Carl Perkins wrote and recorded “Blue Suede Shoes” in late 1955, and the following year, it was a million seller for Sam Phillips’s Sun Records. Here, Perkins’s son Stan Perkins, singer Naomi Judd, Perkins’s biographer David McGee, and author Peter Guralnick discuss Perkins’s life and “Blue Suede Shoes.” Dr. Mark Crawford, Coordinator, Commercial Music, Music Business at MTSU, moderates the 2016 panel discussion.

During the “‘Blue Suede Shoes’ at Sixty” panel, Stan Perkins shares the story of how his father wrote and recorded “Blue Suede Shoes” for Sam Phillips’s Sun Records, and talks about working with his father as his road manager and drummer. Naomi Judd speaks about touring with the friend and rock & roll legend, and how the Judds scored a 1989 hit with “Let Me Tell You About Love,” co-written by Perkins. Writer David McGee tells of how he developed a deep bond of friendship with Perkins while writing his biography “Go Cat Go.” Peter Guralnick, who has written extensively about Sam Phillips and Sun Records, provides insight into the importance of “Blue Suede Shoes” and its impact on Phillips and his independent record label.

Moderator Mark Crawford also presents Stan Perkins with a proclamation from the Tennessee House of Representatives marking April 9, 2016, as “Carl Perkins Blue Suede Shoes Day” in the State of Tennessee.

Chuck Mead and the Grassy Knoll Boys band close the program with selections including “Matchbox,” “Your True Love,” “She’s Talking to Someone (She Not Talking to Me),” and “Lend Me Your Comb.” Stan Perkins joins Mead for “Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby,” “Honey Don’t,” and “Blue Suede Shoes.”

Presented in support of the Museum’s exhibition "Flyin’ Saucers Rock & Roll: The Cosmic Genius of Sam Phillips" (August 28, 2015 through June 12, 2016).

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