"Million Dollar Quartet" is a recording of an impromptu

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without exte ...

involving

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...

, and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

made on December 4, 1956, at the Sun Record Studios in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. An article about the session was published in the ''Memphis Press-Scimitar'' under the title "Million Dollar Quartet". The recording was first released in Europe in 1981 as ''The Million Dollar Quartet'' with 17 tracks. A few years later more tracks were discovered and released as ''The Complete Million Dollar Session''. In 1990, the recordings were released in the United States as ''Elvis Presley: The Million Dollar Quartet''. This session is considered a seminal moment in

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

Recording session

The jam session seems to have happened by pure chance. Perkins, who by this time had already met success with "

Blue Suede Shoes "Blue Suede Shoes" is a rock and roll standard written and first recorded by American singer, songwriter and guitarist Carl Perkins in 1955. It is considered one of the first rockabilly records, incorporating elements of blues, country and po ...

", had come into the studios that day accompanied by his brothers Clayton and Jay and by drummer

W.S. Holland W. S. "Fluke" Holland (April 22, 1935 – September 23, 2020) was an American drummer who played with Carl Perkins, and later for Johnny Cash in the bands The Tennessee Three, The Great Eighties Eight, and The Johnny Cash Show Band. Holland ...

, their aim being to record some new material, including a revamped version of an old blues song, "

Matchbox Phillumeny (also known as phillumenism) is the hobby of collecting different match-related items: matchboxes, matchbox labels, matchbooks, matchcovers, matchsafes, etc. Matchbox A matchbox is a box made of cardboard or thin wood and designed ...

Sam Phillips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, ...

, the owner of

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny C ...

, who wanted to try to fatten this sparse rockabilly instrumentation, had brought in his latest acquisition,

, still unknown outside Memphis, to play piano (at the time, a Wurlitzer Spinet) on the Perkins session. Lewis's first Sun single would be released a few days later. Sometime in the early afternoon, 21-year-old

, a former Sun artist now with

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

, arrived to pay a casual visit accompanied by a girlfriend,

Marilyn Evans Marilyn may refer to: * Marilyn (given name) * Marilyn (singer) (born 1962), English singer * Marilyn (hill), a type of mountain or hill in the British Isles with a prominence above 150 m * 1486 Marilyn, a Main-belt asteroid * ''Marilyn'' (1953 ...

. After chatting with Phillips in the control room, Presley listened to the playback of Perkins's session, which he pronounced to be good. Then he went into the studio and some time later, the jam session began. At some point during the session, Sun artist

, who had recently enjoyed a few hit records on the country charts, arrived as well. (Cash wrote in his autobiography ''Cash'' that he had been first to arrive at the Sun Studio that day, wanting to listen in on the Perkins recording session.)

Jack Clement Jack Henderson Clement (April 5, 1931 – August 8, 2013) was an American singer, songwriter, and record and film producer. Biography Early life Raised and educated in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, Clement was performing at an early age, ...

was engineering that day and remembers saying to himself "I think I'd be remiss not to record this," and so he did. After running through a number of songs, Elvis and his girlfriend Evans slipped out as Jerry Lee pounded away on the piano. Cash wrote in ''Cash'' that "no one wanted to follow Jerry Lee, not even Elvis." Whatever Elvis's feelings may or may not have been in regard to "following" Lewis, Presley was clearly the "star" of the impromptu jam session, which consisted largely of snippets of gospel songs that the four artists had all grown up singing. The recordings show Elvis, the most nationally and internationally famous of the four at the time, to be the focal point of what was a casual, spur-of-the-moment gathering of four artists who would each go on to contribute greatly to the seismic shift in popular music in the late 1950s. During the session, Phillips called a local newspaper, the ''

Memphis Press-Scimitar The ''Memphis Press-Scimitar'' was an afternoon newspaper based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. Created from a merger in 1926 between the ''Memphis Press'' and the ''Memphis News-Scimitar'', the new ...

''. Bob Johnson, the newspaper's entertainment editor, came over to the studios with

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

representative Leo Sora with photographer George Pierce. Johnson wrote an article about the session, which appeared the following day in the ''Press-Scimitar'' under the headline "Million Dollar Quartet". The article contained the now-famous photograph of Presley seated at the piano surrounded by Lewis, Perkins and Cash (the uncropped version of the photo also includes Evans, shown seated atop the piano).

