Editing Carl Perkins (section)

===Road crash===
After playing a show in [[Norfolk, Virginia]], on March 21, 1956, the Perkins Brothers Band headed to [[New York City]] for a March 24 appearance on [[NBC|NBC-TV's]] ''[[The Perry Como Show|Perry Como Show]]''. Shortly before sunrise on March 22, on Route 13 between [[Dover, Delaware|Dover]] and [[Woodside, Delaware]], their vehicle hit the back of a pickup truck and went into a ditch containing about 12 inches of water. Holland had to pull Perkins, unconscious, from the water. Perkins had sustained three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a severe concussion, a broken collar bone, and lacerations all over his body. Perkins remained unconscious for an entire day. The driver of the pickup truck, Thomas Phillips, a 40-year-old farmer, died when he was thrown into the steering wheel.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 178, 180.]]</ref> Jay Perkins had a fractured neck and severe internal injuries. Later he developed a malignant brain tumor, and died in 1958.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Morrison|first=Craig|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qAHvUO5GknMC&q=%22jay+perkins%22+1958&pg=PA83|title=Go Cat Go!: Rockabilly Music and Its Makers|date=1999|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-06538-5|pages=83|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NNmFiUnSmUC&q=%22jay+perkins%22+1958|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|date=2011-05-27|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8|pages=1988|language=en}}</ref>

On March 23, Presley's band members [[Bill Black]], [[Scotty Moore]] and [[D.J. Fontana]] visited Perkins on their way to New York to appear with Presley. Fontana recalled Perkins saying, "You looked like a bunch of angels coming to see me."<ref>Burke, Ken; Griffin, Dan (2006). ''The Blue Moon Boys: The Story of Elvis Presley's Band''. Chicago Review Press. p. 88. {{ISBN|1-55652-614-8}}.</ref> Black told him, "Hey man, Elvis sends his love", and lit a cigarette for him, even though the patient in the next bed was in an [[oxygen tent]].<ref name=":1" /> Presley also telegraphed Perkins his well wishes.<ref name=":1">[[#gocatgo|Perkins, pp. 182, 184.]]</ref>

"Blue Suede Shoes" had sold more than 500,000 copies by March 22, and Sam Philips had planned to celebrate by presenting Perkins with a [[Gold Record|gold record]] on ''The Perry Como Show''.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, p. 173.]]</ref> While Perkins recuperated from his injuries, "Blue Suede Shoes" reached number one on regional pop, R&B, and country charts. It also reached number two on the Billboard pop and country charts, below Elvis Presley's "[[Heartbreak Hotel]]". By mid-April, more than one million copies of "Blue Suede Shoes" had sold.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, p. 187.]]</ref> On April 3, while still recuperating in Jackson, Perkins watched Presley perform "Blue Suede Shoes" in his first appearance on ''[[The Milton Berle Show]]''. This was the third time he performed the song on national television.<ref>[[#gocatgo|Perkins, p. 184.]]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kki.pl/elvisal/elvis_tv.htm |title=Elvis's Television Appearances 1956–1973 |publisher=Kki.pl |access-date=2011-11-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718225753/http://www.kki.pl/elvisal/elvis_tv.htm |archive-date=July 18, 2011 |df=mdy }}</ref>