Known as The Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis was a true American character. How could one man get away with the stuff that he did, and still be loved by thousands of rock-n-roll fanatics?
Lewis passed away this past week at the age of 87. Growing up poor in east Louisiana, he learned to play piano along with his cousins, country music star Mickey Gilley and evangelist Jimmy Swaggart. He signed with Sun Records in 1956, and the next year had his first smash hit “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.” A number of hits followed, but his career took a quick downward dive with the news of his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin, which was his third marriage at age 22 (he would marry seven times, each one seemingly causing some kind of controversy). He continued working in the country and gospel music scenes during the 1960s and 70s.
During the roots-music revival with the punk and new-wave movement in the 1980s, Lewis received a new audience, and continued to performing to audiences until his death. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its inaugural year of 1986, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame just a few weeks ago. He was too ill to attend, so Kris Kristofferson accepted his award and drove to Lewis’ home to present it to him the next day.
Almost every music fan knows about the legendary Million Dollar Quartet sessions, when Lewis was at the Sun Studios playing piano on some Carl Perkins recordings, with Johnny Cash sitting around listening. Elvis Presley dropped by to say hello, and Sam Phillips let the tapes roll as the four legends would jam on some gospel and rockabilly tunes. The recordings were not released until decades later, but it gave all four men a demigod status.
Lewis’ relationship with the law, especially dealing with guns, was also legendary. In September 1976 he shot his bass player from a ricocheted bullet from a gun he shot in his house. Two months later, he was found wielding a gun outside of Graceland. Reports vary if he intended to shoot Presley or was just drunk and wanted to visit and happened to have a gun. He was in trouble with the IRS twice, and finally declared bankruptcy in 1988.
As for his marriages, almost all had controversy, too much to cover here including two wives that died tragically. Likewise, two of his six children died under tragic circumstances. In 2012, he married for a seventh time to his former sister-in-law, and broke ties with his daughter/business manager the day after the marriage. As expected, there was a years-long battle in the lawsuit court.
With all of that, we can remember Lewis best for his possession-like piano playing. He went one step further than Little Richard’s stand-up playing style by playing the keyboard with his feet, elbows, standing on the top fo the piano, and even lighting it on fire. His melding of boogie-woogie and country piano styles made his playing totally unique. No one else was doing it like that! He was a true showman, going overboard to prove his excellence in playing rock-n-roll.
I was fortunate enough to see Lewis perform about 20 or more years ago at the Royal Oak Music Theatre. It was a special tour with Chuck Berry. The rumor was the both stars would bicker about who would headline each night’s show. In this case, Lewis headlined due to it being his birthday. Both men put on an amazing performance, be it that they were in their late 60s/early 70s. Lewis still had fire in his eyes. He didn’t move around much like in his prime, but you could hear in his voice that he still had the growl of a rocker. I am glad that I got to experience his music live once.
Only God knows if he is playing piano in Heaven or Hell. Wherever he is, he will be jamming on the 88s, and his spirit lives on with every true rock-n-roll fan that walks this Earth.
Chew on it and comment.
Luegra 