Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis (born
September 29,
1935) is an
American rock and roll and
country music singer,
songwriter, and
pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in
1986 and his pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the
Rockabilly Hall of Fame. His nickname is
The Killer.
Lewis was born to the poor family of Elmo and Mamie Lewis in
Ferriday, Louisiana, and began playing piano in his youth with his two cousins,
Mickey Gilley and
Jimmy Lee Swaggart. Influenced by a piano-playing older cousin Carl McVoy, the radio, and the sounds from the
African American joint across the tracks at Haney's Big House, Lewis developed his own style mixing
rhythm and blues,
boogie woogie,
gospel, and
country music. Soon he was playing professionally.
His mother enrolled him in
Southwestern Bible Institute in
Waxahachie, Texas, secure in the knowledge that her son would now be exclusively singing his songs to the Lord. But legend has it that the he tore into a boogie-woogie rendition of "My God Is Real" at a church assembly that sent him packing the same night.
Pearry Green (then president of the student body) related how during a talent show Jerry played some "worldly" music. The next morning the dean of the school called both Jerry and Pearry into his office to expel them both. Jerry then said that Pearry shouldn't be expelled because "he didn't know what I was going to do." Years later Pearry asked Jerry "Are you still playing the devil's music?" Jerry replied "Yes, I am. But you know it's strange, the same music that they kicked me out of school for is the same kind of music they play in their churches today. The difference is, I know I am playing for the devil and they don't."
Leaving religious music behind, he became a part of the burgeoning new rock and roll sound, cutting his first record in
1954. Two years later, at
Sun Records studio in
Memphis, Tennessee, producer and engineer
Jack Clement discovered and recorded Lewis for the
Sun label, while owner
Sam Phillips was away on a trip to
Florida. He became a
session musician playing piano for Sun artists like
Billy Lee Reilly and
Carl Perkins. During his time as a session player, he was a member of the impromptu jam session known as the
Million Dollar Quartet featuring
Elvis Presley,
Carl Perkins,
Johnny Cash, and Lewis.
Lewis' first recording at Sun studios was his own distinct version of the
Ray Price song "Crazy Arms". In
1957, his piano and the pure rock and roll sound of "
Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" propelled him to international fame. "
Great Balls of Fire" soon followed, and would become his biggest hit. Watching and listening to Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis said if he could play the piano like that, he'd quit singing. Lewis' early billing was
Jerry Lee Lewis and his Pumping Piano.
Lewis was a pioneer of
Piano rock, not only through his sound by also through his dynamic performance. He would often kick the piano bench out of the way to play standing, rake his hands up and down the keyboard for dramatic accent, and even sit down on the instrument. His frenetic performance style can be seen in films such as "
High School Confidential" (he sang the title song from the back of a flatbed truck), and "
Jamboree". He has been called "rock & roll's first great wild man and also rock & roll's first great eclectic."[
1] These performance techniques have been adopted by later
Piano rock artists, notably admirer
Elton John.
Lewis' turbulent personal life was hidden from the public until a
1958 British tour, when reporters learned about the twenty-three year old star's third wife,
Myra Gale Brown, who also happened to be his thirteen year old second
cousin once removed.
The
publicity caused an uproar and the tour was cancelled after only three concerts. The scandal followed Lewis home to America, and as a result he almost vanished from the music scene. His only hit during this period was a cover of
Ray Charles' "
What'd I Say" in
1961.
His popularity recovered somewhat in
Europe, especially in the
UK and
Germany during the mid
1960s. A live album,
Live at the Star Club, Hamburg (
1964), recorded with the
Nashville Teens, is widely considered one of the greatest live rock and roll
albums ever.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes,
"Live at the Star Club is
extraordinary â€" the purest, hardest rock & roll ever committed to record .. Compared to this..
the Stooges sound constrained,
hardcore punk seems neutered, and the
Sex Pistols sound like wimps."[
2]
A comeback eluded him in the United States, however, at least within the rock and roll genre. Although Lewis was again making steady money touring, didn't have much success in the charts. Producers coaxed Lewis into trying instrumental piano tunes issued under pseudonyms, recording songs without the piano, and even playing the
harpsichord. In the late 1960s,
Mercury Records producer
Jerry Kennedy convinced Lewis to make a complete switch to country music. Lewis, who had always considered country one of the genres he blended into his trademark sound, obliged and "Another Place, Another Time" shot up the country charts in 1968. More country hits soon followed over the late 1960s and through the 1970s, many of them crossing over into the Hot 100 charts.
Although he was always a heavy drinker, he increasingly became plagued by alcohol and drug problems after Myra
divorced him in
1970. Tragedy struck when Lewis' 19-year-old son, Jerry Lee Lewis Jr., was killed in a road accident in
1973. During the
1960s, his second son, Steve Allen Lewis, had drowned in a swimming pool accident. He also has a daughter,
Phoebe Lewis, who is a singer and musician. Lewis' own erratic behaviour during the
1970s led to his being hospitalized after nearly dying from a bleeding
ulcer. Again addicted to drugs, Lewis checked himself into the
Betty Ford Clinic.