Releases

In 1969,

Shelby Singleton Shelby Sumpter Singleton, Jr. (December 16, 1931 – October 7, 2009) was an American record producer and record label owner. Early life He was born Shelby Sumpter Singleton, Jr. in Waskom, Texas. His parents were Shelby Sumpter Singleton, Sr. and ...

bought Sun Records. He began a long search of the Sun catalogue, browsing through more than 10,000 hours of tape. At the same time, Singleton licensed much, if not all, of the Sun catalogue to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Charly ''Charly'' (marketed and stylized as ''CHAЯLY'') is a 1968 American drama film directed and produced by Ralph Nelson and written by Stirling Silliphant. It is based on ''Flowers for Algernon'', a science-fiction short story (1958) and subseque ...

label for reissue in Europe. As a result of Singleton's and Charly's searches, a portion of the session came to light. This was issued in Europe in 1981 as "Charly/Sun" LP #1006 ''The Million Dollar Quartet'', and it contained 17 tracks, focusing on

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

/ spiritual music from the session. Several years later, additional material was discovered. This resulted in the release of the 1987 "Charly/Sun" two-LP set #CDX 20 ''The Complete Million Dollar Session'', together with their simultaneous issue in CD format in Europe. In 1990, they were replicated by RCA for US distribution as a CD and LP, titled, ''Elvis Presley: The Million Dollar Quartet'' (RCA CD # 2023-2-R), the sleeve notes of which were written by

Colin Escott Colin Escott (born August 31, 1949) is a British music historian and author specializing in early U.S. rock and roll and country music. His works include a biography of Hank Williams, histories of Sun Records and The Grand Ole Opry, liner notes ...

of Showtime Music,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario, Canada. In 2006, RCA used a copy of the session recordings owned by Presley to create a 50th-anniversary issue of the session. The new release placed the titles in the original recorded sequence and contained about twelve minutes of previously unavailable material. According to Ernst Jorgensen, an authority on Elvis who consults for RCA, the published material contains about 95 percent of the master recordings. "We found three reels", he says, "You could always argue that there were more. But in the first you can hear Elvis arriving and in the last you can hear him leaving. I doubt that there are more." In his liner notes to ''

The Survivors Live ''The Survivors'' is a live album by country/rockabilly musicians Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis, released in 1982 on Columbia Records. Contents The album was recorded live on stage on April 23, 1981, in Böblingen, near Stuttgar ...

'', a 1982 album that reunited Cash, Lewis and Perkins, Cash claims that Elvis performed "This Train is Bound for Glory" and "Vacation in Heaven" during the 1956 session, but neither track has surfaced. The released albums contain 46 musical tracks, most of which are incomplete and are interspersed with chatter between the participants. They are not pristine, well rehearsed studio recordings, which were meant for commercial release, but rather the sound of a group of friends gathered to play old favorites and share the pleasure of making music. Bob Johnson described it as "an old fashioned barrel-house session with barber shop harmonies resulting."

Songs

Country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

and country

loom large in the choice of songs. The songs of such

country and Western A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

legends as

Bill Monroe William Smith "Bill" Monroe (; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre take ...

Ernest Tubb Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), m ...

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian-American country music artist. Most popular in the 1950s, he had a career that spanned more than 50 years, he recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on t ...

and

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

are among those featured. Lewis played most of the piano and Presley took nearly all of the lead vocals. The other participants easily follow Presley's lead with what seems a close familiarity with his choice of songs. Critics have remarked on the irony of this as

rock & roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

was branded as satanic music at the time.

took the lead on only "Keeper of the Key" and seemed content to play guitar and supply harmony vocals. He had, however, been singing all afternoon. Clayton Perkins and Jay Perkins and drummer

W. S. Holland W. S. "Fluke" Holland (April 22, 1935 – September 23, 2020) was an American drummer who played with Carl Perkins, and later for Johnny Cash in the bands The Tennessee Three, The Great Eighties Eight, and The Johnny Cash Show Band. Holland ...

can be heard on the earliest titles. The rhythm guitar on the earlier songs was played by Charles Underwood, who was a writer for Phillips's

publishing companies Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

. Presley also brought with him another aspiring singer, Cliff Gleaves, who might be participating on some of the ensemble parts. Jerry Lee Lewis can be heard more frequently, often singing in duet with Presley and at the end of the session, when Presley got up to leave, he swiftly took over the piano and whipped off five piano ravers in rapid succession, including a rousing "

Crazy Arms "Crazy Arms" is an American country song which was a career-making hit for Ray Price. The song, released in May 1956, went on to become a number 1 country hit that year, establishing Price's sound, and redefining honky-tonk music. It was Price's ...

