Carl Perkins - Jet Propelled: The 1978 Comeback (2003)

This comeback recording by Carl Perkins in 1978 was a huge success in England and in the rest of Europe, where it constituted a rejuvenation of his touring as well as appearances on television and radio (the second disc here is a BBC interview and performance session). In the United States, Ol' Blue Suede's Back, coming as it did nary a year after the death of former Sun labelmate Elvis Presley, flopped: most U.S. rock fans were still digging ELO and Boston with the exception of a few small enclaves where punk was undoing all that. In any case, this double-disc reissue offers not only the album as released (a previous Jet reissue of Ol' Blue Suede's Back restored the original Perkins narration between tracks and would have been welcomed on this set), along with the aforementioned interview and live session. As if that weren't enough, this baby's got one more thing for those who loved Ol' Blue Suede's Back: a 1979 followup record that was never issued. The latter recording featured three Perkins originals, including the opening rock & roll jam "The Hurt Put on by You," a version of Hank Williams' rockabilly version of "Goodnight Irene," and "Mustang Wine," an early demo written by struggling songwriter Steve Earle for Perkins. Jet Propelled: The 1978 Comeback is far from perfect but it does illustrate that Ol' Blue Suede's Back was not the end of Perkins' fire or his ability to cut a decent record.