 times)
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« on: August 26, 2018, 05:41:01 AM »

In this interview (see below) Carl Perkins mentions that he was gonna do some sort of TV special with the Beach Boys. Does anyone know which show that was?


https://youtu.be/SuKE71mBfVY?t=1029


EDIT:


Argh, saw this on AGD's site:

"This show was abandoned after two songs of Chichago's set by heavy rains (The Beach Boys played their full set), which also caused the following two gigs to be postponed until early August."

Damnit! Would've loved to see the Boys and Carl. Did those shows in August happen and was he on the bill?
« Last Edit: August 26, 2018, 05:45:02 AM by Rocker » Logged

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« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2018, 10:02:37 PM »

In this interview (see below) Carl Perkins mentions that he was gonna do some sort of TV special with the Beach Boys. Does anyone know which show that was?


https://youtu.be/SuKE71mBfVY?t=1029


EDIT:


Argh, saw this on AGD's site:

"This show was abandoned after two songs of Chichago's set by heavy rains (The Beach Boys played their full set), which also caused the following two gigs to be postponed until early August."

Damnit! Would've loved to see the Boys and Carl. Did those shows in August happen and was he on the bill?
My guess is Carl was going to be a guest on the Endless Summer tv series. If this occurred, though, I never saw it.
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« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2018, 05:47:56 AM »

I’m not aware of the BBs ever touring with Perkins but they did tour with the everly brothers and Roy Orbison in the 1980s. They also played some shows with Jerry Lee Lewis in Spain in 1990
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« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2018, 06:35:36 AM »

This interview appears to be from the first half of 1989, perhaps in May. I think Perkins is likely referring to taping a segment for the 1989 syndicated "Endless Summer" TV show.

I'm guessing it was not Perkins playing *with* the Beach Boys, but rather videotaping a performance segment for "Endless Summer." A number of musical artists (Stevie Ray Vaughan being one off the top of my head) as well as stand-up comedians shot bits that were aired during the series.

That TV show lists Perkins as being in Los Angeles on June 2nd, 1989, presumably for taping of the TV show. The Beach Boys were in Lincoln, NE on that day. So whatever Perkins was planning, it wasn't going to be on stage *with* the BBs.

So the only question would be, did Perkins actually tape a segment and it didn't air, or was the whole thing canceled? Or was Perkins featured and I'm just not remembering? I don't recall his being featured on the show and a very quick Google search doesn't yield anything, but I don't have a perfect memory of the show.

Either way, it likely didn't feature the two artists performing together.
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« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2018, 08:36:00 AM »

No recollection of him being on it but, other then the campfire bits, the show was so corny I’ve blocked it out
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« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2018, 09:00:46 AM »

I just have to say this - Being a fan of Carl Perkins, if it had gone beyond Carl appearing and performing as a guest artist on his own, like SRV, that's one thing. But Carl with the Beach Boys, there isn't a fit between the two artists. Unless I'm overlooking something obvious, the BB's didn't touch any of Carl's music to any degree of significance, and Carl of course was rockabilly-Sun-country which was not the BB's game. The only tune that could work would have been...Long Tall Texan? I don't know.

But a few years before all this we're talking about, Carl did an amazing cable TV special where he performed with artists who were actually fans of and knowledgeable of Carl's music and style. George Harrison, Clapton, etc. That was a terrific special, especially the Sun Records medley that saw George Harrison, armed with a vintage orange Gretsch 6120 rockabilly machine, completely NAIL Scotty Moore's solo from That's All Right and exact tone during the jam. None of the Beach Boys played that way, and if it did happen where a big jam ensued, none of the Beach Boys played that style.
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« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2018, 09:10:54 AM »

This interview appears to be from the first half of 1989, perhaps in May. I think Perkins is likely referring to taping a segment for the 1989 syndicated "Endless Summer" TV show.

I'm guessing it was not Perkins playing *with* the Beach Boys, but rather videotaping a performance segment for "Endless Summer." A number of musical artists (Stevie Ray Vaughan being one off the top of my head) as well as stand-up comedians shot bits that were aired during the series.

That TV show lists Perkins as being in Los Angeles on June 2nd, 1989, presumably for taping of the TV show. The Beach Boys were in Lincoln, NE on that day. So whatever Perkins was planning, it wasn't going to be on stage *with* the BBs.

So the only question would be, did Perkins actually tape a segment and it didn't air, or was the whole thing canceled? Or was Perkins featured and I'm just not remembering? I don't recall his being featured on the show and a very quick Google search doesn't yield anything, but I don't have a perfect memory of the show.

Either way, it likely didn't feature the two artists performing together.



No, he definitely wasn't on the show. I'd remember that. Maybe he couldn't make it for the postponed dates.



