"Restless" is a 1968 song written by

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...

and released as a single on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. In 1991, it was recorded by

Mark O'Connor Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961) is an American fiddle player, composer, guitarist, and mandolinist whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Mu ...

in collaboration with

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass music, bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after ta ...

Steve Wariner Steven Noel Wariner (born December 25, 1954) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Initially a backing musician for Dottie West, he also worked with Bob Luman and Chet Atkins before beginning a solo career in the late ...

, and

Ricky Skaggs Rickie Lee Skaggs (born July 18, 1954), known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, ma ...

under the credit Mark O'Connor and the New Nashville Cats.

Background

The song was recorded on September 27, 1968, and released as a 45 single, 4-44723, on Columbia, in December, 1968, backed with "11-43", reaching no. 20 on the ''Billboard'' country chart. The recording, produced by Bill Denny and Larry Butler, also appeared on the May, 1969 Columbia LP ''Carl Perkins' Greatest Hits''.Second Hand Songs: Restless.
/ref> The song also appeared on the 1992 Carl Perkins compilation album ''Restless: The Columbia Recordings''. Carl Perkins performed the song on the

Kraft Music Hall ''The Kraft Music Hall'' was a popular old-time radio variety show, variety program, featuring top show business entertainers, which aired first on NBC radio from 1933 to 1949. Radio ''The Kraft Program'' debuted June 26, 1933, as a musical- ...

episode hosted by

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

on April 16, 1969.

Notable recordings

George Thorogood and The Destroyers recorded the song on their 1980 studio album '' More George Thorogood and the Destroyers'' on

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts, by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by A ...

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

recorded the song for her 1982 live album '' Last Date''.

Mark O'Connor and the New Nashville Cats version

had a Top 40 hit in 1991 in an all-star recording featuring

, and

, collectively credited as "Mark O'Connor and the New Nashville Cats". This version reached no. 25 on the ''Billboard'' country chart in the U.S. and no. 19 on the Canadian country chart. The recording also won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.

References

Sources

* Guterman, Jimmy. (1998.) "Carl Perkins." In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music.'' Paul Kingsbury, Ed. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 412–413. * * *. {{CMA Musical Event of the Year Carl Perkins songs 1968 songs Vince Gill songs Ricky Skaggs songs Steve Wariner songs Songs written by Carl Perkins Columbia Records singles 1968 singles Vocal collaborations 1991 debut singles Song recordings produced by Jim Ed Norman Song recordings produced by Larry Butler (producer) Mark O'Connor songs Warner Records singles