What do you get when Cash jams with Blue Suede Shoes? And what would it sound like if Elvis did the vocals for See you Later Alligator? Sounds like a recipe that would come out of a modern mash up of recording technology, but it's not. No, this is the sound of the
Million Dollar Quartet, the name given to a line up that formed for one impromptu day in a small recording studio in Memphis that included
Elvis Presley,
Johnny Cash,
Jerry Lee Lewis and
Carl Perkins.
This unplanned jam session between greats happened on the 4th of December 1956 in the studios of
Sun Records. Elvis was already huge,
in the musical sense, and had left Sun Records – he was just dropping in to pick up a cheque – and Johnny Cash had had a couple of hits as well, but the others hadn't quite made it. Yet. Carl Perkins was the one who was supposed to be recording on the day, with Jerry Lee Lewis supporting on piano, but when the others dropped in and started joining in with renditions of some of their own hits as well as plenty of old gospel and blues numbers then history was made. And Sun's engineer on that day captured some of it to tape.
Million Dollar Quartet, the musical,
or to be more precise, the jukebox musical, brings that day to life – but of course with a bit more showmanship. So maybe it's more correct to say that it brings the idea of that day to life. The idea that even though some of these guys were huge stars, it was still largely about the music. And getting together was an opportunity to try out some new sounds and try on some other people's songs. So this show is a celebration of the pioneers of rock and roll, from Sam Phillips, who owned the studio and cut some of the first rock and roll records, to the voices behind them.
This quartet is a pretty hard act to follow – even when you have the added bonus of working with their own songs and listening to recordings of the greats – 'cause this cast is 'playing', as in emulating, Elvis, Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, remember. The men as well as the sounds - but the cast do a good job of both. If you're too young to have experienced the real thing (as in a young Elvis concert), then this is a great opportunity to get as close as possible. If you have, then you'll have memories of the show that Million Dollar Quartet: A Musical will have to compete with, but just sit back and enjoy the toe tapping renditions of gems like
Great Balls of Fire, Hound Dog, Walk the Line, Blue Suede Shoes, See you Later Alligator, Riders in the Sky, and
Folsom Prison Blues.
