From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sun Sep 29, 2002  2:13 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Jerry Lee Lewis
 
JERRY LEE LEWIS

Born 29 September 1935, Ferriday, Louisiana

Part 1 : The SUN years. (By Shaun Mather)

This is the story of God giving all his rewards to one man, and this man's
struggle to make sense of this gift and use it wisely. Jerry Lee Lewis is
the eighth wonder of the world - capable of turning any piece of music into
his own master piece, all sounding like nothing but Jerry Lee music. Okay
the hunger may have long since gone, but in the Sun years when the golden
haired, golden boy was still a young man, he lay down a catalogue of
recordings that has never been bettered.

His wild youth saw him develop a penchant for piano playing and rumour
has it that he could play a tune the very first time he sat down at the stool.
Whether he kicked the stool across the living room afterwards is not known,
but I can imagine him tossing his head back and sneering at the kinfolk,
asking "was that good or what!" As an under-age kid he played the seedy
knock-down, drag-out joints like Haney's Big House or the Wagon Wheel in
Natchez just across the Mississippi River. It was here that he learnt his
trade and by the time he tried his luck in Shreveport and Nashville, the
youngster was a seasoned pro. Nashville wanted guitars and cowboy hats,
the self-proclaimed Killer wasn't about the change for them so he hot-footed
it back home.

If his tail was between his legs, it didn't stay there long because as soon
as daddy Elmo sold enough eggs to raise some dough, Jerry Lee was on his
way to Memphis to try his luck with Sun Records, the label that had recently
launched Elvis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. Memphis was more like his
town, a bit rougher around the edges and full of a vibrancy that Nashville
didn't seem to have. Whilst a nervous Elvis Presley had pulled up outside
the Sun doors numerous times, but driven his truck away before he'd plucked
up the courage to go in and sing, Jerry Lee was out of the car and jumping
through the front door before the engine had died. Label boss Sam Phillips
wasn't in town the day Jerry turned up so he auditioned for Jack Clement who
was intrigued to hear the kid who "played piano like Chet Atkins". Clement
was impressed and set the taped rolling, eager to play them for Sam when he
got back. "I can sell that" Sam spurted much to Jack's delight.

For a while Jerry Lee played sessions for the band of merry rockabillies
that Sam had on his conveyor belt, and watched his debut disc, Crazy Arms
and End Of The Road gain rave reviews. He toured with the other Sun acts
and soon developed a show-stopping act which began to include a cover of the
old Roy Hall number, Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On. When the record was
issued it became a massive world wide hit and saw Jerry Lee playing the big
package shows alongside Chuck Berry and the Everly Brothers. The Killer had
arrived and America was being introduced to sex and rock 'n' roll, Ferriday
style.

He went one better with the follow-up, Great Balls Of Fire, a storming rocker
which was made all the better by the demons in his head, possessed by
the devils music in the one hand and the fear of God's retribution in the
other. When Breathless made it a hat-trick, the world was at the Killer's
feet. He had been a bigamist by the age of 17 but when he arrived in the UK
for a tour, his entourage included a young bobby-soxer who happened to be
wife number three, bigamy case number 2 and worst of all, his thirteen year
old cousin. The press went nuts, getting Jerry thrown off the tour and sent
back to the States where he assumed all would be okay - shit, everybody
married young in Louisiana. No sooner had the wheels hit the runway in
Memphis he learned the painful truth that the powers that be in his homeland
were also looking for rock 'n' roll scapegoats and he'd made himself easy
target number 1 - the first phase of his career was over.

He still turned out an amazing set of singles but the public and the radio
stations had turned their back. He'd gone from his $10,000 a night
dream-world to $250 a night in any old Wagon Wheel that would have him.
He could have become a carpenter or a truck driver but the Killer wasn't going
to give up his music. It was one thing to squander your fame, but he wasn't
going to hide from his God-given talents. Legend has it that he played
harder and partied longer than before the fall from grace, probably wise in
the knowledge that one day he'd be back on the pages of Billboard.