While celebrating his 41st birthday in
1976, Lewis playfully pointed a gun at his bass player,
Butch Owens, and thinking it was not loaded, pulled the trigger, shooting him in the chest. Owens miraculously survived. A few weeks later (
November 23) he was involved in another gun-related arrest at
Elvis Presley's Graceland residence. Lewis had been invited by Presley, but security was unaware of the visit. When questioned about why he was at the front gate, Lewis displayed a gun and jokingly told the guard he had come to kill Presley.
In
1989, a major motion picture based on his early life in rock & roll,
Great Balls of Fire, brought him back into the public eye, especially when he decided to re-record all his songs for the movie soundtrack. The film was based on the book by Lewis' ex-wife, Myra Gayle Lewis, and starred
Dennis Quaid as Lewis,
Winona Ryder as Myra, and
Alec Baldwin as Jimmy Swaggart.
The very public downfall of his cousin, television
evangelist Jimmy Swaggart, resulted in more adverse publicity to an already troubled family. Swaggart is also a piano player, as is another cousin, country music star
Mickey Gilley. Lewis' sister,
Linda Gail Lewis, is also a piano player, and has recorded with
Van Morrison. The next year in 1990, Lewis made minor news when a new song he wrote called
It Was the Wiskey Talking, Not Me was included in the soundtrack to the hit movie
Dick Tracy. The song can even be heard in a scene from the movie in which it is playing on the radio.
Despite the personal problems, Lewis' musical talent is widely acknowledged. Nicknamed
The Killer for his forceful voice and piano production on stage, he was described by fellow artist
Roy Orbison as the best raw performer in the history of rock and roll music. In
1986, Lewis was part of the first group inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
That same year, he returned to Sun Studios in Memphis to team up with Orbison, Cash, and Perkins to create the album
Class of '55. This was not the first time he had teamed up with Cash and Perkins at Sun. On
December 4,
1956, Presley dropped in on Phillips to pay a social visit while Perkins was in the studio cutting new tracks with Lewis backing him on piano. The three started an impromptu
jam session, and Phillips left the tapes running. He later telephoned Cash and brought him in to join the others. These recordings, almost half of which were gospel songs, survived, and have been released on
CD under the title
Million Dollar Quartet. Tracks also include
Chuck Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man",
Pat Boone's "Don't Forbid Me" and Presley doing an impersonation of
Jackie Wilson (who was then with
Billy Ward and the Dominoes) singing "
Don't Be Cruel."
Lewis has never stopped touring, and fans who have seen him perform say he can still deliver unique concerts that are unpredictable, exciting, and personal. In February of
2005, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Recording Academy (which also grants the
Grammy Awards.) At the presentation, it was announced that a new album would be made with a line-up including
Eric Clapton,
B. B. King,
Bruce Springsteen,
Mick Jagger,
Keith Richards,
Merle Haggard,
George Jones,
Kris Kristofferson,
Toby Keith,
Willie Nelson,
Jimmy Page,
Ronnie Wood,
Neil Young,
Robbie Robertson,
John Fogerty,
Ringo Starr,
Rod Stewart,
Buddy Guy,
Don Henley,
Kid Rock,
Little Richard and
Delaney Bramlett. The album, entitled
Last Man Standing, is set for release on September 26, 2006 [
3].
A younger Lewis, portrayed by
Waylon Payne, was a character in the highly praised and Academy Award winning movie
Walk the Line, a biopic of
Johnny Cash.
The song, "Jesus Built My Hot Rod," by
Ministry opens with the line, "Soon I discovered that this rock thing was true. Jerry Lee Lewis was the Devil. Jesus was an architect previous to his career as a prophet. All of a sudden I found myself in love with the world, so there was only one that thing I could do, was ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long."
