It was written by Carl Perkins in 1955 and ushered in a music era known as “rockabilly”.  Perkins was playing a dance somewhere when, during a break between songs, he heard some guy sternly warn his dance partner, “Uh-uh, don’t step on the suedes”.  Carl looked down and noted the jerk had on blue suede shoes (now with a scuff mark) and thought, “this great-looking gal and all he’s worried about are his shoes.”  Hey, Carl…. they’re blue suedes, man!  Such was the inspiration for this song.

Recording cover versions of songs was standard practice during the 50’s, and RCA wanted it’s new recording artist, one Elvis Presley, to cut another version of “blue suede”.  This song and “Heartbreak Hotel” rose on the charts at roughly the same time.  There was some “discussion”  between Carl Perkins and Presely over who was going to release it first and score the hit, but Elvis eventually gave in to pressure from RCA.

You can click on the play button above and hear my rendition.  Obviously I’m no Elvis, but the tune lends itself well to mediocre singers.  In other words, anybody can do this one.  Karaoke, anyone?  I tried to keep it as “rockabilly” as I could, using two different guitar voices on my Yamaha.  It usually goes over pretty well on a job so, if you don’t have a band, try this sequence.  The midi sequence and the MP3 version are on the Pop/Rock list.  Go, Cat, Go!