{"id":1600,"date":"2026-05-13T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?p=1600"},"modified":"2026-05-13T16:22:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T20:22:18","slug":"the-story-behind-the-jam-session-dubbed-the-million-dollar-quartet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/the-story-behind-the-jam-session-dubbed-the-million-dollar-quartet\/","title":{"rendered":"The Story Behind the Jam Session Dubbed the Million Dollar Quartet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Perhaps no jam session was as iconic as the Million Dollar Quartet<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 4, 1956, four of the era’s biggest musicians\u2014Elvis Presley<\/a>, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash\u2014came together by chance for an impromptu jam session at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It began with Perkins. He had already had a hit almost a year prior with “Blue Suede Shoes”. He was in the studio to record his version of “Matchbox,” an old blues song, along with his brothers Clayton and Jay, plus drummer W.S. Holland. But the group needed a piano player. So, Perkins called one of Sun Records’ newest artists, Jerry Lee Lewis, whose first album had been released just three days prior. He was paid $15 for the session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Country icon and label mate Johnny Cash was also at Sun Records that day. And he happened to stop by the studio where Perkins and Lewis were recording. So did Elvis Presley, who was home for Christmas and stopped by unannounced to see Sun Records’ owner, Sam Phillips. Presley had recently left Sun Records for RCA Victor and had released his first single with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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