I just have to say this - Being a fan of Carl Perkins, if it had gone beyond Carl appearing and performing as a guest artist on his own, like SRV, that's one thing. But Carl with the Beach Boys, there isn't a fit between the two artists. Unless I'm overlooking something obvious, the BB's didn't touch any of Carl's music to any degree of significance, and Carl of course was rockabilly-Sun-country which was not the BB's game.




No, I don't think you overlook anything. Both acts were too different in style to really fit together. Carl's very distinctive guitar playing could've given a new drive to some of the early Beach Boys hits, but I'm not sure how much that would've worked out.


Quote
But a few years before all this we're talking about, Carl did an amazing cable TV special where he performed with artists who were actually fans of and knowledgeable of Carl's music and style. George Harrison, Clapton, etc. That was a terrific special, especially the Sun Records medley that saw George Harrison, armed with a vintage orange Gretsch 6120 rockabilly machine, completely NAIL Scotty Moore's solo from That's All Right and exact tone during the jam. None of the Beach Boys played that way, and if it did happen where a big jam ensued, none of the Beach Boys played that style.


Carl is certainly one of the greats and totally overlooked in regards to his own cataloge but also his work as a songwriter.
The special you mentioned is well known and loved. Here is a link (a couple of edits semm to be in this video, the introduction of the band is missing for example, have to watch the whole thing to know about other things):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsTH1tgIh2E

It's available on DVD, the quality of this link isn't the best. Don't let nobody fool yourself by the audience - this ain't no nostalgia show!

The 2-CD-set "Jet propelled" features on disc two a 45 min. radio interview and a BBC Radio session that also uses Dave Edmunds as on the above show. Check that out, it's just a couple of songs but as hard rocking as anything, especially the version of "That's allright" they play there and which was just released on Carl's then current album. I'm sure you'll like it


« Last Edit: August 27, 2018, 09:19:53 AM by Rocker » Logged

a diseased bunch of mo'fos if there ever was one… their beauty is so awesome that listening to them at their best is like being in some vast dream cathedral decorated with a thousand gleaming American pop culture icons.

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To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

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« Reply #7 on: August 27, 2018, 09:29:10 AM »

This interview appears to be from the first half of 1989, perhaps in May. I think Perkins is likely referring to taping a segment for the 1989 syndicated "Endless Summer" TV show.

I'm guessing it was not Perkins playing *with* the Beach Boys, but rather videotaping a performance segment for "Endless Summer." A number of musical artists (Stevie Ray Vaughan being one off the top of my head) as well as stand-up comedians shot bits that were aired during the series.

That TV show lists Perkins as being in Los Angeles on June 2nd, 1989, presumably for taping of the TV show. The Beach Boys were in Lincoln, NE on that day. So whatever Perkins was planning, it wasn't going to be on stage *with* the BBs.

So the only question would be, did Perkins actually tape a segment and it didn't air, or was the whole thing canceled? Or was Perkins featured and I'm just not remembering? I don't recall his being featured on the show and a very quick Google search doesn't yield anything, but I don't have a perfect memory of the show.

Either way, it likely didn't feature the two artists performing together.



No, he definitely wasn't on the show. I'd remember that. Maybe he couldn't make it for the postponed dates.



I just have to say this - Being a fan of Carl Perkins, if it had gone beyond Carl appearing and performing as a guest artist on his own, like SRV, that's one thing. But Carl with the Beach Boys, there isn't a fit between the two artists. Unless I'm overlooking something obvious, the BB's didn't touch any of Carl's music to any degree of significance, and Carl of course was rockabilly-Sun-country which was not the BB's game.




No, I don't think you overlook anything. Both acts were too different in style to really fit together. Carl's very distinctive guitar playing could've given a new drive to some of the early Beach Boys hits, but I'm not sure how much that would've worked out.


Quote
But a few years before all this we're talking about, Carl did an amazing cable TV special where he performed with artists who were actually fans of and knowledgeable of Carl's music and style. George Harrison, Clapton, etc. That was a terrific special, especially the Sun Records medley that saw George Harrison, armed with a vintage orange Gretsch 6120 rockabilly machine, completely NAIL Scotty Moore's solo from That's All Right and exact tone during the jam. None of the Beach Boys played that way, and if it did happen where a big jam ensued, none of the Beach Boys played that style.


Carl is certainly one of the greats and totally overlooked in regards to his own cataloge but also his work as a songwriter.
The special you mentioned is well known and loved. Here is a link (a couple of edits semm to be in this video, the introduction of the band is missing for example, have to watch the whole thing to know about other things):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsTH1tgIh2E

It's available on DVD, the quality of this link isn't the best. Don't let nobody fool yourself by the audience - this ain't no nostalgia show!

