Song #43 on the Popdose Top 100 Covers list is “Blue Suede Shoes”, originally by Carl Perkins and covered by Elvis Presley. Here’s the original:
And here’s Elvis:
I’m just going to quote the Popdose writer here, because I can’t add anything to this:
“Blue Suede Shoes”” is such an early rock song that it seems definitive. It was the first big hit for the first big rocker, Elvis Presley. It was also a cover, written by rockabilly star Carl Perkins. Perkins was always bitter that Presley got the stardom that he wanted, although he was no slouch; the rights were controlled by Sam Perkins, so neither singer made much money off of it. This was my number one pick because it’s fascinating that the earliest rock song was a cover, involved a feud, and had rights that belonged to someone other than the writer. Is there anything more rock and roll?
Indeed.
It’s no big thing, but I think the Popdose writer misidentified the rights holder here: “the rights were controlled by Sam Perkins.”
I’m pretty sure he or she meant Sam Phillips of Sun Records.