Sun Records have released an evocative animated video celebrating Carl Perkins’ Blue Suede Shoes.

The delightful clip depicts a cool rockabilly cat – we assume to be The King of Rockabilly – strolling along in blue suit and shoes as the song’s lyrics subtly appear on background billboards and signs.

Watch below:

Rockabilly Cat

Differing accounts on the track’s origin suggest that Johnny Cash planted the seed when he told Perkins about an airman he had met while serving in Germany who referred to his military regulation shoes as “blue suede shoes”.  The idea for the song solidified when Perkins played at a dance and saw a couple dancing. The man instructed his pretty female partner not to step on his shoes, which gave Perkins the idea for the lyrics.

According to the Sun Records website, Perkins decided to use a nursery rhyme for the basis of the song with a boogie rhythm. The website says: “The lyrics, ‘Well, it’s one for the money…  Two for the show… Three to get ready… Now go, man, go!’ were sung and Perkins wrote the rest of the song on a brown paper potato sack titling it as ‘Blue Swade’.”

When recording on 19 December 1955, Sam Phillips convinced Perkins to change the lyrics from “go, boy, go!” in the first take of the song to “go, cat, go” in the second, which became the release version, and claimed: “Carl Perkins, you’re my rockabilly cat now.”

Sun Success

Backed by Honey Don’t, Blue Suede Shoes was originally released on Sun Records in 1956 as Sun 234. The track peaked at No.2 on Billboard and would only be kept off the top spot by Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel. Elvis, of course, would open his eponymous debut album with a cover of Blue Suede Shoes in 1956. In the UK it reached No.10 on the hit parade in June 1956.

On 10 April 1956, Phillips presented Perkins with a new Cadillac as reward for being the first Sun artist to sell a million copies however, according to reports, the Sun Records head honcho deducted the cost from Perkins’ royalties!

Perkins continued to write his own material and tracks such as Boppin’ The Blues, Dixie Fried and Matchbox earned him the title, King Of Rockabilly, as rockabilly itself became king of the airwaves.

In 1986, Perkins’ version was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame and in 1999, National Public Radio included Blue Suede Shoes in the NPR 100, in which NPR’s music editors sought to compile the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century.

Sun Records Sings Elvis Presley

Perkins’ classic hit has been remastered and is part of a new collection of Elvis covers by Sun Records artists called Sun Records Sings Elvis Presley.

This collection is Elvis as interpreted by his Sun contemporaries like Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Roy Orbison, sharing their versions of songs Elvis made famous. Special additions include alternate versions of tracks from Johnny Cash, Sleepy LaBeef, and more.

Available on clear smoke coloured vinyl.

Side A:
1. Mystery Train
2. That’s All Right (Alternate)
3. Good Rockin’ Tonight (Alternate)
4. Baby Let’s Play House
5. I Love You Because (Undubbed)
6. Don’t Be Cruel

Side B:
1. Blue Suede Shoes
2. Jailhouse Rock
3. Tryin’ to Get to You
4. Blue Moon of Kentucky (Alternate)
5. Tomorrow Night
6. I Forgot to Remember to Forget (Alternate)

Stream and purchase the album here

Read more: When rockabilly shook the world

Buy now: Vintage Rock Presents Elvis The Early Years