The 2-CD-set "Jet propelled" features on disc two a 45 min. radio interview and a BBC Radio session that also uses Dave Edmunds as on the above show. Check that out, it's just a couple of songs but as hard rocking as anything, especially the version of "That's allright" they play there and which was just released on Carl's then current album. I'm sure you'll like it




I love that special - If memory serves, that may have been the groundbreaker in terms of early pay cable TV specials to feature classic artists. I know Roy's "Black And White Night" special gets more attention, but Carl's was incredible and didn't it come first before more of these followed? I only had the audio of it on a George Harrison bootleg (of all things) for years before the internet and all that...I can't count how many times I played that Sun medley and World Is Waiting For The Sunrise, playing along and copping those licks.

Confession...if I play That's Alright to this day, I play it like George played it on that show versus Scotty's original. Haha, I had to learn the Scotty way and remind myself every so often. Scotty plays a few licks just a bit differently, but I think George Harrison stole the show with his playing. That style was in his soul and blood since he was a kid, and he rose to the occasion.
 
Anyway, it just struck me how even if Carl had done the "campfire" jam bit on this BB's show, none of the BB's except maybe Carl Wilson who grew up listing to Western Swing was really playing in that rockabilly-swing bag. I mean, Little Deuce Coupe and similar shuffles could have translated over to Carl P's style, but the one is a hillbilly swing shuffle and the other is a different feel of a shuffle.

Maybe it *could* have worked depending on the song(s), but it's hard to see a fit between Sun Records via Carl and the BB's.
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« Reply #8 on: August 27, 2018, 10:39:52 AM »

Yeah, Harrsion did a great job there! BTW he played "Your true love" at Carl's funeral. There's news footage of that on youtube.

The special is from 1986, right after the Clas Of '55 project it seems, so two years before Roy Orbison's "Black & White Night". I first saw it on VHS and also couldn't say how often I watched this show. Carl's intro to "Mean woman blues" still sounds like magic to my ears.
Youtube has some rehearsal footage as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqM8gp1__EY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSQMMZ27cHg


Had Carl been a part of the Beach Boys special his appearance would've sounded somewhat like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWe3CjImMEU

Kudos to his band btw, two of his sons (drums and bass respetively) who played with him since the 70s.
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To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

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« Reply #9 on: August 27, 2018, 10:48:35 AM »

Yeah it was cool how humble and overwhelmed by the adulation he was. A talented man who had some bad breaks and never quite became a star. Johnny cash was very loyal to him and he toured with the cash show for many years
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« Reply #10 on: August 27, 2018, 11:39:40 AM »

Humble is a great word to describe Perkins! I love reading the accounts of when he visited the UK and went to Abbey Road to meet the Beatles, who were recording around the album "Beatles For Sale". George Harrison was obsessed with Carl Perkins, to the point he wanted to change his name to "Carl Harrison". And the Beatles had been playing Carl's tunes regularly for years, they knew his music front to back.

So there are the Beatles, the biggest celebrity musicians of that time, in the studio with one of their idols, Carl Perkins. They wanted to record some of Carl's tunes, again they were so good and tuned up as live performers at that time where they could call a Perkins tune and get it in one take.

And there is Carl Perkins, sitting there watching with a huge smile on his face, apparently awestruck that these kids from the UK thought so much of him and his music. If you listen to those covers done when Perkins was in the studio, you can hear a band going all out. Total respect.

I'll add this clip, "The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise"...George Harrison sitting next to Carl watching him *nail* the elusive Les Paul sound and hit all those licks complete with tape echo. For all the attention on his songwriting and records, Carl was also one helluva guitarist. I still don't know how he got those tones out of a Peavey guitar! haha. He had a Peavey endorsement as did many country artists in the 70's the way it seems. But if you close your eyes, it sounds like Carl is playing a more familiar rockabilly style guitar...proof that it's the player more than the gear.

Although Harrison's Gretsch is sweeeet... Grin

Here it is, Carl playing Les Paul on his Peavey with an awestruck George Harrison watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXxO3LjJgPg

I may have read this from Guarlnick, but some say the reason why Carl never exploded in popularity was he didn't have 'the look', or the swagger, or the over-the-top antics, or whatever else his peers in and around Sun had...he was a country musician doing his thing. He just played and wrote damn fine music. So the Beatles in their young years would have heard his records and probably attached all kinds of fantasy images to the guy playing and singing, as opposed to Eddie Cochran or Elvis who they'd see in films, but Carl never got the marketing in the 50's that his label mates eventually got.
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« Reply #11 on: August 27, 2018, 01:47:44 PM »

It certainly is true that Carl wasn't a teen idol character. He was married, was losing his hair and - as iirc Collin Escott and Martin Hawkins wrote - he never really was a teenager. Carl knew the rough honky tonks and the country life.
I think the problem through all of his carreer was that he was tried to be sold as one of said teenage-idol Rock'n'Rollers. He would've been much more fitting as the country/country-rock (I don't want to use the term "Rockabilly", because that beautiful idea has been overtaken by all those terrible neo-Rockabilly revival trends) artist he was. He imo is the "white" equivalent of Chuck Berry - both when it comes to the authenticity and quality of their songwritings and the distinctive guitar styles.

