On December 4th, 1956, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins all happened to meet at the Sun Records studio in Memphis, Tennesse, where they had all had their start. They then played together in an impromptu jam session, which Sun Records owner, Sam Phillips dubbed the “Million Dollar Quartet.” Colin Escott later lionized this event in his musical by the same name, which we saw in 2017. Apparently, Escott has taken another dip at the well, with his Million Dollar Quartet Christmas show that we saw last night.
Back in ’56, Sam had rolled tape that fateful afternoon, from which several albums ensued. Phillips had also snapped photos of this gathering, “Because otherwise no one was going to believe that this ever happened.” The most popular version of that shot is on the left and shows a closeup of the quartet around the piano. The actual photo has a wider angle that included Marylin Evans, Elvis’s girlfriend at the time, sitting on the piano beside the four. The quartet had primarily played old gospel songs, because those were the only ones that they all knew, but in Escott’s retelling of this event it is almost all rock and roll. With twenty-two tunes in that show, there are way too many to enumerate.
That December was a hard time for Sam Phillips and Sun Records. He had already sold Presley’s contract to RCA just to keep his business afloat and Cash’s contract was ending. Perkins had all but faded, Sam only hot prospect left was Jerry Lee Lewis. And boy did he know it. Lewis and his ego have a gift for getting under people’s skin and riling everyone’s tempers. In this retelling of a retelling, Marylin steps forward to sooth those ruffled feathers and bring a little Christmas cheer. The original musical replaced gospel music with rock-and-roll and in this new one, rock-and-roll is replaced with Christmas music, with a Sun Records touch, Mele Kalikimaka was not ever on my dance card.
Even with all of this holiday cheer, the second act draws to a downbeat close. Elvis has just gotten his draft notice. Meaning he and the rest of the quartet are set to go their separate ways. As they began to file out the door to the tune of a Presley ballad, a whole third act/encore is cut loose. First bringing the audience to their feet, only to then be told to sit down again and stay awhile longer. It was a great show that sure as heck beat another retelling of a Christmas Carol.