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | | US Hot 100 | US Country | R&B | UK Pop |
|---|
| 1957 | "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" | #3 | #1 | #1 | #8 |
|---|
| 1957 | "Great Balls of Fire" | #2 | #1 | #3 | #1 |
|---|
| 1957 | "You Win Again" | #95 | #2 | #3 | - |
|---|
| 1958 | "Breathless" | #7 | #4 | #3 | #8 |
|---|
| 1958 | "High School Confidential" | #21 | #9 | #5 | #12 |
|---|
| 1958 | "Break Up" | #52 | - | - | - |
|---|
| 1958 | "I'll Make It All Up To You" | - | #19 | - | - |
|---|
| 1959 | "Lovin' Up A Storm" | - | - | - | #28 |
|---|
| 1960 | "Baby Baby Bye Bye" | - | - | - | #47 |
|---|
| 1961 | "What'd I Say" | #30 | #27 | #26 | #10 |
|---|
| 1962 | "Sweet Little 16" | - | - | - | #38 |
|---|
| 1963 | "Good Golly Miss Molly" | - | - | - | #31 |
|---|
| 1964 | "Hi Heel Sneakers" | #91 | - | - | - |
|---|
| 1964 | "I'm On Fire" | #98 | - | - | - |
|---|
| 1968 | "Another Place, Another Time" | #97 | #4 | - | - |
|---|
| 1968 | "What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me)" | #94 | #2 | - | - |
|---|
| 1968 | "She Still Comes Around (To Love What's Left of Me)" | - | #2 | - | - |
|---|
| 1968 | "To Make Love Sweeter For You" | - | #1 | - | - |
|---|
| 1969 | "Don't Let Me Cross Over" | - | #9 | - | - |
|---|
| 1969 | "One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)" | - | #3 | - | - |
|---|
| 1969 | "Invitation To Your Party" | - | #6 | - | - |
|---|
| 1969 | "She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye" | - | #2 | - | - |
|---|
| 1969 | "One Minute Past Eternity" | - | #2 | - | - |
|---|
| 1970 | "Once More With Feeling" | - | #2 | - | - |
|---|
| 1970 | "I Can't Seem To Say Goodbye" | - | #7 | - | - |
|---|
| 1970 | "There Must Be More To Love Than This" | - | #1 | - | - |
|---|
| 1970 | "Waiting For A Train" | - | #11 | - | - |
|---|
| 1971 | "Touching Home" | #110 | #3 | - | - |
|---|
| 1971 | "When He Walks On You" | - | #11 | - | - |
|---|
| 1971 | "Me and Bobby McGee" | #40 | #1 | - | - |
|---|
| 1971 | "Would You Take Another Chance On Me" | - | #1 | - | - |
|---|
| 1972 | "Chantilly Lace" | #43 | #1 | - | #33 |
|---|
| 1972 | "Think About It Darlin'" | - | #1 | - | - |
|---|
| 1972 | "Lonely Weekends" | - | #11 | - | - |
|---|
| 1972 | "Whose Gonna Play This Ol' Piano?" | - | #14 | - | - |
|---|
| 1973 | "No More Hanging On" | - | #19 | - | - |
|---|
| 1973 | "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" | #41 | #20 | - | - |
|---|
| 1973 | "No Headstone On My Grave" | #104 | #60 | - | - |
|---|
| 1973 | "Sometimes A Memory Ain't Enough" | - | #6 | - | - |
|---|
| 1974 | "Tell Tale Signs" | - | #18 | - | - |
|---|
| 1974 | "He Can't Fill My Shoes" | - | #8 | - | - |
|---|
| 1975 | "I Can Still Hear The Music In The Restroom" | - | #13 | - | - |
|---|
| 1976 | "Let's Put It Back Together Again" | - | #6 | - | - |
|---|
| 1977 | "Middle Age Crazy" | - | #4 | - | - |
|---|
| 1978 | "Come On In" | - | #10 | - | - |
|---|
| 1978 | "I'll Find It Where I Can" | - | #10 | - | - |
|---|
| 1979 | "Rockin' My Life Away" | #101 | #18 | - | - |
|---|
| 1979 | "I Wish I Was Eighteen Again" | - | #18 | - | - |
|---|
| 1979 | "Who Will The Next Fool Be?" | - | #20 | - | - |
|---|
| 1980 | "When Two Worlds Collide" | - | #11 | - | - |
|---|
| 1980 | "Over The Rainbow" | - | #10 | - | - |
|---|
| 1981 | "Thirty Nine And Holding" | - | #4 | - | - |
|---|
| 1982 | "I'd Do It All Again" | - | #52 | - | - |
|---|
*
Piano rock*
Rockabilly*
Million Dollar Quartet*
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame*
Rockabilly Hall of Fame*{{cite book
first = Nick | last = Tosches | year = 1982 | title = Hellfire | publisher = Grove Press | location = New York
*{{cite book | first = Jimmy | last = Gutterman | year = 1991 | title = Rockin' My Life Away: Listening to Jerry Lee Lewis | publisher = Rutledge Hill Press | location = Nashville
*{{cite book | first = Jimmy | last = Gutterman | year = 1993 | title = The Jerry Lee Lewis Anthology: All Killer, No Filler | publisher = Rhino Records
*{{cite book | first = Joel | last = Whitburn | year = 1985 | title = The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits*The Official Jerry Lee Lewis Website
*All Music Guide - Jerry Lee Lewis
*The Jerry Lee Lewis Start Page. Features a links archive, news section, show dates, fan club information, picture gallery, and mailing list
*Rockin' My Life Away by Jimmy Guterman, a full biography, online.
*Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
*Rockabilly Hall of Fame
*Biography
*First Bavarian Jerry Lee Lewis Site
*Spanish Language Jerry Lee Lewis Site
*Jerry Lee Lewis 100 Photos
|