" (his debut Sun single) and a soulful make-over of

's "

You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven Starting as the B-side of Gene Autry's " Mexicali Rose", penned by Autry, 'You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven' was also popular in Hillbilly jukeboxes and radios in the mid-late 1930s. After the Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. (CBS) purcha ...

". Colin Escott, author of the sleeve notes for ''Elvis Presley: The Million Dollar Quartet'', reported that according to Sun employee and session participant Charles Underwood, Presley and Phillips went into the control room while Lewis was playing and Presley commented to Bob Johnson that "

ewis An electrical wiring interconnect system (EWIS) is the wiring system and components (such as bundle clamps, wire splices, etc.) for a complex system. The term originated in the aviation industry but was originally designated as Electrical Interconne ...

could go. I think he has a great future ahead of him. He had a different style and the way he plays piano gets inside me."

's voice does not seem to appear on any of the released tracks. Since his voice is not obvious on the tracks, the point at which Cash arrived at the studio has been a matter of discussion. Carl Perkins and others have stated that Cash was already at the studios when Presley arrived, with Perkins adding that Cash had stopped into the studios to "get some money". Colin Escott reports that according to attendee Bob Johnson (whose article was published in the ''Memphis Press-Scimitar'' the day after the session), Cash joined Presley, Perkins and Lewis on "

Blueberry Hill "Blueberry Hill" is a popular American song published in 1940, best remembered for its 1950s rock and roll version by Fats Domino. The music was written by Vincent Rose, the lyrics by Larry Stock and Al Lewis. It was recorded six times in 1940 ...

" and "Isle Of Golden Dreams". This was confirmed by Carl Perkins in a 1972 interview, when he stated that "we did things like 'Blueberry Hill', 'Island Of Golden Dreams', 'I Won't Have to Cross the Jordan Alone', 'The Old Rugged Cross', '

Peace in the Valley "There'll Be Peace in the Valley for Me" is a 1939 song written by Thomas A. Dorsey, originally for Mahalia Jackson. It was copyrighted by Dorsey under this title on January 25, 1939, though it often appears informally as "Peace in the Valley". ...

', '

Tutti Frutti Tutti frutti (from Italian ''tutti i frutti'', "all fruits"; also hyphenated tutti-frutti) is a colorful confectionery containing various chopped and usually candied fruits, or an artificial or natural flavouring simulating the combined flavour ...

', and 'Big Boss Man'." Of these, only "Peace in the Valley" has been released. Cash himself, in his 1997 book '' Cash: The Autobiography'' commented, "I was there—I was the first to arrive and the last to leave, contrary to what has been written—but I was just there to watch Carl record, which he did until mid-afternoon, when Elvis came in with his girlfriend. At that point the session stopped and we all started laughing and cutting up together. Then Elvis sat down at the piano, and we started singing gospel songs we all knew, then some

songs. Elvis wanted to hear songs Bill had written besides "

Blue Moon of Kentucky "Blue Moon of Kentucky" is a waltz written in 1945 by bluegrass musician Bill Monroe and recorded by his band, the Blue Grass Boys. The song has since been recorded by many artists, including Elvis Presley and Paul McCartney. "Blue Moon of Kentu ...

", and I knew the whole repertoire. So, again contrary to what some people have written, my voice is on the tape. It's not obvious, because I was farthest away from the mic and I was singing a lot higher than I usually did in order to stay in key with Elvis, but I guarantee you, I'm there." Other reports, including one in a very detailed account in

Peter Guralnick Peter Guralnick (born December 15, 1943, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American music critic, author, and screenwriter. He specializes in the history of early rock and roll and has written on Elvis Presley, Sam Phillips, and Sam Cooke. Caree ...