If I had a chance, I'd tell him to concentrate on his songwriting and not trying to jump the nostalgia train with new material in the 80s and 90s like "Rockabilly fever" "Born to rock" etc. "Birth of Rck and Roll" was a great one and fitting for the project it was used for. Then try and put the wigs aside; I know that in Rock/Pop Music long and full hair was always very important, but maybe standing up to him being bald would've made him stand out. As I said, the problem really was that the only way that came to people's mind on how to sell Perkins was to show him as someone he has never been.
Of course bad luck played a role in Carl's life much more as in many others'. It seems that every time he had something going, he had an accident or something else happened that put him out. It is a tragedy to see how many people had hits with his songs and his name is only known to some insiders more or less. He definitely had the talent to be one of the biggest country stars in the world.


BTW here's a documentary about Carl:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xcoCKZF7rE

And of course this one which is interspersed with a jam of Carl and Paul McCartney:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsJwA29u_Xk


And regarding "The world is waiting for the sunshine", he played it in his concerts with the whole band joining in. Here's a show from 1989 in New York that had that song in the set. Also it had Eric Clapton in the audience who then joined Carl for a couple of songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6BA_NIave4
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To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

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« Reply #12 on: August 27, 2018, 11:38:32 PM »

I'm so used to seeing Carl with that wig on, I never think about him being bald. Any pics of him out there without it on? I've been told he didn't wear it at home. But what a nice man - kind, humble. Great storyteller, too. He must have been asked the same questions a thousand times, but he always took the time to talk about Elvis, Sam, BSS, Cash.
I would bet that Carl Wilson was a fan, being a guitar player. Don't know about the rest of the Beach Boys. There's a real nice album recorded just a couple years before Perkins' passing, "Go Cat Go". The guest lineup is HOF caliber: Cash, Willie, Waylon, Paul Simon, John Fogerty, Tom Petty, McCartney, Ringo, Harrison. The version of "Restless" on that album is one of the best things Carl ever recorded. The song with George, "Distance Makes No Difference", is pretty special. Some very good songs with Carl on his own, too - "Don't Stop the Music", "Go Cat Go"..well, I love everything he did.
Was it just coincidence that we lost 2 Carl's, Perkins and Wilson, within months of each other? Sad time. Sad
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« Reply #13 on: August 28, 2018, 05:06:54 AM »

I'm so used to seeing Carl with that wig on, I never think about him being bald. Any pics of him out there without it on? I've been told he didn't wear it at home. But what a nice man - kind, humble. Great storyteller, too. He must have been asked the same questions a thousand times, but he always took the time to talk about Elvis, Sam, BSS, Cash.
I would bet that Carl Wilson was a fan, being a guitar player. Don't know about the rest of the Beach Boys. There's a real nice album recorded just a couple years before Perkins' passing, "Go Cat Go". The guest lineup is HOF caliber: Cash, Willie, Waylon, Paul Simon, John Fogerty, Tom Petty, McCartney, Ringo, Harrison. The version of "Restless" on that album is one of the best things Carl ever recorded. The song with George, "Distance Makes No Difference", is pretty special. Some very good songs with Carl on his own, too - "Don't Stop the Music", "Go Cat Go"..well, I love everything he did.



That album is indeed fantastic. Both tracks with Tom Petty & The Heartbrekers* - the other being "One more shot - rock as hell. I don't know who at that age could still cut it that way. There are two cover versions of "A mile out of Memphis" (which he recorded with Paul Simon on "Go cat go") that feature him as guest. I believe one version is by the guy he co-wrote the song with who still had a demo with Carl and worked that into the recording. The other was a genuine guest appearance I believe. What a song!
There are also a couple of TV performances on youtube to promote the album. How cool he sounded - and not the least like a nostalgia act but like a current, still creative act. Check the clips out if you haven't.

I don't know of any pictures of him without the wig after ca. the mid-60s althugh he might be wearing there a hairpiece as well. I believe he started right after the accident in '56 because of some of the consequences of it. But the cover shot on "706 Re-Union" with Scotty Moore has him with a baseball cap, without wig. You get an idea. This was right after his cancer treatment, iirc.


I'm listening to the "Dollie Masters" CD the last couple of days. There's some wonderful work on it. Songs like "Dear Abby" or "Old number one" a. o. should be classics imo. Bob Luman had a minor hit with Carl's "Poor boy blues" from these sessions.

I don't know about Carl W., but Al gave a shoutout to Carl during the 2012 BBC interview.



* Regarding Tom Petty, he wrote this article about Carl. He nailed it.


