Carl Perkins - Silver Eagle Cross Country (1997)

Recorded live at New York's Lone Star Cafe on June 25, 1983, this show -- originally broadcast nationwide -- captures Carl Perkins in excellent form before a highly enthusiastic audience. Perkins was still going strong in the early '80s. He was always more complex a performer than any one of his songs would have indicated, and the repertory here shows why, juxtaposing an ebullient "Got My Mojo Working" between "Matchbox" and "Gone, Gone, Gone." "Blue Suede Shoes," "Dixie Fried," and "Honey Don't" are also here, along with "High Heel Sneakers" and Perkins' cover of Arthur Crudup's "That's Alright." The sound is excellent, and the only drawbacks are that the band is never identified, and that the disc runs a mere 44 minutes -- one wishes he could've worked in a few more numbers.