A cover of What'd I Say saw him return briefly to the charts in 1961 but
whatever Jerry and Sam tried, it was to no avail. They showed great faith
and loyalty to one another and whilst Elvis, Cash and Perkins had moved on
to pastures new, Jerry stayed at Sun. He finally gave up the ghost and
moved to Mercury in 1963, but by then Sam's interest in the business had
gone and the Killer was getting restless for a new beginning. The greatest
combination in rock music, Jerry Lee Lewis and his Pumping Piano on Sun
Records had ended, but the music lives on.

Recommended listening:
Are you kidding me!

Part 2 : The SMASH / MERCURY years (By Dik de Heer)

Jerry was contracted to Mercury from September 1963 until September 1978,
by far the longest affiliation of his recording career. At first his records
were
released on Smash, a Mercury subsidiary, and after the demise of Smash in
1970 he was moved to the parent label. It was Shelby Singleton, at that time
vice president of Mercury (he would later buy the entire Sun catalogue from Sam
Phillips), who convinced Mercury president Irving Green to take a chance on
Jerry. Right away, Singleton scheduled an album session. After this LP of
rerecordings of his Sun hits, Singleton was not sure what to do with Jerry Lee
and the Ferriday Fireball was not providing him any clues. In the words of Colin
Escott: "It took five excruciatingly fruitless years for Jerry Lee to reclaim
his
piece of the promised land." Admitted, the circumstances were not favourable.
By the time Jerry's best single from the early Smash period, "I'm On Fire", hit
the market, the world had changed. Four spotty lads from Liverpool, England,
had forever altered the rules of the popular music game. "I'm On Fire" spent
exactly one week on the Billboard Hot 100, at # 98. But while Jerry's fortunes
were being scuppered by the Beatles at home, he was still a conquering hero
in Europe, where his live shows went down extremely well.
In 1964 he recorded two of the greatest live albums in the history of American
popular music, "Live At The Star-Club" (recorded in Hamburg, Germany) and
"The Greatest Live Show On Earth" (recorded in Birmingham, AL).
Albums had now become much more important, even as a marketing tool for the
less expensive single records. The LP's "The Return Of Rock" (1965), "Country
Songs For City Folks" (1965) and "Memphis Beat" (1966) all had their moments,
but Jerry had not had a Top 100 hit since "High Heel Sneakers", which peaked
at # 91 in 1964.
Towards the end of 1966 Shelby Singleton left Mercury to start his own company.
By January 1968, Jerry Lee's new producers, Jerry Kennedy and Eddie Kilroy, had
decided that contemporary country was the only way Jerry Lee could return to a
prominence befitting his talent. They said he was too old to be a rock and roll
star.
Both Jerry and the country music industry were different enough in 1968 from
what they had been a decade before that country seemed a likely gambit.
It would become one of the most astonishing comeback stories in pop music.
"Another Place, Another Time" went to # 4 on the country charts, soon followed
by "What's Made Milwaukee Famous", which peaked at # 2. During the decade
1968-1978 he scored no less than 35 Top 40 hits (country), including four number
ones: To Make Love Sweeter For You (1970), There Must Be More To Love Than
This (1970), Would You Take Another Chance On Me (1971, coupled with the great
"Me and Bobby McGee") and the old Big Bopper hit "Chantilly Lace" (country??,
1972). However, the continuing chart success concealed the fact that the Kennedy
production formula, with its endless string and chorus overdubs, soon became
stale and after a creative upsurge in 1971-72, all of Jerry's country recordings
began to sound the same.
Though he was now a big country star, he also kept the rock 'n' roll flag flying
by
playing revival shows around the world and by always including his old 50s hits
in his stage shows. Outside the studio, the early 70s were marked by tragedy.
Jerry lost many of those who were closest to him. His mother, Mamie, died in
1972, and Jerry's philandering ways cost him Myra Gale, who divorced him in
1971. In November 1973, his 19-year-old son, Jerry Lee Jnr., was killed in a
road
accident following a period of drug abuse and treatment for mental illness.
Lewis'
own behaviour during the mid-70s was increasingly erratic. He accidentally shot
his bass player in the chest - the musician survived and sued him. Late in 1976,
Lewis was arrested for waving a gun outside Elvis Presley's Gracelands home.
Also, he had his gallbladder removed and by 1978, there was not much Jerry Lee
left. Getting yelled at by Mercury executives for skipping sessions was the
least
of his problems.
The year 1973 had seen two of his most lasting studio albums, "The Session"
(recorded in London) and "Southern Roots", produced by Huey P. Meaux. After
this, the quality of his recordings went downhill, though there were still
occasional
highlights, like "Boogie Woogie Country Man" and "Middle Age Crazy". But Mercury
was happy to let him go in 1978.
There is general consensus that the Smash/Mercury legacy is not such a worthy
one as the Sun heritage. But then, even an average record by Jerry Lee Lewis is
better than 98% of the records by anybody else.

