Carl Perkins - Legacy

Legacy

A strong advocate for the prevention of child abuse, Carl Perkins worked with the Jackson Exchange Club to establish the first center for the prevention of child abuse in Tennessee and the fourth in the nation. Proceeds from a concert planned by Perkins were combined with a grant from the National Exchange Club to establish the Prevention of Child Abuse in October 1981. For years its annual Circle of Hope Telethon generated one quarter of the center's annual operating budget. Perkins collaborated on a 1996 biography, Go, Cat, Go, with New York–based music writer David McGee. Plans for a biographical film were announced by Santa Monica-based production company Fastlane Entertainment. was slated for release in 2009.

During 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Perkins number 99 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

His version of "Blue Suede Shoes" was included by the National Recording Preservation Board in the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2006.

The Perkins family still owns his songs, which are administered by former Beatle Paul McCartney's company MPL Communications.

Drive-By Truckers, on their album The Dirty South, recorded "Carl Perkins's Cadillac" that has a history of the artist and his relationships.

George Thorogood & the Destroyers covered "Dixie Fried" on their 1985 album, Maverick. The Kentucky Headhunters also covered the song as did Keith de Groot on a 1968 album entitled No Introduction Necessary that featured Jimmy Page on lead guitar and John Paul Jones on bass.

Ricky Nelson covered Perkins's "Boppin' The Blues" and "Your True Love" on his 1957 debut album Ricky.

Perkins was portrayed by Johnny Saint Holiday in the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line.

Perkins's first-born son Stan Perkins is a recording artist as well. In 2010, Stan joined forces with Jerry Naylor to record a duet tribute to Carl, “To Carl; Let it Vibrate.” Stan Perkins has been inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.