Carl Perkins

By Tom Petty

Carl Perkins' songs will outlive us all. On tracks like "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Honey Don't!" he took that country-picking thing into the rock world. He was an amazing guitar player: If you want to play Fifties rock & roll, you can either play like Chuck Berry, or you can play like Carl Perkins.

Considering how important he is to rock history, many people don't know about him. But the right people did. The Beatles covered five of Carl's songs on record. Carl was actually there in the studio when the Beatles cut some of them. Listen to the guitar break in "All My Loving": George Harrison told me that the Beatles would study the B sides of Carl's records to learn everything they could from him.

Carl was the real deal — a true rockabilly cat. He told me about picking cotton when he was a kid and learning the blues from an older black field hand he knew. Carl would go home from the fields, be practicing a Roy Acuff country type of thing on his guitar, and then he would start bending the notes. He told me his father would actually get mad, saying, "Play that thing right, boy, or don't play it at all." But it was organic with Carl. He took it to the honky-tonks — the real honky-tonks where people would be drinking out of a jug. It sounds like a cliché now, that rock music was born out of cornfields and honky- tonks, but with Carl it was all true.

He didn't get the breaks he deserved; hard luck seemed to follow him around. He had a terrible car crash on the way to The Ed Sullivan Show when "Blue Suede Shoes" was breaking really big. Elvis ended up covering the song and took a lot of the glory there. Some people might not know that Carl played guitar with Johnny Cash for 10 years on the road. At a certain point in the Sixties, things got tough for Carl — he had a drinking problem, which he eventually overcame — and he went back into the lead-guitar business.

Carl himself was a very bright guy, and very funny. He once told me, "Tom, I like you so much — if I lived by you, I'd cut your grass." That warmth and wit came through in his music. He was not the kind of guy to blow his own horn; he was very humble. When we did a long stand at the Fillmore in the late Nineties, I talked Carl into sitting in with us. Backstage, Carl was very nervous about coming out with us. He said, "They may not know who I am." I told him, "Carl, they're going to know you and love you." When Carl hit the stage, he just ripped the room apart. Neil Young was there that night, and he was shaking his head. Carl was that good.




https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-artists-147446/carl-perkins-2-86720/





I thought this might be a picture without a wig, but as mentioned above, I'm not sure if maybe a smaller hairpiece was used.




« Last Edit: August 28, 2018, 05:24:08 AM by Rocker » Logged

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To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

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« Reply #14 on: August 28, 2018, 06:44:46 AM »

I don't think Carl Perkins was ever particularly trying to hide that he wore the wig/toupee. On the back cover of his 1996/97 "Go Cat Go" album, they did a 1956/1996 composite, and he *very obviously* has more hair in 1996 than 56:



Beyond the excellent 1985 TV special with George, Ringo, Clapton, etc., another good one to track down is Carl's backstage jam session with Paul McCartney from 1993. They reissued/repackaged it several times. The first time it was made more as a "documentary" focusing on the "Go Cat Go" album with interspersed footage of the '93 jam session, and then later they re-edited and repackaged it more as simply a full-on release of the jam session itself. I think this is the former:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsJwA29u_Xk

As for Carl Perkins/BB connections, while any even one-shot collaboration would not have been the most outlandish, weird pairing of all time, there indeed isn't a huge, obvious glaring connection between them. Unlike the Beatles, who all individually and collectively were *big* Carl Perkins fans (note you can find recordings of at least three Beatles singing "Honey Don't" for instance), I don't hear a ton of rockabilly influences in even early BB stuff, nor do I recall a bunch of interviews where they namechecked Perkins. Now, David and Carl (Wilson) were big guitar buffs, so I have little doubt if asked, (or if Dave were asked now), they'd rightly point out how important and great Carl Perkins was. Same probably with Al.

Also worth checking out is one of, if not the, final live performances from Carl Perkins at the "Music for Montserrat" show in September of 1997, just four months before his death. Still looked and sounded good!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HaLhz1a__M
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« Reply #15 on: August 28, 2018, 01:55:18 PM »

I don't think Carl Perkins was ever particularly trying to hide that he wore the wig/toupee. On the back cover of his 1996/97 "Go Cat Go" album, they did a 1956/1996 composite, and he *very obviously* has more hair in 1996 than 56:



I agree. IIRC he even talked about wearing a wig in at least one interview. I just think they looked ridiculous (one or two exceptions) and not in the way Elton John's did which was part of the show.
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« Reply #16 on: August 29, 2018, 08:32:54 AM »

I don't think Carl Perkins was ever particularly trying to hide that he wore the wig/toupee. On the back cover of his 1996/97 "Go Cat Go" album, they did a 1956/1996 composite, and he *very obviously* has more hair in 1996 than 56:



I agree. IIRC he even talked about wearing a wig in at least one interview. I just think they looked ridiculous (one or two exceptions) and not in the way Elton John's did which was part of the show.



