Wednesday, June 12, 2002 7:18:46 AM
Rock 'n' Roll Artists A-Z...Jerry Lee Lewis
http://members.tripod.com/~Jerry9/Fire.htm
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American original. A song stylist in the great tradition of Al Jolson, Jimmy Rodgers, and Hank Williams. Jerry Lee can take any song, from 'Big-Legged Woman' to 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' and make it his own.
Born September 29, 1935 in Ferriday Louisiana, Jerry grew up listening to a variety of music; "The Louisiana Hayride" and "Grand Ol' Opry" broadcasts, 78rpm recordings of country singers and blues men, and the inspired gospel music of the Assembly of God Church. He also spent hours hiding behind the bar at Haney's Big House soaking up the sounds of blues men like, then, 18 year old B.B. King.
Jerry Lee took these different forms of music and combined them to create a style completely his own. A creator in a world of imitators, Jerry Lee Lewis, will be remembered with Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley, as one of the true fathers of Rock & Roll.
Jerry Lee began to play piano at age eight on a Stark Upright that his parents, Elmo and Mamie Lewis, mortgaged their farm to buy.
"My mother and dad...got me a piano and I loved it and worked at it real hard, and they backed me all the way, all their lives.....They were great people."
"I'll tell ya, I started playing piano--I learned to play in two weeks."
Along with cousins Mickey Gilley and Jimmy Lee Swaggart, Jerry Lee was constantly playing and practicing on the old Stark. His cousins were as Jerry said, "......like my brothers." but as he would later say, "But boys, were all together now, and I'm gonna tell you something--You all got great talent, but you just got a little of the scrapings. Killer got the talent."
For Jerry Lee Lewis, the word talent describes what he sees clearly as a gift from God.
"Other people--they practice and they practice...these fingers of mine, they got brains in 'em. You don't TELL them what to do--THEY do it. God given talent."
In late 1956, the 21 year old Jerry Lee took his talent to Memphis to 'Eyeball' Sam Phillips at Sun Records after reading a story about Elvis in "Country Roundup" magazine. His family gathered 33 dozen eggs and sold them to Nelson's Supermarket in Ferriday to finance the trip north. Once there, his life would never be the same.
"Whose Barn? What Barn? MY BARN!!" 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On' was recorded in one take--2 minutes and 58 seconds of rocking fury.
On Sunday, July 28th, 1957, The Killer performed to a national television audience on the Steve Allen show. "Whole Lotta Shakin'" started moving up the charts and didn't stop until it held the number one spot in all field of music--Pop, Country and Western, and R&B. Only two other people have accomplished this--Elvis and Carl Perkins. However, with his next release, The Killer would leave them all behind.
"Great Balls of Fire" as well, would stand atop the Pop, Country, and R&B charts. No one before or since has duplicated this feat, and probably never will.
The summer of 1958 found Jerry Lee on top of the world. His twelve day engagement at the Paramount Theater in New York broke all attendance records, and his third hit "Breathless" was moving up the charts--until it all came crashing down during a tour of England in the fall of '58.
As the story has been told many, many, times. The British press, discovering his new bride to be only 13 years old and his second cousin (twice removed), attacked him mercilessly. Returning to the states, Jerry faced an equally hostile reaction.
Finding himself blacklisted on radio and T.V., The Killer hit the road for an endless string of one-night-stands. "From $10,000 a night to $250 is a hell of a disappointment." he said, but an unshakable belief in his own talent held him through the rough times.
In 1961 things looks better when his re-make of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" began to receive airplay. A successful 'Battle of the Century' with Jakie Wilson followed, but it wasn't until the late 1960's when Jerry Lee began to release a string of number one and top-ten country singles, that his career regained momentum.
Through it all, Jerry never lost faith in God, or in his own God given talent. Tragedies, such as the deaths of his two sons, have destroyed lessor men, but Jerry Lee Lewis has persevered, and he will never, NEVER! STOP ROCKING!!
"When they look back on me I want 'em to remember me not for all my wives, although I've had a few, and certainly not for any mansions or high livin' money I made and spent. I want 'em to remember me simply for my music......"
"As long as they gimme a piano I'll be out there. They try to take that away, I'm gonna kick some ass."
