Blue Suede Shoes – 2007 Reissue

The third single in the UK reissue series of eighteen classic singles that never made it to the #1 spot.

Design

The numbered CD comes as a ‘mini-vinyl’ replica card sleeves with an outer and inner bag. The outer bag features the original U.S. picture sleeve artwork with the same cover as Elvis’ debut album. It doesn’t get more classic when it comes to an Elvis album cover. The inner bag replicates a generic U.K. RCA single from the time of the original U.K. release.

As for the vinyl, that looks like the real stuff too. Only these don’t have the UK cover art outer sleeve.

Content

The song is a classic written by Carl Perkins, Elvis “mate” from the SUN days. It quickly became one of the Rock And Roll standards with the classic opening "One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready". This single is coupled with Little Richards’ “Tutti Frutti”. Also a classic Rock And Roll anthem, but not as big as the A-side’s choice. To me this is kind of strange because this song has a more raw sound and could be the song Elvis so vividly performs looking at the single cover.

This is what Wikipedia says about “Blue Suede Shoes”.

"Blue Suede Shoes" is a rock and roll standard written and first recorded by Carl Perkins in 1955. It is considered one of the first rockabilly (rock and roll) records and incorporated elements of blues, country and pop music of the time.

Johnny Cash had planted the seed for the song in the fall of 1955, while Perkins, Cash, Elvis Presley, and other Louisiana Hayride acts toured throughout Texas and the South. Cash told Perkins of a black airman whom he had know 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. The girl was gorgeous, he thought, and the boy wore blue suede shoes. As they danced the boy cautioned his date "don't step on my suedes." Perkins was bewildered that a guy would value shoes over a beautiful girl.
Later that night, Perkins was struck with an idea for a song based on that incident. 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 has said.
The first few lines of the song are based on a classic children's rhyme: "One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready". Producer Sam Phillips suggested that Perkins's line "go boy go" be changed to "go cat go".

Presley and Blue Suede Shoes

Both Perkins and Presley started at Sun Records under Phillips, but Presley recorded the song in early 1956 after his Sun contract was purchased by RCA Victor. Presley's version was recorded at the RCA Studios in New York, with Presley on vocals and rhythm guitar, backed up by his regular touring trio of Scotty Moore on lead guitar, Bill Black on bass, and D.J. Fontana on drums. Elvis performed the song to nation wide televion audiences three times in 1956. The first time was on February 11, 1956 on the Dorsey Brother's Stage Show. He performed it again on his third Stage Show appearance on March 17, then again on the Milton Berle Show on April 3. These performances on nationally broadcast shows were seen by millions of Americans. Meanwhile, "Blue Suede Shoes" was the first song on the first ground breaking album Elvis Presley, which was released in March. Perkins, who was badly injured in an automobile accident on his way to New York City to appear on the Perry Como Show, and who had also been scheduled to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, did not make either of his scheduled appearances on national television in 1956. RCA released the Presley version as a single on September 8,This single reached #20, where the Perkins version had topped the chart.
Presley's recording of "Blue Suede Shoes" caused a fight in the film G.I. Blues. While Elvis' character's group "The Three Blazes" plays a ballad at a Frankfurt night club ("Doin' The Best I Can" by Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman), a bored GI plays "Blue Suede Shoes" by Elvis Presley on the juke box, remarking that he wants "to hear an orignal". When another soldier tries to unplug the juke box, the entire place erupts into a fight.

"Blue Suede Shoes" was chosen as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The song has often been called "Rock 'n Roll's National Anthem."

In 1999, National Public Radio included "Blue Suede Shoes" in the "NPR 100," in which NPR's music editors sought to compile the one hundred most important American musical works of the 20th century.

In 2004, Perkins' version was ranked number 95 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. It is his only song on that list. Presley's recording of the song was also on the list at number 423.