's book, ''Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley'', suggest that Cash stayed for only a short time and then left, possibly to do some Christmas shopping. Colin Escott also reports that Cash might have been brought in for the last part of the session, after

had decided to call the ''Memphis Press Scimitar''. Cash's presence for the entire session might be confirmed, or denied, by four pieces of "chatter" caught on the tapes. In the first, another Sun artist,

Smokey Joe Baugh Joseph Edward Baugh Jr. (July 25, 1932 – November 19, 1999), known as Smokey Joe Baugh or simply Smokey Joe, was an American rockabilly and country singer and pianist. Biography Baugh was born in Helena, Arkansas, and by the age of 14 had ...

, came by and his gravelly voice can be heard after "

I Shall Not Be Moved "I Shall Not Be Moved", also known as "We Shall Not Be Moved", is an African-American slave spiritual, hymn, and protest song dating to the early 19th century American south. It was likely originally sung at revivalist camp-meetings as a slav ...

", saying "You oughta get up a quartet", which could either mean that they should add a fourth, or could also mean that the four of them should become an official quartet. In the second, a female voice can be heard asking if "This

Rover Boys The Rover Boys, or The Rover Boys Series for Young Americans, was a popular juvenile series written by Arthur M. Winfield, a pseudonym for Edward Stratemeyer. Thirty titles were published between 1899 and 1926 and the books remained in print for ...

Trio can sing 'Farther Along'?", which could imply that only three (trio) were present at that point. (Elvis' then girlfriend, Marilyn Evans, confirmed in 2008 that the voice was not hers, though she is later heard requesting the song "End of the Road".): "she quickly nixed the popular theory that she's the one who requested the song 'Farther Along.' 'That's not me,' she said, as the female voice on the recording speaks with an obvious drawl. 'I wouldn't pick up a Southern accent that fast,' she said, chuckling." Yet on the track prior to this Elvis can be heard saying "take it easy, boy" as someone exits the session. In the third piece of chatter, Elvis is plainly heard mentioning Cash by name on the track "As We Travel Along the Jericho Road", at the 0:07 mark, although the form of the reference leaves it ambiguous as to whether Cash was on premises at that point. Finally, Elvis can also be heard saying goodbye to someone named Johnny during the "Elvis Says Goodbye" track that closes the 50th anniversary release which seems to indicate that Presley was present when Cash left the session.

was not the only choice of the participants; they performed "

Home! Sweet Home! "Home, Sweet Home" is a song adapted from American actor and dramatist John Howard Payne's 1823 opera ''Clari, or the Maid of Milan'', the song's melody was composed by Englishman Sir Henry Bishop with lyrics by Payne. Bishop had earlier publ ...

", a sentimental ballad as an energetic

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

clip. They can also be heard turning their attention to the hit parade of the day. Presley led the session with "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind", an

R & B Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

song popularized by the

Five Keys The Five Keys were an American rhythm and blues vocal group who were instrumental in shaping this genre in the 1950s. They were formed with the original name of Sentimental Four in Newport News, Virginia, US, in the late 1940s, and initially consi ...

. Meanwhile, Lewis sings one line of

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

's "Too Much Monkey Business" which leads into Lewis and Presley experimenting with snippets of Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man". Elvis can also be heard singing a snippet of

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

's "Rip It Up" (with a ribald change in the lyric) and

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

's hit of the day, "Don't Forbid Me" which Elvis on the tape claims was first offered to him but the demo "sat around my house" without being played. In addition, Presley previewed material that he was considering for up-coming RCA Victor sessions in January and February 1957. He sang "Is It So Strange", "

", and "

That's When Your Heartaches Begin "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" is a 1937 song by Fred Fisher, William Raskin and Billy Hill. It was recorded and released the same year by Shep Fields Rippling Rhythm. The song first became popular following a 1941 recording by The Ink ...

", which he acknowledges on the tape as having been one of the songs he recorded for Sun during his demo session a couple of years earlier, and which he would record again for RCA Victor a month later. In the case of "Is It So Strange", he comments, "Ol'

Faron Young Faron Young (February 25, 1932 – December 10, 1996) was an American country music producer, musician, and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s. Hits including "If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin')" and " Live Fast, Love Hard, D ...

wrote this song sent to me to record." The title which most critics seem to highlight is Presley's rendition of "

Don't Be Cruel "Don't Be Cruel" is a song that was recorded by Elvis Presley and written by Otis Blackwell in 1956.Victor (2008), ''The Elvis Encyclopedia'', p.115-116 It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was listed #197 in '' Rol ...

