Sam Phillips Tribute Concert • Boppin’ The Blues
Special Programs
•
1h 21m
JD McPherson, the Planet Rockers, Margo Price, Webb Wilder, and others share the stage during the tribute concert “Boppin’ The Blues: A Celebration Of Sam Phillips,” held at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum to mark the closing of the exhibition “Flyin' Saucers and Rock and Roll: The Cosmic Genius of Sam Phillips.” The performers all drew influence from Country Music Hall of Fame member Phillips, who founded Sun Records and was integral in introducing the world to a long list of musical icons, including Johnny Cash, B. B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley.
Webb Wilder—backed by Planet Rockers members Bill Swartz on drums, Eddie Angel on guitar, and Mark Winchester on bass—opens the show with songs from his album “It Came From Nashville,” along with a cover of Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Down the Line.”
Accompanied by Micah Hulscher on piano, Margo Price performs songs from her critically acclaimed debut album, “Midwest Farmer’s Daughter,” including “Since You Put Me Down.” She also sings Johnny Cash’s “Big River,” a 1958 hit for Sun Records, and turns in a bluesy rendition of “Don’t Be Cruel.” Husband Jeremy Ivey joins her for “Tennessee Song” to close her set.
JD McPherson also takes the stage backed by the Planet Rockers, tearing through a set of rockin’ rhythm & blues tunes including Little Junior Parker’s “Love My Baby” and Charlie Rich’s “Break-Up” (the latter of which was a hit for Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun). McPherson closes his set with “North Side Girl” from his debut album, “Signs and Signifiers.”
Lead singer Sonny George joins his Planet Rockers bandmates for several Sun Records covers, including “No More Crying the Blues” by Alton and Jimmy and “Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash.” Sam Phillips’s son Jerry Phillips takes the stage with the Planet Rockers to revive “My Babe,” one side of his Sun Records release with his band the Jesters.
The entire cast closes the show with a rollicking version of Carl Perkins’s “Boppin’ the Blues.”
FOR MORE
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