The Million Dollar Quartet
The Million Dollar Quartet weren't a group in any normal sense, but were initially more of a photo opportunity and then a freewheeling after-hours jam session between Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash that took place at Sam Phillips' Sun Studios in Memphis on December 4, 1956. It was formally a Carl Perkins session, with Jerry Lee Lewis sitting in as the piano player. At some point Presley and Cash stopped by to observe, and Phillips, recognizing a photo op when he saw one, called a local news photographer, who snapped a photograph of the four musicians gathered around a piano.
The picture ran the next day in the Memphis Press-Scimitar with the caption "The Million Dollar Quartet." The Perkins session morphed into an impromptu jam after the photographer left, and Phillips fortunately kept the tape running as the four musicians ran through some 40 songs ranging from gospel spirituals and country standards to covers of Bill Monroe and Chuck Berry songs (or in other words, most of the ingredients that went into the creation of rock & roll). There is some debate as to whether Cash was actually there for the jam (he claims he was in his autobiography), and most of the singing is Presley's, but the joyous spontaneity and the fly-on-the-wall feel of the occasion makes these tapes fascinating listening.
The first bootlegs of the session appeared in 1980, with Charly Records officially releasing a 17-song set in 1981. More tapes were subsequently found (in all, three reels have been located to date) and Charly issued a double-LP set with 41 tracks from the session in 1987. The caption from the publicity photo, the Million Dollar Quartet, has stood the test of time and is now forever linked to these four musicians and to one of the most famous jam sessions in the history of pop music.
© Steve Leggett /TiVo
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Discography
20 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry-Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash: The Million Dollar Quartet Sessions
Pop - Released by Rendez-Vous Digital on 12 Apr 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Million Dollar Quartet Selected Hits Vol. 1
Rock - Released by Charly Records on 12 Jun 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
On December 4th 1956….. (Remastered)
Pop - Released by Play Digital on 28 Jan 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Complete Million Dollar Quartet
Country - Released by Synergie OMP on 17 Jul 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Million Dollar Quartet - [The Dave Cash Collection]
Country - Released by The Dave Cash Collection - OMP on 9 May 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
You Belong to My Heart
Country - Released by Supreme Media on 1 Oct 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jerry's Boogie
Jazz - Released by Red Cab Records on 24 Mar 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
You Belong to My Heart
Country - Released by Firefly Entertainment on 2 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Shall Not Be Moved
Rock - Released by Top Tracks on 30 Oct 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Shall Not Be Moved
Rock - Released by Diamond Days on 5 May 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Keeper Of The Key
Country - Released by Diamond Days on 5 May 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Million Dollar Quartet
Rock - Released by H&H Music Ltd on 17 Jul 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
When The Saint's Go Marching In
Jazz - Released by Red Cab Records on 24 Mar 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Million Dollar Quartet
Rock - Released by Legend World Music OMP on 26 Jul 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Keeper of the Key
Country - Released by Top Tracks on 30 Oct 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
At the End of the Road
Rock - Released by Supreme Media on 2 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Session Out-Takes
Rock - Released by Orange Leisure on 27 Sep 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Million Dollar Quartet
Country - Released by Synergie OMP on 17 Jul 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Is It So Strange
Country - Released by Firefly Entertainment on 5 May 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rip it Up
Rock - Released by Firefly Entertainment on 5 May 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo