Dec. 3rd – The Million Dollar Quartet

Exactly 69 years ago, something magical happened in a tiny studio on Union Avenue in Memphis. Sun Studio, the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll, became the stage for an impromptu jam session that would go down in music history. Elvis Presley, already a national sensation, had dropped by to record some tunes. But fate had bigger plans: Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis were all in the building that day. There is only one “official” photo of that amazing day.

What followed wasn’t a scheduled recording session, it was pure, unscripted rock ‘n’ roll chaos. As one account recalls, when Elvis walked in and moved over so Jerry Lee Lewis could take the piano, Elvis laughed and said: “The wrong man’s been sitting here at this piano.” Jerry Lee shot back: “Well, I been wanting to tell you that all along.” They sang gospel, blues, and country-tinged rockabilly, laughing, teasing each other, and even challenging one another to musical duels.

The session was so spontaneous that the studio engineer, Jack Clement, thought to himself: “I think I’d be remiss not to record this.” So he hit “record,” capturing the moment for posterity. Songs like “Blue Suede Shoes” and “That’s All Right” came alive in a way that captured the raw excitement of 1950s Memphis.

The recordings weren’t meant to be released; they were discovered 25 years later and compiled as The Million Dollar Quartet, giving fans a rare glimpse of what it looked and sounded like when four pioneers of rock collided in one room. For one afternoon in 1956, rock ‘n’ roll royalty jammed together like friends in a living room, and the world would eventually realize just how priceless that moment really was.

Doug O’Brien