Denny Ray Miller
copyright 1996
Discography
Sun Issues 1956-1963
Crazy Arms/End of the Road
Whole Lotta Shakin'Goin' On/It'll Be Me
Number One in Country, Pop, and R&B
Great Balls of Fire/You Win Again
Number One in Country, Pop, and R&B
Breathless/Down the Line
4th Country/6th R&B/7th Pop
High School Confidential/Fools Like Me
9th Position Country/16th R&B/21st Pop
The Return of Jerry Lee/Lewis Boogie
Break Up/I'll Make It All Up To You
19th Position Country/52nd Pop
I'll Sail My Ship Alone/It Hurt Me So
93rd Pop
Lovin' Up A Storm/Big Blon' Baby
Let's Talk About Us/Ballad of Billy Joe
Little Queenie/I Could Never Be Ashamed of You
Baby Baby Bye Bye/Old Black Joe
Hang Up My R&R Shoes/John Henry
In The Mood/I Get The Blues When It Rains
Love Made A Fool of Me/When I Get Paid
What'D I Say/Livin' Lovin' Wreck
27th Position Country/26th R&B/30th Pop
It Won't Happen With Me/Cold Cold Heart
22nd Position Country
Save The Last Dance For Me/As Long As I Live
Money/Bonnie Bee
I've Been Twistin'/Ramblin' Rose
Sweet Little Sixteen/How's My Ex
99th Position Pop
Good Golly Miss Molly/I Can't Trust Me
Teenage Letter/Seasons Of My Heart
Smash Issues 1963-1968
HIT THE ROAD JACK/PEN AND PAPER
I`M ON FIRE/BREAD AND BUTTER
SHE WAS MY BABY/THE WHOLE HE SAID HE`D DIG
HIGH HEEL SNEAKERS/YOU WENT BACK ON YOUR WORD
HOLD ME CLOSE/I BELEIVE IN YOU
CARRY ME BACK/I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS (SUN)
ROCKIN PNEUMANIA/THIS MUST BE THE PLACE
GREEN GREEN GRASS OG HOME/BABY YOU'VE GOT
STICKS & STONES/WHAT A HECK OF A MESS
MEMPHIS BEAT/ IF I HAD IT ALL TO DO
IT'S A HANG UP BABY/HOLDIN' ON
TURN ON YOUR LOVE LIGHT/SHOTGUN MAN
ANOTHER PLACE,ANOTHER TIME/WALKIN THE FLOOR
WHAT'S MADE MILWAUKEE/ALL THE GOOD IS GONE
SHE STILL COMES AROUND/SLIPPIN AROUND
TO MAKE LOVE SWEETER/LET`S TALK ABOUT US
Smash and Mercury Issues 1969-1978
DON`T LET ME CROSS OVER/WE LIVE IN TWO
ONE HAS MY NAME/I CAN'T STOP LOVIN YOU
INVITATION TO YOUR PARTY (SUN)
SHE EVEN WOKE ME UP TO SAY GOODBYE/ECHOES
ONE MINUTE PAST ETERNITY (SUN)
ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN/SECRET PLACES
ONCE MORE WITH FEELING/YOU WENT OUT OF
I CAN`T SEEM TO SAY GOODBYE (SUN)
THERE MUST BE MOR TO LOVE/HOME AWAY
WAITING FOR A TRAIN (SUN)
BEFORE THE SNOW FALLS/ SOLO (Linda G Lewis)
IN LOVING MEMORIES/I CAN'T HAVE A MERRY XMAS
TOUCHING HOME/WOMAN WOMAN GET OUT
LOVE ON BRODWAY (SUN)
WHEN HE WALKS ON YOU/FOOLISH KIND OF MAN
WOULD YOU TAKE ANOTHER/ME & BOBBY MCGEE
CHANTILLY LACE/THINK ABOUT IT DARLIN
LONELY WEEKENDS/TURN ON YOUR LOVE LIGHT
ME & JESUS/HANDWRITING ON THE WALL
WHO'S GONNA PLAY/NO HONKY TONKS
NO MORE HANGINH ON/THE MERCY OF A LETTER
DRINKIN WINE SPOO-DEE-O-DEE/R&R MEDLEY
NO HEADSTONE ON MY GRAVE/JACK DANIELS NO7
SOMETIMES A MEMORY/I THINK I NEED TO PRAY
I'M LEFT YOUR'RE RIGHT/I THINK I NEED TOO
JUST A LITTLE BIT/MEAT MAN
TELL TALE SIGN/COLD MORNING LIGHT
HE CAN'T FILL MY SHOES/TOMORROW'S TAKIN
I CAN STILL HEAR/IM THE ONE THAT LOVES YOU
BOOGIE WOOGIE COUNTRY MAN/I`M STILL JEALOUS
A DAMN GOOD COUNTRY SONG/WHEN I TAKE
DON'T BOOGIE WOOGIE/THAT KIND OF FOOL
LET'S PUT IT BACK/JERRY LEE'S R&R REVIVAL
THE CLOSEST THING/YOU BELONG TO ME
