Editing Piano Red (section)

===1950s–1960s===
In 1950, after spending the previous 14 years upholstering and playing music on weekends, Perryman recorded "Rockin' with Red" and "Red's Boogie" at the [[WGKA|WGST]] radio studios in Atlanta for [[RCA Records|RCA Victor]].<ref name="LarkinBlues"/> Both songs became national hits, reaching numbers five and three, respectively, on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|R&B]] chart, and "Rockin' with Red" has since been [[cover version|covered]] many times under many titles. This success, along with the further hits "The Wrong Yo Yo" (allegedly written by Speckled Red), "Laying the Boogie" and "Just Right Bounce", allowed him to resume an active performing schedule. He also recorded sessions in New York City and [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]] during the early 1950s.

Red played for white teenagers' high school parties in people's homes in Atlanta. Patrons would arrange for him to be picked up at his home and returned and would provide a "bottle" of booze for him and a modest fee.

During the mid-1950s, Perryman also worked as a disc jockey on radio stations WGST and [[WAOK]] in Atlanta, broadcasting ''The Piano Red Show'' (later ''The Dr. Feelgood Show'') directly from a shack in his back yard. A young [[James Brown]] made an appearance on his show in the late 1950s. Perryman's involvement had him appearing on a flatbed truck in many parades, which led to his song "Peachtree Parade". From the mid-1950s until the late 1960s, he recorded for several record labels, including [[Columbia Records|Columbia]], for which he made several records; [[Checker Records|Checker]], for which he recorded eight sides with [[Willie Dixon]] on [[double bass|bass]]; and [[Groove Records]], a subsidiary of RCA Victor, producing the first hit for that label.<ref name="shaw">{{cite book
| first= Arnold
| last= Shaw
| year= 1978
| title= Honkers and Shouters
| url= https://archive.org/details/honkersshouterst00shaw
| url-access= registration
| edition=
| publisher=Macmillan 
| location= New York
| pages= [https://archive.org/details/honkersshouterst00shaw/page/460 460–462]
| isbn= 0-02-061740-2}}</ref>

Signed to [[Okeh Records]] in 1961, Perryman began using the name Dr. Feelgood and the Interns, releasing several hits, including the much-covered "Doctor Feelgood".<ref name="LarkinBlues"/> The persona was one he had initially adopted on his radio shows. The new career was short-lived, though, and he was never able to regain his former stature. In 1963, [[The Merseybeats]] recorded a cover of the [[A-side and B-side|B-side]] of "Doctor Feelgood," entitled "[[Mr. Moonlight (song)|Mr. Moonlight]]" (written by [[Roy Lee Johnson]]) as the B-side of their UK top 5 hit "[[I Think of You (1963 song)|I Think of You]]". It was also recorded by [[The Beatles]], appearing on the album ''[[Beatles for Sale]]'' in the United Kingdom and the album ''[[Beatles '65]]'' in the United States. In 1966, the [[The Lovin' Spoonful|Lovin' Spoonful]] recorded Perryman's song "Bald Headed Lena" on their second album, ''[[Daydream (The Lovin' Spoonful album)|Daydream]]''.<ref name="LarkinBlues"/>