Yes, here at ca. 48:22 he talks about wearing a wig. So he wasn't trying to fool anybody that this was his real hair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a52ao4YWw4o
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« Reply #17 on: August 29, 2018, 09:20:30 AM »

Hair aside, that video just shows again how Carl had that amazing country boogie feel when he played, no matter who the band was backing him. It's really something. It's not unique necessarily, but the way Carl put it all together and added up with his lyrics, it was his calling card. Great music.

Re: The hair. I think some of this has to be chalked up to the way the country music industry operated and what was expected from performers. It was a very, very controlled and even prohibitive scene around the Opry up until the rules started to change. The fans wanted artists to look a certain way, and a lot of times it was over the top "clean" while still being flashy enough to say this person is a performer.

Look at any country themed TV shows or concert photos from the 60's and especially into the 70's. Especially the male artists, the hair styles were ridiculous. I call it "Televangelist Hair", just these crazy helmets of hair combed and styled so precise as to look like it came  stamped out of a mold. You don't see many bald artists...and the stone-cold country artists who were playing on Hee-Haw or the Wilburn Brothers TV shows, or anything featuring Porter Wagoner or Conway Twitty...etc etc etc...the male hair styles were a thing. I think if an artist was balding, or had hair issues, they'd  probably be advised to get a wig or a piece of some kind. The female artists...huge, over the top hairdos and wigs were just part of how you'd dress in the country circuit.

So Carl wearing a wig may have been a personal choice, he didn't hide it, but I also think it was just part of being in country music during those years, part of the image.
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« Reply #18 on: August 30, 2018, 12:00:54 AM »

Hair aside, that video just shows again how Carl had that amazing country boogie feel when he played, no matter who the band was backing him. It's really something. It's not unique necessarily, but the way Carl put it all together and added up with his lyrics, it was his calling card. Great music.

Re: The hair. I think some of this has to be chalked up to the way the country music industry operated and what was expected from performers. It was a very, very controlled and even prohibitive scene around the Opry up until the rules started to change. The fans wanted artists to look a certain way, and a lot of times it was over the top "clean" while still being flashy enough to say this person is a performer.

Look at any country themed TV shows or concert photos from the 60's and especially into the 70's. Especially the male artists, the hair styles were ridiculous. I call it "Televangelist Hair", just these crazy helmets of hair combed and styled so precise as to look like it came  stamped out of a mold. You don't see many bald artists...and the stone-cold country artists who were playing on Hee-Haw or the Wilburn Brothers TV shows, or anything featuring Porter Wagoner or Conway Twitty...etc etc etc...the male hair styles were a thing. I think if an artist was balding, or had hair issues, they'd  probably be advised to get a wig or a piece of some kind. The female artists...huge, over the top hairdos and wigs were just part of how you'd dress in the country circuit.

So Carl wearing a wig may have been a personal choice, he didn't hide it, but I also think it was just part of being in country music during those years, part of the image.
I agree. And Carl knew he didn't have the looks to be a pop star. I remember seeing him on a Rick Nelson tribute show circa 1987, and he said 'there's really only been two cats that had it all - Elvis Presley was one, Ricky Nelson was the other". But man, Perkins sure had the talent! I think the comparison to Chuck Berry is very accurate. Here, you had 2 guys that wrote their own songs, sang the songs, and played the lead guitar. It's not hard to build a band around that! Of course, Chuck had Johnny Johnson on piano; maybe that's what inspired Sam Phillips to bring Jerry Lee Lewis in to play on "Matchbox".

And that leads me to one of the few disappointments I've ever had with Carl; that he is on the Million Dollar Quartet session, but only takes the lead on one song, "Keeper of the Key". But what a man, what a talent. It always annoys me when some younger performer talks about Gene Vincent or Eddie Cochran or Buddy Holly as the King of Rockabilly; for me there is only one man deserving of that title. El.... LOL...no, you know I was gonna say Carl Perkins.
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« Reply #19 on: August 30, 2018, 01:54:46 AM »

Hair aside, that video just shows again how Carl had that amazing country boogie feel when he played, no matter who the band was backing him. It's really something. It's not unique necessarily, but the way Carl put it all together and added up with his lyrics, it was his calling card. Great music.

Re: The hair. I think some of this has to be chalked up to the way the country music industry operated and what was expected from performers. It was a very, very controlled and even prohibitive scene around the Opry up until the rules started to change. The fans wanted artists to look a certain way, and a lot of times it was over the top "clean" while still being flashy enough to say this person is a performer.