MIDDLE AGE CRAZY/GEORGIA ON MY MIND
COME ON IN/WHO`S SORRY NOW
I`LL FIND IT/DON'T LET THE STARS GET IN
SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME (SUN)
COLD COLD HEART (SUN)
Elektra 1979-1981
ROCKIN` MY LIFE AWAY/I WISH I WAS THERE
WHO WILL THE NEXT FOOL BE/RITA MAY
WHEN TWO WORLDS COLLIDE
HONKY TONK STUFF
OVER THE RAINBOW/FOLSOM PRISON BLUES
39 AND HOLDING/CHANGE PLACES
I'M SON LONSOME I COULD CRY (MERCURY)
MCA 1982-1986
MY FINGERS DO THE TALKIN/SHE SURE MAKES
COME AS YOU WERE/CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE
WHY YOU BEEN GONE SO LONG/SHE SINGS
I AM WHAT I AM/ THAT WAS THE WAY IT WAS
SIXTEEN CANDLES (1986) 61
GREAT BALLS OF FIRE/BREATHLESS (1989)Great Balls of Fire Soundtrack
IT WAS THE WHISKEY TALKING (1990) Dick Tracy Soundrack
GOOSEBUMPS/YOUNG BLOOD (1995)
]
Breaking Clay Makes My Day!
http://members.tripod.com/~Jerry9/Fire.htm
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American original. A song stylist in the great tradition of Al Jolson, Jimmy Rodgers, and Hank Williams. Jerry Lee can take any song, from 'Big-Legged Woman' to 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' and make it his own.
Born September 29, 1935 in Ferriday Louisiana, Jerry grew up listening to a variety of music; "The Louisiana Hayride" and "Grand Ol' Opry" broadcasts, 78rpm recordings of country singers and blues men, and the inspired gospel music of the Assembly of God Church. He also spent hours hiding behind the bar at Haney's Big House soaking up the sounds of blues men like, then, 18 year old B.B. King.
Jerry Lee took these different forms of music and combined them to create a style completely his own. A creator in a world of imitators, Jerry Lee Lewis, will be remembered with Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley, as one of the true fathers of Rock & Roll.
Jerry Lee began to play piano at age eight on a Stark Upright that his parents, Elmo and Mamie Lewis, mortgaged their farm to buy.
"My mother and dad...got me a piano and I loved it and worked at it real hard, and they backed me all the way, all their lives.....They were great people."
"I'll tell ya, I started playing piano--I learned to play in two weeks."
Along with cousins Mickey Gilley and Jimmy Lee Swaggart, Jerry Lee was constantly playing and practicing on the old Stark. His cousins were as Jerry said, "......like my brothers." but as he would later say, "But boys, were all together now, and I'm gonna tell you something--You all got great talent, but you just got a little of the scrapings. Killer got the talent."
For Jerry Lee Lewis, the word talent describes what he sees clearly as a gift from God.
"Other people--they practice and they practice...these fingers of mine, they got brains in 'em. You don't TELL them what to do--THEY do it. God given talent."
In late 1956, the 21 year old Jerry Lee took his talent to Memphis to 'Eyeball' Sam Phillips at Sun Records after reading a story about Elvis in "Country Roundup" magazine. His family gathered 33 dozen eggs and sold them to Nelson's Supermarket in Ferriday to finance the trip north. Once there, his life would never be the same.