", one of his major hits of 1956 (see

1956 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1956. Specific locations * 1956 in British music * 1956 in Norwegian music Specific genres *1956 in country music * 1956 in jazz Events *January 3 – '' Bach: The Goldber ...

). This is not Presley singing Presley, but his imitation of

Jackie Wilson Jack Leroy Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer and performer of the 1950s and 60s. He was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a mas ...

, then the lead singer with Billy Ward and His Dominoes, imitating him. It appears as though the Presley entourage spent a few days in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

(most likely during Presley's short-lived tenure earlier in the year at the Frontier Hotel) and went to watch Wilson, who had obviously built an impersonation of Presley into his act. Presley describes Jackie Wilson tearing up Las Vegas audiences with a house-on-fire rendition of "Don't Be Cruel". He goes on to say that, "He tried so hard until he got much better, boy, much better than that record of mine.... I went back four nights straight and heard that guy do that," he says, imitating Wilson's bluesy smolder and big finish. "He sung the hell out of the song," Elvis can be heard saying with admiration, adding with a laugh, "I was on the table lookin' at him, 'Get 'im off, get 'im off! Obviously on a roll, Presley, then ripped into a slower, sassier version of "Paralyzed", a song recorded for his second album and also released on an extended play 45. He was backed up by Perkins and his trio. According to the ''Rolling Stone'' review of the album, The Complete Million Dollar Session' provides a rare post-Sun glimpse of Elvis Presley momentarily free of the golden shackles of stardom and the manipulative grasp of his manager,

Colonel Tom Parker Thomas Andrew Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 January 21, 1997),

. His singing, especially on the gospel numbers, is natural and relaxed, minus some of the trademark mannerisms of his official RCA releases."Fricke, David
Complete Million Dollar Session
' review, ''Rolling Stone'' (520).'' Archived from th
original
Colin Escott has said, "They mixed and matched their disparate styles – and their innate musicality ensured that what emerged had the rarest of all musical qualities: originality." The surviving members of the Quartet session would reunite several times in years to come, with Cash, Lewis and Perkins uniting in 1982 for the concert album ''

'' and again, in 1985, Perkins, Lewis, Cash and

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

, also a Sun recording artist in 1956, went back into the Sun Studios to record the album ''

Class of '55 ''Class of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming'' is a collaborative studio album by Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash. It was released on May 26, 1986, by America/Smash Records, a subsidiary of Polygram Records. The albu ...

''.

Reunions

* In 1977, Cash, Perkins, Lewis, and

performed " This Train is Bound for Glory", in tribute to Elvis, on the televised ''Johnny Cash Christmas Special''. * ''

'' - a

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

live album featuring

, and

during Johnny Cash's 1981 tour of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. * ''

'' - a 1986 reunion of the surviving members of the "Million Dollar Quartet", this time adding another

alumnus,

; this was actually recorded at the original Memphis Recording Service building. * ''Interviews from the Class of '55 Recording Sessions'' - an album featuring interviews and chatter during the recording of ''Class of '55'', which won the

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for

Best Spoken Word Album The Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album has been awarded since 1959. The award has had several minor name changes: * In 1959 the award was known as Best Performance, Documentary or Spoken Word * From 1960 to 1961 it was awarded as Best Perform ...

in 1987.

Musical

The stage musical ''Million Dollar Quartet'', with a book by

Floyd Mutrux Floyd Mutrux (born June 21, 1941) is an American stage director, stage and film director, writer, producer, and screenwriter. Career He began his work in Hollywood as an uncredited writer for ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' (1971). His career continue ...

and Colin Escott, dramatizes the Million Dollar Quartet session. It premiered at Florida's Seaside Music Theatre and was then staged at

Village Theatre Village Theatre is a major regional theatre located in the Seattle metropolitan area. It is a member of Theatre Puget Sound and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre. The theatre was founded in Issaquah, Washington, in 1979 and built a second lo ...

Issaquah Issaquah ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 40,051 at the 2020 census. Located in a valley and bisected by Interstate 90, the city is bordered by the Sammamish Plateau to the north and the "Issaquah Alp ...