Look at any country themed TV shows or concert photos from the 60's and especially into the 70's. Especially the male artists, the hair styles were ridiculous. I call it "Televangelist Hair", just these crazy helmets of hair combed and styled so precise as to look like it came  stamped out of a mold. You don't see many bald artists...and the stone-cold country artists who were playing on Hee-Haw or the Wilburn Brothers TV shows, or anything featuring Porter Wagoner or Conway Twitty...etc etc etc...the male hair styles were a thing. I think if an artist was balding, or had hair issues, they'd  probably be advised to get a wig or a piece of some kind. The female artists...huge, over the top hairdos and wigs were just part of how you'd dress in the country circuit.

So Carl wearing a wig may have been a personal choice, he didn't hide it, but I also think it was just part of being in country music during those years, part of the image.
I agree. And Carl knew he didn't have the looks to be a pop star.


Yeah, excactly. That's what I meant when I said it was a wrong move to try to sell him as a "good time teenage-idol Rock'n'Roll nostalgia act" in the 70s, but you're description certainly makes the point much clearer. I think it would've been much better to have him being the country artist he was. I could see him as having a part in the outlaw movement although he was probably a little too old at that point to be considered one of those guys (same with Johnny Cash).






Hair aside, that video just shows again how Carl had that amazing country boogie feel when he played, no matter who the band was backing him. It's really something. It's not unique necessarily, but the way Carl put it all together and added up with his lyrics, it was his calling card. Great music.



There's also another point: Carl had his own sound. Even if you played the exact same thing, you'd know by the first note when it was Carl's turn. It's like Jerry Lee's piano playing or B. B. King's guitar. You just know when it's them. Stylists, I guess.
Just look at this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqS_nJBMvAI

 Smokin


Also when you look at the video above and others of Carl's live shows, it's never one of those nostalgia/Rockabilly revival stuff. He's always doing the real thing. Personally, I really don't like the revival acts. Even if they are good musicians, that stuff it just doesn't do what the real Rockabilly (as I said above, I don't like to use that term, because it is so overloaded with the nostalgia stuff) sound did and was.


Quote
It always annoys me when some younger performer talks about Gene Vincent or Eddie Cochran or Buddy Holly as the King of Rockabilly

Yes, but Buddy Holly at least was really good and Eddie had some fine singles and certainly potential. But what I can't stand is when people call basically everyone a "legend" who recorded a song back in the 50s. Even if it was a terrible record and a flop on the charts, as long as it sounds a certain way - say: old (mostly the kind of sound the neo-Rockabillys are looking for) - it is considered legendary - back in the 50s it was just a failed try to copy the real Rock'n'Roll/Rockabilly acts by lesser gifted Pat Boones. I mean, if you like listening to that stuff and get some pleasure, that's fine. It just shouldn't be made to what it isn't and never was. Do you know where I'm going? As so often, I can't really get it into better english at this point  Embarrassed



BTW guys, I really enjoy this. Who would've thought that there are people on a Beach Boys board with whom I can talk about Carl Perkins! Even on Elvis boards it's seldomly more than a look at his Sun recordings and maybe the '86 special and that's it. Thanks for this!
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« Reply #20 on: August 31, 2018, 11:19:57 PM »

Hair aside, that video just shows again how Carl had that amazing country boogie feel when he played, no matter who the band was backing him. It's really something. It's not unique necessarily, but the way Carl put it all together and added up with his lyrics, it was his calling card. Great music.

Re: The hair. I think some of this has to be chalked up to the way the country music industry operated and what was expected from performers. It was a very, very controlled and even prohibitive scene around the Opry up until the rules started to change. The fans wanted artists to look a certain way, and a lot of times it was over the top "clean" while still being flashy enough to say this person is a performer.

Look at any country themed TV shows or concert photos from the 60's and especially into the 70's. Especially the male artists, the hair styles were ridiculous. I call it "Televangelist Hair", just these crazy helmets of hair combed and styled so precise as to look like it came  stamped out of a mold. You don't see many bald artists...and the stone-cold country artists who were playing on Hee-Haw or the Wilburn Brothers TV shows, or anything featuring Porter Wagoner or Conway Twitty...etc etc etc...the male hair styles were a thing. I think if an artist was balding, or had hair issues, they'd  probably be advised to get a wig or a piece of some kind. The female artists...huge, over the top hairdos and wigs were just part of how you'd dress in the country circuit.

So Carl wearing a wig may have been a personal choice, he didn't hide it, but I also think it was just part of being in country music during those years, part of the image.
I agree. And Carl knew he didn't have the looks to be a pop star.


Yeah, excactly. That's what I meant when I said it was a wrong move to try to sell him as a "good time teenage-idol Rock'n'Roll nostalgia act" in the 70s, but you're description certainly makes the point much clearer. I think it would've been much better to have him being the country artist he was. I could see him as having a part in the outlaw movement although he was probably a little too old at that point to be considered one of those guys (same with Johnny Cash).