"Whose Barn? What Barn? MY BARN!!" 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On' was recorded in one take--2 minutes and 58 seconds of rocking fury.
On Sunday, July 28th, 1957, The Killer performed to a national television audience on the Steve Allen show. "Whole Lotta Shakin'" started moving up the charts and didn't stop until it held the number one spot in all field of music--Pop, Country and Western, and R&B. Only two other people have accomplished this--Elvis and Carl Perkins. However, with his next release, The Killer would leave them all behind.
"Great Balls of Fire" as well, would stand atop the Pop, Country, and R&B charts. No one before or since has duplicated this feat, and probably never will.
The summer of 1958 found Jerry Lee on top of the world. His twelve day engagement at the Paramount Theater in New York broke all attendance records, and his third hit "Breathless" was moving up the charts--until it all came crashing down during a tour of England in the fall of '58.
As the story has been told many, many, times. The British press, discovering his new bride to be only 13 years old and his second cousin (twice removed), attacked him mercilessly. Returning to the states, Jerry faced an equally hostile reaction.
Finding himself blacklisted on radio and T.V., The Killer hit the road for an endless string of one-night-stands. "From $10,000 a night to $250 is a hell of a disappointment." he said, but an unshakable belief in his own talent held him through the rough times.
In 1961 things looks better when his re-make of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" began to receive airplay. A successful 'Battle of the Century' with Jakie Wilson followed, but it wasn't until the late 1960's when Jerry Lee began to release a string of number one and top-ten country singles, that his career regained momentum.
Through it all, Jerry never lost faith in God, or in his own God given talent. Tragedies, such as the deaths of his two sons, have destroyed lessor men, but Jerry Lee Lewis has persevered, and he will never, NEVER! STOP ROCKING!!
"When they look back on me I want 'em to remember me not for all my wives, although I've had a few, and certainly not for any mansions or high livin' money I made and spent. I want 'em to remember me simply for my music......"
"As long as they gimme a piano I'll be out there. They try to take that away, I'm gonna kick some ass."
Denny Ray Miller
copyright 1996
Discography
Sun Issues 1956-1963
Crazy Arms/End of the Road
Whole Lotta Shakin'Goin' On/It'll Be Me
Number One in Country, Pop, and R&B
Great Balls of Fire/You Win Again
Number One in Country, Pop, and R&B
Breathless/Down the Line
4th Country/6th R&B/7th Pop
High School Confidential/Fools Like Me
9th Position Country/16th R&B/21st Pop
The Return of Jerry Lee/Lewis Boogie
Break Up/I'll Make It All Up To You
19th Position Country/52nd Pop
I'll Sail My Ship Alone/It Hurt Me So
93rd Pop
Lovin' Up A Storm/Big Blon' Baby
Let's Talk About Us/Ballad of Billy Joe
Little Queenie/I Could Never Be Ashamed of You
Baby Baby Bye Bye/Old Black Joe
Hang Up My R&R Shoes/John Henry
In The Mood/I Get The Blues When It Rains
Love Made A Fool of Me/When I Get Paid
What'D I Say/Livin' Lovin' Wreck
