Carl Perkins - Sun 234 (1955)

From wikipedia...

Johnny Cash planted the seed for the song in the fall of 1955, while Perkins, Cash, Elvis Presley, and other Louisiana Hayride acts toured throughout the South. Cash told Perkins of a black airman whom he had met when serving in the military in Germany. He had referred to his military regulation air shoes as "blue suede shoes." Cash suggested that Carl write a song about the shoes. Carl replied, "I don't know anything about shoes. How can I write a song about shoes?"

When Perkins played a dance on December 4, 1955, he noticed a couple dancing near the stage. Between songs, Carl heard a stern, forceful voice say, "Uh-uh, don't step on my suedes!" Carl looked down and noted that the boy was wearing blue suede shoes and one had a scuff mark. Good gracious, a pretty little thing like that and all he can think about is his blue suede shoes, thought Carl.

That night Perkins began working on a song based on the incident. His first thought was to frame it with a nursery rhyme. He considered, and quickly discarded "Little Jack Horner..." and "See a spider going up the wall...", then settled on "One for the money..." Leaving his bed and working with his Les Paul guitar, he started with an A chord. After playing five chords while singing "Well, it's one for the money... Two for the show... Three to get ready... Now go, man, go!" he broke into a boogie rhythm. He quickly grabbed a brown paper potato sack and wrote the song down, writing the title out as "Blue Swade"; "S-W-A-D-E – I couldn't even spell it right," he later said. According to Perkins, "On December 17, 1955, I wrote 'Blue Suede Shoes'. I recorded it on December 19." Producer Sam Phillips suggested that Perkins's line "go cat go" be changed to "go man go," but it wasn't.

Carl Perkins lead g, v / Jay Perkins acoustic g, background v / Clayton Perkins sb / W.S. Holland d.

Recorded December 19, 1955.

The Ravens Featuring Jimmy Ricks - Jubilee 5203 (1955)

In my opinion, Green Eyes is Jimmy Rick's best work. This song, along with others such as the Domino's Sixty Minute Man and the Coasters' Brazil, was on a mixtape of Carolina beach music tunes my aunt made for me in the early 80s.

Jimmy Ricks lead vocal / Jimmy Stewart lead vocal (Green Eyes) / Louis Frazier lead vocal (The Bells Of San Raquel)

Recorded in May of 1955.

Elvis Presley - Sun 209 (1954)

Just got a call from my "record guy" and he told me a person in the next state over had just called wondering if he'd be interested in an Elvis on Sun. Within two hours, I was driving home, dodging potholes with precious cargo on board.

Here is the first commercial release by a nineteen year old Elvis that introduced him to the world...or at least Memphis. It would go on to sell 20,000 records and reach #4 on the Memphis chart. It didn't hit any national charts.

Elvis Presley v, g / Scotty Moore g / Bill Black sb.

Recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis on July 5 (TA) & 6 (BM).