Class of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming

Class of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming
Class of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming
Studio album by Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins
Released	May 26, 1986
Recorded	September 17–20, 1985
Studio	Sun Studio (Memphis, Tennessee); American Studio (Memphis, Tennessee);
Genre	Country; rockabilly; rock and roll; gospel;
Length	37:14
Label	America/Smash
Producer	Chips Moman
Roy Orbison chronology
Johnny Cash chronology
Jerry Lee Lewis chronology
Carl Perkins chronology
Singles from Class of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming
	"Rock and Roll (Fais-Do-Do)"; Released: July 1986;

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[2]

Class of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming is a collaborative studio album by Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins. It was released on May 26, 1986, by America/Smash Records, a subsidiary of Polygram Records. The album was produced by Chips Moman.

While the album was in part a tribute to Elvis Presley, it was mainly a commemoration of those young performing hopefuls, the four album participants, who — as had Presley — all began their careers with Sun Records in the 1950s. Recorded at Sam Phillips' Sun Studios and completed at American Sound Studios, the album was documented by Dick Clark Productions, which filmed it from start to finish; by The Commercial Appeal, the Mid-South's largest circulation newspaper; and by Nine-O-One Network Magazine, the first edition of which was sold with the album in a telemarketing package.^[3]

The final song of the session, "Big Train (from Memphis)", written by John Fogerty, includes the blended voices of John Fogerty, The Judds, Dave Edmunds, Ricky Nelson, Sam Phillips, and June Carter Cash. Fogerty told a reporter that he was thinking about the old Sun Records sound when he wrote the song.^[4] The extended finale of the song features the singers singing lines from various Sun Records songs, including "That's All Right Mama", "Blue Suede Shoes," "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", "Folsom Prison Blues" and others.

Producer Chips Moman encountered a major issue following the recording sessions, as Cash was still under contract to Columbia Records at the time and proper permissions had not been obtained. Faced with the possibility of having to remove Cash's voice from the recordings, Moman paid Columbia $100,000 for the rights to keep Cash on the record.^[5] At this time, the America/Smash label was affiliated with PolyGram, which in turn also owned Mercury Records to which Cash would sign shortly after recording Class of '55.

The recorded "Interviews from the Class of '55 Recording Sessions," written and produced by Rose Clayton, earned the 1986 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for the four performers, plus for producer Chips Moman, Sam Phillips and Ricky Nelson. For Nelson, it was his last recording session and only Grammy Award of his career.

A music video from Perkins' "Birth of Rock and Roll," starring Perkins, Lewis, and Ron Wood of The Rolling Stones, promoted the "Class Of '55."

Cash, Lewis and Perkins had previously collaborated in 1956 with the Million Dollar Quartet and in 1982 with The Survivors Live.

Dick Clark hosted a TV special with footage of the studio sessions aired on TBS in 1989.^[6]

After being out of print for decades, the album was re-released separately and as part of the Cash box set “The Complete Mercury Recordings: 1986-1991.”^[7]

Reception

Steve Huey of AllMusic said it "include renditions of Perkins' "Birth of Rock and Roll," "Sixteen Candles," Waylon Jennings' "Waymore's Blues," Cash's "I Will Rock and Roll With You," and John Fogerty's "Big Train (From Memphis)."^[1]

Billboard selected the album for a "Country Spotlight" review, and stated that "The songs effectively blend standards with worshipful derivatives"^[8]

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Artist(s)	Length
1.	"Birth of Rock and Roll"	Carl Perkins, Greg Perkins	Carl Perkins	4:21
2.	"Sixteen Candles"	Luther Dixon, Allyson Khent	Jerry Lee Lewis	3:48
3.	"Class of '55"	Chips Moman, Bobby Emmons	Carl Perkins	2:56
4.	"Waymore's Blues"	Waylon Jennings, Curtis Buck	Perkins, Lewis, Orbison & Cash	2:25
5.	"We Remember the King"	Paul Kennerley	Johnny Cash	2:58

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Artist(s)	Length
1.	"Coming Home"	Roy Orbison, Will Jennings, JD Souther	Roy Orbison	3:59
2.	"Rock and Roll (Fais-Do-Do)"	Michael Smotherman	Perkins, Lewis, Orbison & Cash	3:17
3.	"Keep My Motor Running"	Randy Bachman	Jerry Lee Lewis	2:52
4.	"I Will Rock and Roll with You"	Johnny Cash	Johnny Cash	2:01
5.	"Big Train (from Memphis)"	John Fogerty	Perkins, Lewis, Orbison & Cash	7:56

Personnel

Johnny Cash — vocals, rhythm guitar
Carl Perkins — vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar
Jerry Lee Lewis — vocals, piano
Roy Orbison — vocals
Jack Clement, Marty Stuart — background vocals, guitar
Reggie Young, Bob Wootton, Kenneth Lovelace, J. R. Cobb — guitar
Memphis Strings — strings
Ace Cannon, Wayne Jackson, Jack Hale, Jr., Bob Lewin — horns
Bobby Emmons — keyboards, Synclavier
Bobby Wood — Keyboard
Mike Leech, Bob Moore — bass
Gene Chrisman, WS Holland, Buddy Harman — drums
Toni Wine, Paul Davis, Dan Penn, Rebecca Evans, Chips Moman, Reba Russell — backing vocals
Sam Philips, June Carter Cash, John Fogerty, Dave Edmunds, The Judds, Rick Nelson — backing vocals on "Big Train (From Memphis)"

Charts

Album - Billboard (United States)

Chart (1986)	Peak position
Top Country Albums	15^[9]
Billboard 200	87^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b Huey, Steve. "Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins - Class of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming: Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 1062. ISBN 9781846098567. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
^ Dickerson, James L.(1996) “Goin’ Back to Memphis: A Century of Blues, Rock ‘n’ Roll, and Glorious Soul,” Schirmer/Simon & Schuster ISBN 0-02-864506-5
^ Dickerson, Jim (1986) "The Sun Session: Together Again in Memphis," Nine-O-One Network Magazine
^ Robert Hilburn, Johnny Cash: The Life. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2013, p.506
^ RocknRollArchive1 (20 May 2013). "Coming Home: A Rockin' Reunion (1989)". Archived from the original on 2021-12-13 – via YouTube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ "Johnny Cash's Mercury Albums Collected on Massive New Box Set". Rolling Stone. 6 March 2020.
^ "Billboard Country Spotlight: Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis - Class of '55". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 22. May 31, 1986. p. 60.
^ ^a ^b "Carl Perkins: Chart History". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved January 13, 2024.

[AllMusic-1] Huey, Steve. "Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins - Class of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming: Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-10-13.

[2] Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 1062. ISBN 9781846098567. Retrieved 29 August 2024.

[3] Dickerson, James L.(1996) “Goin’ Back to Memphis: A Century of Blues, Rock ‘n’ Roll, and Glorious Soul,” Schirmer/Simon & Schuster ISBN 0-02-864506-5

[4] Dickerson, Jim (1986) "The Sun Session: Together Again in Memphis," Nine-O-One Network Magazine

[5] Robert Hilburn, Johnny Cash: The Life. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2013, p.506

[6] RocknRollArchive1 (20 May 2013). "Coming Home: A Rockin' Reunion (1989)". Archived from the original on 2021-12-13 – via YouTube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[7] "Johnny Cash's Mercury Albums Collected on Massive New Box Set". Rolling Stone. 6 March 2020.

[8] "Billboard Country Spotlight: Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis - Class of '55". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 22. May 31, 1986. p. 60.

[Carl_Perkins_Billboard-9] "Carl Perkins: Chart History". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved January 13, 2024.

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