27th Position Country/26th R&B/30th Pop
It Won't Happen With Me/Cold Cold Heart
22nd Position Country
Save The Last Dance For Me/As Long As I Live
Money/Bonnie Bee
I've Been Twistin'/Ramblin' Rose
Sweet Little Sixteen/How's My Ex
99th Position Pop
Good Golly Miss Molly/I Can't Trust Me
Teenage Letter/Seasons Of My Heart
Smash Issues 1963-1968
HIT THE ROAD JACK/PEN AND PAPER
I`M ON FIRE/BREAD AND BUTTER
SHE WAS MY BABY/THE WHOLE HE SAID HE`D DIG
HIGH HEEL SNEAKERS/YOU WENT BACK ON YOUR WORD
HOLD ME CLOSE/I BELEIVE IN YOU
CARRY ME BACK/I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS (SUN)
ROCKIN PNEUMANIA/THIS MUST BE THE PLACE
GREEN GREEN GRASS OG HOME/BABY YOU'VE GOT
STICKS & STONES/WHAT A HECK OF A MESS
MEMPHIS BEAT/ IF I HAD IT ALL TO DO
IT'S A HANG UP BABY/HOLDIN' ON
TURN ON YOUR LOVE LIGHT/SHOTGUN MAN
ANOTHER PLACE,ANOTHER TIME/WALKIN THE FLOOR
WHAT'S MADE MILWAUKEE/ALL THE GOOD IS GONE
SHE STILL COMES AROUND/SLIPPIN AROUND
TO MAKE LOVE SWEETER/LET`S TALK ABOUT US
Smash and Mercury Issues 1969-1978
DON`T LET ME CROSS OVER/WE LIVE IN TWO
ONE HAS MY NAME/I CAN'T STOP LOVIN YOU
INVITATION TO YOUR PARTY (SUN)
SHE EVEN WOKE ME UP TO SAY GOODBYE/ECHOES
ONE MINUTE PAST ETERNITY (SUN)
ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN/SECRET PLACES
ONCE MORE WITH FEELING/YOU WENT OUT OF
I CAN`T SEEM TO SAY GOODBYE (SUN)
THERE MUST BE MOR TO LOVE/HOME AWAY
WAITING FOR A TRAIN (SUN)
BEFORE THE SNOW FALLS/ SOLO (Linda G Lewis)
IN LOVING MEMORIES/I CAN'T HAVE A MERRY XMAS
TOUCHING HOME/WOMAN WOMAN GET OUT
LOVE ON BRODWAY (SUN)
WHEN HE WALKS ON YOU/FOOLISH KIND OF MAN
WOULD YOU TAKE ANOTHER/ME & BOBBY MCGEE
CHANTILLY LACE/THINK ABOUT IT DARLIN
LONELY WEEKENDS/TURN ON YOUR LOVE LIGHT
ME & JESUS/HANDWRITING ON THE WALL
WHO'S GONNA PLAY/NO HONKY TONKS
NO MORE HANGINH ON/THE MERCY OF A LETTER
DRINKIN WINE SPOO-DEE-O-DEE/R&R MEDLEY
NO HEADSTONE ON MY GRAVE/JACK DANIELS NO7
SOMETIMES A MEMORY/I THINK I NEED TO PRAY
I'M LEFT YOUR'RE RIGHT/I THINK I NEED TOO
JUST A LITTLE BIT/MEAT MAN
TELL TALE SIGN/COLD MORNING LIGHT
HE CAN'T FILL MY SHOES/TOMORROW'S TAKIN
I CAN STILL HEAR/IM THE ONE THAT LOVES YOU
BOOGIE WOOGIE COUNTRY MAN/I`M STILL JEALOUS
A DAMN GOOD COUNTRY SONG/WHEN I TAKE
DON'T BOOGIE WOOGIE/THAT KIND OF FOOL
LET'S PUT IT BACK/JERRY LEE'S R&R REVIVAL
THE CLOSEST THING/YOU BELONG TO ME
MIDDLE AGE CRAZY/GEORGIA ON MY MIND
COME ON IN/WHO`S SORRY NOW
I`LL FIND IT/DON'T LET THE STARS GET IN
SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME (SUN)
COLD COLD HEART (SUN)
Elektra 1979-1981
ROCKIN` MY LIFE AWAY/I WISH I WAS THERE
WHO WILL THE NEXT FOOL BE/RITA MAY
WHEN TWO WORLDS COLLIDE
HONKY TONK STUFF
OVER THE RAINBOW/FOLSOM PRISON BLUES
39 AND HOLDING/CHANGE PLACES
I'M SON LONSOME I COULD CRY (MERCURY)
MCA 1982-1986
MY FINGERS DO THE TALKIN/SHE SURE MAKES
COME AS YOU WERE/CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE
WHY YOU BEEN GONE SO LONG/SHE SINGS
I AM WHAT I AM/ THAT WAS THE WAY IT WAS
SIXTEEN CANDLES (1986) 61
GREAT BALLS OF FIRE/BREATHLESS (1989)Great Balls of Fire Soundtrack
IT WAS THE WHISKEY TALKING (1990) Dick Tracy Soundrack
GOOSEBUMPS/YOUNG BLOOD (1995)
] Breaking Clay Makes My Day!
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