Carl Perkins- Jerry Lee Lewis- Roy Orbison- Johnny Cash – Class of ’55
Dave Hjortland | Published on 9/26/2023
Carl Perkins- Jerry Lee Lewis- Roy Orbison- Johnny Cash: Class of ’55
By Dave Hjortland
Billed as a “Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming,” four giants of country music combined their talents as a one-off super-group to produce this killer record, with several other big names contributing. With all the star power involved here there was considerable hoopla surrounding this production. It’s making was filmed by Dick Clark Productions and Clark did a TBS special with the footage, a music video was done of the lead cut, and other industry media coverage was heavy. An album of just interviews with the performers won a 1986 Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album. (I must thank Wikipedia for calling that to my attention...)
Maybe not every song here is a winner, depending on your taste, but this is indisputably a really strong album by guys who – let’s face it – knew what they were doing! And you get the sense that egos were set aside for the purpose of furthering the music. The four principals had all begun their careers at Sam Phillip’s Sun Studios in the 1950’s, and that is where most of the album was recorded. The title cut purports to be an ode to a lost love from a class of that year. “We Remember the King” is an easy-flowing, thoughtful song about Elvis on which Cash sings lead vocal. “Rock and Roll” is a fun and rockin’ number – a highlight of the album, “Keep My Motor Running” is another kick-it-out triumph, lead by Perkins. Much ink has been spilled over the final cut, John Fogerty’s “Big Train from Memphis.” It’s another straight-ahead rocker, with backing vocals by several folks including Fogerty, June Carter Cash, Dave Edmunds, and Rick Nelson.
However my nomination for best song on the album has to be the lead cut, the one chosen for that music video, “Birth of Rock and Roll.” If this doesn’t get you moving and groovin’, do check your pulse to make sure you’re still among the living.
Production isn’t absolutely fantastic, but it is damn good. I haven’t heard the CD so can’t attest to its sound quality, but that rendered by my LP is excellent. (LP & CD, Polygram, 1986)