, Washington (a Seattle suburb) in 2007, breaking box office records. The musical opened for a limited run at Chicago's

Goodman Theatre Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the lan ...

on September 27, 2008. Mutrux co-directed the Chicago production with

Eric D. Schaeffer Eric D. Schaeffer is an American theater director and producer based in Arlington, Virginia. He is the co-founder and former Artistic Director of Signature Theatre., and is well known nationally for his re-invention of large American musicals for ...

, of Virginia's Signature Theatre. The show transferred to Chicago's Apollo Theater where it opened on October 31, 2008. The

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production opened at the

Nederlander Theatre The Nederlander Theatre (formerly the National Theatre, the Billy Rose Theatre, and the Trafalgar Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 208 West 41st Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1921, it was desi ...

on April 11, 2010. The Broadway production closed on June 12, 2011 after 489 performances and 34 previews, and then re-opened

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

New World Stages New World Stages is a five-theater, Off-Broadway performing arts complex in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is between 49th and 50th Streets beneath the plaza of the Worldwide Plaza complex at Eighth Avenue. ...

. ''Million Dollar Quartet'' then opened in the West End at the

Noël Coward Theatre The Noël Coward Theatre, formerly known as the Albery Theatre, is a West End theatre in St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster, London. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's ...

on February 28, 2011, with previews from February 8."Million Dollar Quartet Rocks London Beginning Feb. 8"
playbill.com, February 8, 2011. The production closed on January 14, 2012. The Broadway play was nominated for three

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

s in 2010: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical for Escott and Mutrux, and Best Featured Actor in a Musical for

Levi Kreis Levi Kreis (born November 4, 1981) is an American actor and singer from Oliver Springs, Tennessee. In 2010, he won a Tony Award for playing Jerry Lee Lewis in '' Million Dollar Quartet''. Career Music Kreis's debut album, ''One of the Ones'', ...

. Kreis won, marking the show's sole Tony win.

Tracks, writers and duration

#"Instrumental" (Unknown) - 1:44 #" Love Me Tender - Instrumental" (Presley/Matson) - 1:02 #"

Jingle Bells "Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and most commonly sung American songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and published under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in September 1857. It has been claimed th ...

- Instrumental" (

James Lord Pierpont James Lord Pierpont (April 25, 1822 – August 5, 1893)Lewis, DaveJames Pierpont Biography, AllMusic, retrieved December 16, 2011 was an American songwriter , arranger, organist, Confederate States of America, Confederate States soldier, and co ...

) – 1:57 #" White Christmas - Instrumental" (Berlin) - 2:05 #"

Reconsider Baby "Reconsider Baby" is a blues song written and recorded by Lowell Fulson in 1954. Performed in the West Coast blues style, it was Fulson's first record chart hit for Checker Records, a subsidiary of Chess Records. With memorable lyrics and a driv ...

" (Fulsom) - 2:45 #"

" (Presley/Blackwell) - 2:20 #"Don't Be Cruel" (Presley/Blackwell) - 2:12 #"

Paralyzed Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

" (Presley/Blackwell) - 3:00 #"Don't Be Cruel" (Presley/Blackwell) - 0:36 #" There's No Place Like Home" (Payne/Bishop) - 3:36 #" When The Saints Go Marchin´ In" (Traditional) - 2:18 #"Softly and Tenderly" (

Will Lamartine Thompson William Lamartine Thompson (November 7, 1847 – September 20, 1909) was a noted American composer. He founded the W. L. Thompson Music Company and tried his hand with some success at secular compositions before finding his ''forte'' in hymns ...

) - 2:42 #"When God Dips His Love in My Heart" (Derricks) - 0:23 #"Just a Little Talk with Jesus" (Derricks) - 4:09 #"Jesus Walked That Lonesome Valley" (Traditional) - 3:28 #"

" (Traditional) - 3:49 #"

Peace In The Valley "There'll Be Peace in the Valley for Me" is a 1939 song written by Thomas A. Dorsey, originally for Mahalia Jackson. It was copyrighted by Dorsey under this title on January 25, 1939, though it often appears informally as "Peace in the Valley". ...

" (Dorsey) - 1:33 #"

Down By the Riverside "Down by the Riverside" (also known as "Ain't Gonna Study War No More" and "Gonna lay down my burden") is an African-American spiritual. Its roots date back to before the American Civil War, though it was first published in 1918 in ''Plantation ...