Hair aside, that video just shows again how Carl had that amazing country boogie feel when he played, no matter who the band was backing him. It's really something. It's not unique necessarily, but the way Carl put it all together and added up with his lyrics, it was his calling card. Great music.



There's also another point: Carl had his own sound. Even if you played the exact same thing, you'd know by the first note when it was Carl's turn. It's like Jerry Lee's piano playing or B. B. King's guitar. You just know when it's them. Stylists, I guess.
Just look at this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqS_nJBMvAI

 Smokin


Also when you look at the video above and others of Carl's live shows, it's never one of those nostalgia/Rockabilly revival stuff. He's always doing the real thing. Personally, I really don't like the revival acts. Even if they are good musicians, that stuff it just doesn't do what the real Rockabilly (as I said above, I don't like to use that term, because it is so overloaded with the nostalgia stuff) sound did and was.


Quote
It always annoys me when some younger performer talks about Gene Vincent or Eddie Cochran or Buddy Holly as the King of Rockabilly

Yes, but Buddy Holly at least was really good and Eddie had some fine singles and certainly potential. But what I can't stand is when people call basically everyone a "legend" who recorded a song back in the 50s. Even if it was a terrible record and a flop on the charts, as long as it sounds a certain way - say: old (mostly the kind of sound the neo-Rockabillys are looking for) - it is considered legendary - back in the 50s it was just a failed try to copy the real Rock'n'Roll/Rockabilly acts by lesser gifted Pat Boones. I mean, if you like listening to that stuff and get some pleasure, that's fine. It just shouldn't be made to what it isn't and never was. Do you know where I'm going? As so often, I can't really get it into better english at this point  Embarrassed



BTW guys, I really enjoy this. Who would've thought that there are people on a Beach Boys board with whom I can talk about Carl Perkins! Even on Elvis boards it's seldomly more than a look at his Sun recordings and maybe the '86 special and that's it. Thanks for this!
Yeah, well, that's kind of what I was getting at with my comments about Buddy, Eddie. etc. In fact, aside from Elvis, Buddy seems to be the most popular of the 50s rockers now. Even teens and 20-somethings know his music - even if they don't listen to any other artists from the 50's. I think part of the intrigue with Buddy is the early death. Carl Perkins was doomed to just be an average looking guy - well, I guess Buddy was, too, but the glasses kind of became a gimmick that worked for him. But Carl was just as talented as Buddy; he was just as talented as Chuck Berry. And unlike Chuck, he didn't dry up as a songwriter in later years, he kept coming up with great stuff. But I guess Carl's rockabilly was a bit too country or honky tonk for the average pop radio listener. It seemed to be a style of music that the masses could only appreciate if it was given more of a pop feel - Elvis' early RCA recordings, Ricky Nelson's 50s stuff on Imperial. But it's nice to know that musicians recognized how great Carl was. That Showtime special confirmed that. Those guys were so excited just to be playing with Carl. I mean, he even got that recluse George Harrison out of the house to play!
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« Reply #21 on: September 01, 2018, 08:04:43 AM »

Those guys were so excited just to be playing with Carl. I mean, he even got that recluse George Harrison out of the house to play!


And then there's this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMjPRDP_7Ms
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« Reply #22 on: September 01, 2018, 10:31:02 PM »

Those guys were so excited just to be playing with Carl. I mean, he even got that recluse George Harrison out of the house to play!


And then there's this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMjPRDP_7Ms
Yeah, that's from a documentary called "The Movie Life of George". But you probably knew that. For the rest here, though, they had an anniversary party for George's Handmade Films, and Carl was invited to be the entertainment. Carl's band in the video is his sons Stan and Greg.
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« Reply #23 on: September 02, 2018, 01:05:21 AM »

Those guys were so excited just to be playing with Carl. I mean, he even got that recluse George Harrison out of the house to play!


And then there's this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMjPRDP_7Ms
Yeah, that's from a documentary called "The Movie Life of George". But you probably knew that. For the rest here, though, they had an anniversary party for George's Handmade Films, and Carl was invited to be the entertainment. Carl's band in the video is his sons Stan and Greg.


Haha, no, I didn't know that, only the description of the video and your comment taught me about it. I'm not much of a scholar when it comes to George and/or the Beatles.
Yes, Stan and Greg were the backbone of his band since he started touring on his own again after leaving the Johnny Cash show in the early or mid 70s. They also co-wrote a couple of songs with Carl. IIRC a couple of years after Carl died, his wife Valda passed away and not long after that Greg died also.
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« Reply #24 on: September 05, 2018, 08:21:01 AM »

Hey guys, if you're interested I started a thread about Carl Perkins on the general music section. I believe this thread here has more or less said everything that has to do with the Beach Boys.
So, take a look here:
http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,26113.msg640542.html#new
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To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

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