Matchbox

"Matchbox"
Single by Carl Perkins
B-side	"Your True Love"
Released	1957
Format	7" Vinyl
Label	Sun Records
Writer(s)	Carl Perkins

"Matchbox" is a rock and roll and rockabilly song written by Carl Perkins and first recorded by him at Sun Records in December of 1956 and released on February 11, 1957 as a 45 single on Sun Records. It has become one of Perkins' best-known recordings. The song "Match Box Blues" has a long history, including the 12-bar blues recorded by Blind Lemon Jefferson in 1927. Perkins' "Matchbox" has been followed by many cover versions, notably by The Beatles.

Perkins' "Matchbox"

On December 4, 1956 Carl Perkins recorded a song called "Matchbox." After recording "Your True Love," Perkins's father Buck suggested that he do "Matchbox Blues". Buck knew only a few of the lines of the song, particularly a verse from one of the 1927 recordings by Jefferson, which he had likely heard either in the cotton fields or on the radio, or from a recording or performance by country musicians the Shelton Brothers, who recorded the song twice in the 1930s, and again in 1947.

As Perkins sang the few words his father had suggested, Jerry Lee Lewis, who was at that time a session piano player at Sun Studios, began a restrained boogie-woogie riff. Carl began picking out a melody on the guitar and improvised lyrics.^[1]

Perkins maintained that he had never heard Jefferson's "Match Box Blues" when he recorded "Matchbox." Jefferson's song is about a mean spirited woman; Perkins' was about a lovelorn "poor boy" with limited prospects.^[1]

Perkins performed the song on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee on February 2, 1957.

"Match Box Blues" history

Although Lemon Jefferson was the first to record "Match Box Blues" under that title, in 1927, Ma Rainey had earlier recorded the famous line in her 1923 recording of "Lost Wandering Blues":

"I'm leaving this morning, with my clothes in my hand

"I won't stop to wandering, till I find my man

"I'm sitting here wondering', will a matchbox hold my clothes

"I've got a sun to beat, I'll be farther down the road." [1]

In "Screening the Blues," Paul Oliver stated that both Rainey and Jefferson "may have absorbed [the line] from traditional usage." [2]

As later developed, the song consists of traditional blues lyrics that open with the initial verse:

"I'm sittin' here wonderin', will a matchbox hold my clothes (2X)

"I ain't got no matches but I still got a long way to go."

This verse is the only one common to all versions of the song.

The Beatles

The Beatles were fans of Perkins and began performing the song circa 1961. Their then-drummer, Pete Best, performed the lead vocals, but no studio recording featuring Best singing the song is known to exist although a live recording with Best on vocals does exist. In 1962, John Lennon sang the song during a performance at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; a recording of this exists and was included on Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962.

The next year, The Beatles performed "Matchbox" with Ringo Starr on lead vocals for their BBC radio show, and this version would be included on the Live at the BBC album. Starr also got to sing lead vocals on it when it was recorded in 1964. There are suggestions that Perkins may have been present in the studio at that time. As was usually the case, all instruments on the song are played by The Beatles themselves, with the exception of the piano, which was played by producer George Martin. George Harrison plays 12-string rhythm guitar, while Lennon plays the lead guitar riffs and solo. (Starr even says on the "Live at the BBC" version, "All right, John!") "Matchbox" appeared on the Long Tall Sally EP in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it appeared on the Something New album, and was released as a single on August 24, 1964, which reached number seventeen on the Billboard pop singles chart. "Matchbox" reached number six on the Canadian CHUM Hit Parade charts in 1964. It was also included on the Past Masters compilation.

Silver Wilburys

Carl Perkins' "Matchbox," along with "Blue Suede Shoes," "Honey Don't," and "Gone, Gone, Gone," was performed live on February 19, 1987 at the Palomino Club in North Hollywood, California by George Harrison, Bob Dylan, John Fogerty, Taj Mahal, and Jesse Ed Davis. This performance was filmed and recorded. The assembled musicians were dubbed the Silver Wilburys.

Notes

External links

• "Matchbox Blues" history
• Samples of the many versions of "Matchbox Blues"