Million Dollar Quartet

I went out to see this musical last night, but it might as well been a concert with some talking in between.  I never knew the whole story behind this picture, but one night Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley were all at Sun Records at the same time.  What happened was Carl Perkins was set to record on December 4, 1956, and Elvis Presley stopped in for a casual visit.  Jerry Lee Lewis was brought in to fatten the sound of Carl Perkins with his fantastic piano playing.  Johnny Cash made a pop in visit as well, so all four men decided to jam a little and it happened to get recorded to tape.  Talk about the meeting of the minds.  Four of music's biggest stars in once place at one time.  It was told very well with the addition of some plot where Sam Phillips, head of Sun Records, was trying to get Johnny Cash to resign with him for three more years.  Cash actually ended up going to Columbia Records and couldn't resign.  Perkins would join Cash on Columbia as well. The best part of this musical was that all the guys played the songs and played the instruments.  It was like you could step back into time and really see these guys playing together.  That was a rather enjoyable part about it. I'm not a huge fan of the music, but the idea that this night really happened excites me.  It makes me think about how Pet Sounds was created by the Beach Boys, which John Lennon and Paul McCartney were invited to a listening party for.  After they heard that, they went to make Sgt. Peppers.  It's funny how music will work like that. You always want to up the competition.  You want to create something more special than everyone else.  This night was something special and there was even the rough recording of the Million Dollar Quarter playing at the end.