As they did with the Sun recordings ("The Classic Jerry Lee Lewis" - BCD 15420,
8 CD's),
Bear Family has collected the Smash and Mercury recordings in chronological
order.
The 8 CD-set "The Locust Years... and the Return to the Promised Land" (BCD
15783)
was followed by "Mercury Smashes ... and Rockin' Sessions" (BCD 15784, 10
CD-set).
"Live at the Star-Club Hamburg" was issued separately (BCD 15467).

Official website: http://www.jerryleelewis.com
Good German website: http://www.jerryleelewis.de/

Part 3 : JERRY LEE LEWIS : 1978 to 2002 (By Phil Davies)

After leaving Mercury, Jerry signed for Elektra Records' new Nashville arm.
They promptly whisked him off in January 1979 to Hollywood to record with
Bones Howe (who's worked with Elvis amongst others). Bones hired James
Burton and wall of sound drummer Hal Blaine to aid Kenny Lovelace and the
Ron Hicklin Singers. Bones told JLL they had 4 days to cut the album, the
Killer replied," What are the other two days for??"

Titled simply Jerry Lee Lewis, the album with a striking pop art cover was an
absolute gem. Two Mercury cuts were remade, Roy Hamilton's bopping Don't
Let Go and Charlie Rich's evocative blues Who Will The Next Fool Be, with a
wonderful fade featuring JLL whistling and reminiscing about early days in
Ferriday. There were some stonking new rockers like Number One Loving Man,
Ray Smith's Rockin' Little Angel and Mack Vickery's sublime lifestyle anthem
Rockin' My Life Away. Bob Dylan, Arthur Alexander, Chris Kenner and Lloyd
Price tunes were included in the general mayhem and a great country song,
the wistful I Wish I Was 18 Again ( covered by old comedian George Burns no
less). Jerry played a great show at The Rainbow in London, featuring some of
these new songs to great acclaim. In a surreal tv moment the BBC gave him 10
minutes on long running kids show Blue Peter, the Killer? With pubescent
teens? Dancing dogs? What were they thinking?

An unreleased session was cut in Memphis in 79 at Roland Janes studio, and
several shows were recorded at the famed Palomino honky tonk club in
Hollywood. JLL and the Palomino featured in a tv episode of TJ Hooker, a cop
show starring Captain Kirk of Star Trek fame, unfortunately they missed a
chance to beam Scotty Moore up! Allegedly the live shows were recorded for
an aborted Elektra live album, they have since appeared on several releases,
most notably on a Tomato label 2cd set. They featured JLL's regular stage
band of the time, Kenny, Duke Faglier, Joel Shumaker and Ron Norwood (they
toured Europe with him several times, the nucleus appearing most notably
with JLL and Carl Perkins at that legendary finale of the 1981 Wembley
Country festival. This show (previously available as part of a BBC video)
would make for a great dvd, some cuts including the Sun duo ending have
appeared on official releases, on a Mervyn Conn (the promoter) various
artists 2lp and on a Pickwick Wembley show cd (JLL solo).