" (Traditional) - 2:26 #"I'm with a Crowd But So Alone" (Tubb/Story) - 1:16 #" Farther Along" (Fletcher/Baxter) - 2:08 #"Blessed Jesus (Hold My Hand)" (Traditional) - 1:26 #"On the Jericho Road" (Traditional) - 0:52 #"I Just Can't Make It By Myself" (

Clara Ward Clara Mae Ward (April 21, 1924 – January 16, 1973) was an American gospel singer who achieved great artistic and commercial success during the 1940s and 1950s, as leader of The Famous Ward Singers. A gifted singer and arranger, Ward adopted ...

) - 1:04 #"Little Cabin Home on the Hill" (

Lester Flatt Lester Raymond Flatt (June 19, 1914 – May 11, 1979) was an American bluegrass guitarist and mandolinist, best known for his collaboration with banjo picker Earl Scruggs in the duo Flatt and Scruggs. Flatt's career spanned multiple decades, ...

) - 0:46 #"Summertime Is Past and Gone" (Monroe) - 0:14 #" I Hear a Sweet Voice Calling" (Monroe) - 0:36 #"Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong" (Monroe) - 0:28 #"Keeper of the Key (Carl Lead)" (Stewart/Howard/Devine/Guynes) - 2:08 #"

" (Mooney/Seals) - 0:17 #"

Don't Forbid Me "Don't Forbid Me" is a popular song by Charles Singleton. Among Singleton's huge number of compositions was "Tryin' to Get to You", which had previously been recorded by Elvis Presley at Sun Records. In 1957, "Don't Forbid Me" was a number 1 hit ...

" (Singleton) - 1:19 #"

Too Much Monkey Business "Too Much Monkey Business" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry, released by Chess Records in September 1956 as his fifth single. It was also released as the third track on his first solo LP, ''After School Session'', in May 1957; and as ...

" (Berry) - 0:05 #"

Brown Eyed Handsome Man "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" is a rock and roll song written and recorded by Chuck Berry, originally released by Chess Records in September 1956 as the B-side of "Too Much Monkey Business." It was also included on Berry's 1957 debut album, ''After ...

" (Berry) - 1:14 #"Out of Sight, Out of Mind" (Hunter/Otis) - 0:37 #"Brown Eyed Handsome Man" (Berry) - 1:53 #"Don't Forbid Me" (Singleton) - 0:50 #"

You Belong to My Heart "You Belong to My Heart" is the name of an English-language version of the Mexican Bolero song "Solamente una vez" (''Only Once'', in English). This song was composed by Mexican songwriter Agustín Lara and originally performed by singer Ana Marí ...

" (Gilbert/Lara) - 1:10 #"Is It So Strange" (Young) - 1:21 #"

" (Hill/Fisher/Raskin) - 4:58 #"Brown Eyed Handsome Man" (Berry) - 0:17 #" Rip It Up" (Blackwell/Marascalco) - 0:23 #"I'm Gonna Bid My Blues Goodbye" (Snow) - 0:55 #"Crazy Arms" (Mooney/Seals) - 3:36 #"

That's My Desire "That's My Desire" is a 1931 popular song with music by Helmy Kresa and lyrics by Carroll Loveday. The highest-charting version of the song was recorded by the Sammy Kaye orchestra in 1946, although a version of the song recorded by Frankie Lai ...

" (Loveday/Kresa) - 2:02 #" End of the Road" (Lewis) - 1:44 #"

Black Bottom Stomp "Black Bottom Stomp" is a jazz composition. It was composed by Jelly Roll Morton in 1925 and was originally entitled "Queen of Spades". It was recorded in Chicago by Morton and His Red Hot Peppers, for Victor Records on September 15, 1926. __TOC ...

" (

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton ...

) - 1:11 #"

" (Autry) - 1:12 #Elvis Says Goodbye - 0:40

References

External links

Million Dollar Quartet: official website of the stage production
{{Authority control 1950s disestablishments in Tennessee 1956 establishments in Tennessee December 1956 events in the United States Elvis Presley Johnny Cash Musical groups disestablished in the 1950s Musical groups established in 1956 Rockabilly Sun Records artists Supergroups (music)