On Dec. 4, 1956, rock 'n' roll icons Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins gathered for a one-time-only recording session in Memphis at Sun Records. Twenty-five years later, the tape of the session was discovered, leading to the release of 17 tracks and oft-repeated tales of what is considered perhaps the greatest jam session ever.
Last night, an Anchorage audience relived this chance encounter, cheering all the way.
The plot is not complicated, but the setup is. Let's review. Sun Records owner Sam Phillips is faced with a difficult choice: rebuild his music label or jump ship to RCA, to whom he had foolishly sold the contract of Elvis Presley only a year earlier, precipitating Sun's recent fall.
To save Sun Records, Phillips plans to re-sign rising star Johnny Cash while resurrecting the career of Carl Perkins, whose hit "Blue Suede Shoes" became associated with Elvis after a television appearance. So Phillips sets up a recording session for Perkins, inviting upstart piano player Jerry Lee Lewis to join and also encouraging Cash to come along.
Elvis, visiting Memphis with his new flame Dyanne, stops by as well. This completes the unlikely quartet. Accompanied by the rest of Perkins' band (and, apparently, family), the quartet takes turns playing songs as Sun Records' balance hangs in the future. Two brief plot points later, the show is done.
Performed without an intermission, this musical focuses more on the music than the story. But as long as you like rock 'n' roll, that's just fine.
Crowd pleasers like "Folsom Prison Blues," "Great Balls of Fire" and "Blue Suede Shoes" are highlights on the playlist. But the show also managed to perform basic fan service during the sparse dialogue; at one point, Elvis bemoans his recent visit to Nevada, saying, "I swear I'll never play Vegas again." The Atwood Concert Hall shook with appreciation.
The main character of this story is label owner Phillips, but the heart of the production is Jerry Lee Lewis. Trying to prove that he belongs among already-established stars, Lewis acts out frequently during the session, stealing the actual show. All energy and bravado, Lewis finally describes rock 'n' roll as "temptation, fornication, damnation!"
But if you like the idea of attending a rock 'n' roll concert for 95 minutes, expect none of those three things. Just satisfaction.