JLL recorded again with Bones Howe, but apart from (Hot Damn) I'm A One
Woman Man originally on the Blondie/Meatloaf Roadie movie soundtrack,
only snippets of the rest have appeared on bootleg, including a tantilising but
average sound quality version of Milk Cow Blues. At the end of 1979 Elektra
teamed JLL up with country producer Eddie Kilroy, who'd previously worked
with him and also Mickey Gilley.
The next two Elektra albums were recorded in Nashville and over-burdened
with strings, session players and an eclectic mix of stylings. The second
album When Two Worlds Collide, was tailored to the country market and
although it had its moments it suffered in comparison to the raw live feel
of the debut lp. The Mecury revisit was the self penned Rockin' Jerry Lee, a
Sun revisit, (It All Depends On) Who Will Buy The Wine and an Al Jolson
song, Toot, Toot, Tootsie Goodbye. Stand out cuts were Honky Tonk Stuff
(better version on the 45) and the rocking Good News Travels Fast.

The final Elektra album, Killer Country, was much better, a very funky
Folsom Prison Blues, some chugging mid tempo rockers and the great 39 And
Holding, following on from the Middle Aged Crazy theme. Topping it all was
the sublime Over The Rainbow, wonder if JLL had ever heard Gene's version?
The recent Caribou Sessions 2cd, appearing after being sold on ebay by
Eddie Kilroy, scrapped by Lewis' antagonist and Nashville mogul former teen
idol, Jimmie Bowen as "sub-standard" at the time, contains enough great
moments to make a stonking album. A grudge carried over from the Jamboree
movie perhaps??

Jerry Lee appeared on CBS alongside Cash and Perkins, on The Survivors album
recorded in Stuttgart on a country package show. A Chips Moman produced
album reunited the three Sun stars with another in the Big O for the Class
Of 55. Despite a media blitz and a Dick Clark tv special the album never
took off, Jerry's unique version of 16 Candles and stage fav Keep My Motor
Running were the stand outs. Ironically enough the ltd edition interview
album/tape of interviews won a Grammy for Best Historic recording. JLL
once memorably remarked, "me n Elvis never won many Grammies but we
all know who the kings of rnr were!!" He also guested on Honky Tonkin' on
Kenny Lovelace's solo album during 1981. A short lived tv album Four Legends
with Webb Pierce, Faron Young and MMMel Tillis came to naught, but had a
few fine few moments, mainly featuring a pianist from Ferriday amazingly. SCR
released a couple of raw albums and a live album was cut in Italy for Greenline,
fast buck stuff that never amounted to much.

He appeared on a plethora of tv shows around the world in the 80s and songs
featured on many soundtracks. In 1982 he signed for MCA and cut 2 very
patchy albums with the unsympathetic Ron Chaney producing, JLL being drowned
in the muddy mix and kitchen sink over production. Neither MCA album holds
up well, My Fingers Do The Talking and I Am What I Am. Six Elektra 45s
reached the US country charts, and a Mercury reissue, none of the 3 MCA 45s
reached the top 40. There are several MCA showcase radio transcriptions from
the period that show JLL in fine form on stage but he never managed to click
in the MCA studios. Dave Travis attempted to simplify and clean up the
cluttered MCA masters on two JLL cds issued by Ace and they are far more
enjoyable to listen to, Honky Tonk RnR Piano Man and Pretty Much Country.
The MCA masters have never appeared on cd.

A memorable HBO tv show partnered JLL with Fats and Ray Charles, an official
video was relased Fats and friends. Several UK shows have also been released,
Live at Hammersmith London by CBS/Fox, Live in Bristol by Virgin and the
Killer Live in 1989(another star studded show from Hammersmith).
Hopefully they will be remastered for dvd one day

Matters off stage continued to keep JLL in the lurid tabloid and rock press
headlines, most notably his close brush with death via a huge stomach
operation in 1981, years of substance abuse finally took its toll and the
tragic drug related death of his young bride Shawn in 1983. Ongoing problems
with the IRS (who had succeeded in jailing Chuck Berry) were also a constant
problem, leading to a raid on his home and a lengthy legal battle whilst JLL
was exiled in Ireland (where tax laws for artists are far more favourable).
Whilst there he helped Dr Rock aka Chas White write KiIler, which was
heavily edited and was less favourably received than his Little Richard book.

