He is considered by many to be the father of rock & roll. His recording of “Blue Suede Shoes” was on the way up when he was involved in a serious car accident on his way to New York to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956 . His brother died in the accident and Perkins missed his chance to be introduced to the whole nation on a grand scale.But Sam Phillips was so confident in Perkins’ potential as early as 1955 that he sold Elvis’ contract to RCA to get the money he needed to further Perkins’ career.Elvis and Perkins were friends and they respected each other’s musical abilities. Perkins had booked Sun Studios to record “Matchbox” one day in 1956 when Elvis stopped by along with Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis and the session ended with the already legendary songs of the “Million Dollar Quartet”.Carl Perkins died on January 19, 1998 at the age of 65 from complications of multiple strokes and is buried in Jackson, Mississippi.