After the MCA era there were only sporadic official new releases, JLL turned
in a blinding performance on the soundtrack of the biographical movie based
on Myra's flawed book. The less said about the production, storyline and
Dennis Quaid's Jerry Lewis styled performance the better. It flopped at the
box office despite a huge media blitz in the UK and US. I sat through two
performances at the local cinema and was the only person there!! Even the
legendary stage reputation was frayed by frequent no-shows or truncated
performances, augmented by dazzling shows when the mood was right.

The great European nights evaporated into stadium shows with other golden
oldies. But during the last 15years I have witnessed many stellar shows,
especially the legendary 3 nights at the Kings Hotel in Newport, Wales, a
great show at B B King's club in Memphis and most memorably the lengthy 65th
Birthday party in Memphis that Shaun and I were lucky enough to attend (show
is reviewed at length in the SAO archive). Many rehearsals/demo sessions
have been released on cds such as Stompertime's Breathless Cat, Hank
Cochran's, Rocket etc as well as few official live releases in the Silver eagle
and Live At Gilley's series. Fans have many bootlegs to check out as well.

In 1984 JLL married Kerrie McCarver, in 1986 JLL was the first inductee into
the new Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame and in 1987 JLL the third was born. Many
business ventures like the JLL club on Beale St came and went. JLL performed
It Was The Whiskey Talking on the Dick Tracy soundtrack in 1990. Produced by
Andy Paley who'd helped Brian Wilson back into the studio. Paley helped JLL
get an album deal with Sire in 1995, featuring many 50s tunes and songs by
Hank and Jimmie Rodgers, it failed to revive his career. A short running
West End musical Great Balls Of Fire failed to match the success of Buddy, a
worthy but flawed attempt (mainly script and over acting problems). JLL's
spot on Let It Rock the Ronnie Hawkins 60th birthday show was great esp his
duet with blind slide guitarist Jeff Healey.

Was the Young Blood album on Sire his last major label deal? It appears so,
it's a tragedy that no roots/Americana label has recorded him over the years.
On stage on the right night he's still full of fire and brimstone, intent on
rockin'
his life away in his unique defying all odds method. In his head he's probably
still back at Haney's Big House, dreaming of that Big Legged Woman, long
may he continue to do so. No other artist has given me so much pleasure
over the decades. Thankfully Bear Family in a memorable series of box sets
have captured his legacy in a perfect manner (just the church and London
Sessions left chaps). It is doubtful we will see the era I`ve written about
commemorated in such a manner but there are some worthy gems in the
many releases listed above, check out JLL's track record boys, it definitely
stands fer itself! 36 years a Lewis fan, it's been hell of a rollercoaster ride
and I wouldn't have missed a second of it.
Don't put no headstone on his grave, put a damn monument. The Killer rocks
onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.

Phil Davies
Totally biased and unashamed

Recommended reading:
- Fireball Mail, the long running Dutch  fan club mag, Wim's labour of love
- Back issues of the defunct Lewis Scenee UK fan club mag
- Jimmy Guterman, Rockin' My Life Away :: Listening to Jerry Lee Lewis.
Nashville : Rutledge Hill Press, 1991. A musical review of his career, very
opinionated, deleted but available on the web to read.
- Jerry Lee Lewis and Charles White, Killler! London : Century, 1995.
Patchy but entertaining
- Linda Gail Lewis, The Devil, Me and Jeerry Lee. Atlanta : Longstreet Press,
1998. Hilarious, with free pinch of salt.

Recommended listening:
- Every single darn thing with JLL on itt (even the duet with Ronnie McDowell)
- The 3 Elektra albums
- There's a flawed cd compilation on WB,, cuts off some of the final comments
and fades but will suffice until BF do a proper job
- Great Balls Of Fire Soundtrack
- Killer's Private Stash, a stunning boootleg with early pre Sun demos, Catch
my Soul and GBOF movie out-takes

Recommended gig:
The annual JLL Memphis birthday bash

Recommended viewing:
Apart from the official video/shows listed earlier there's a plethora of
foreign tv appearances worth catching (especially the Bic Greek tv shows
from the late 80s, some of the many chat shows (esp in Ireland) and Chas
White's interview for Chrysalis which sadly never had an official release.
The best documentary yet was the Canadian production I Am What I Am, which
Charly put out on video, along with highlights from 2 US/Canadian shows.