Posted on 08/09/2015 12:57:25 AM PDT by nickcarraway
At nearly 80, Jerry Lee Lewis has outlived his rivals and is preparing for his final tour. He talks about why his seventh wife is the love of his life, how he became known as ‘the Killer’, and why Elvis was just a hillbilly
We’re waiting for the Killer to get home. Judith, wife number seven, is telling me how best to get on with her husband. Jerry Lee Lewis, one of the founding fathers of rock’n’roll and reputedly the baddest of the bad boys, is known to have a temperamental side. There was the time he drove up to Graceland, drunk on liquor and high on pills, with a gun on his dashboard, demanding that Elvis come down from the house on the hill to prove who was the real king. And the time he shot his bass player, Butch Owens, in the chest, accidentally, he insists – Owens won $125,000 in damages. There were the two wives who died in tragic, some have said suspicious, circumstances. But this is the past, says Judith in her deep Mississippi drawl, and the past is a faraway country.
“OK, you have to talk loud and slowly to Jerry. And don’t mention any bad words, and nothing negative,” says the formidable Judith, a former basketball player, and ex-wife of the brother of wife number three, Myra. Myra was the most controversial, because she was only 13 years old when Lewis wed her. “You can ask about me, but as far as all his wives and stuff goes, he doesn’t like to talk about personal stuff,” Judith says.
Jerry Lee Lewis is preparing for his final tour to the UK next month, to coincide with his 80th birthday. Sixty years on from the birth of rock’n’roll, Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On and Great
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Myra was wife number three? I thought Myra’s brother played in the band. Did Jerry Lee marry twice before he left Louisiana and went to Memphis?
The article mentions his first wife but not the second. Or maybe I missed it.
Back in the 80s I saw him at a club in Temple, Texas. I walked up to the stage and handed him a business card with “One Minute Past Eternity” written on the back. He looked at and said “Okay” and started playing it.
Quaid did a lousy job of playing him. He acted like he was retarded. Kinda’ reminded me of the Reverend Jim character on TAXI.
Jerry Lee is first cousins with Jimmy Swaggart and Mickey GIlley. Jerry knows the gospel, and all he has to do is call his cousin if he has any doubts about where he will spend eternity.
It’s kinda sad to see how obsessed he is with Elvis, even after all these years. Makes me wonder if there is a story there that we are never going to hear about.
Probably competition and jealousy.
This might be close to heresy since Ray Charles is highly regarded here on FR (and he was a Republican) but, in my opinion and in this one specific instance, the white guy (Jerry Lee Lewis) arguably performs with more soul. Compare the two performances of "Lucky Old Sun" and let me know what y'all think:
They are both good, however, I have to go with Jerry Lee Lewis on this one - that blue-eyed soul just reaches down into your heart. He surely was and is talented. Too bad he lived such a reckless life.
I once spent a little time with a guy who played drums for him when his three year old son died. The drummer’s brother played guitar. He said they heard on the radio about the kid drowning so they didn’t figure they’d play the gig in Newport, Arkansas that night. That afternoon Jerry Lee called and told them to head on over to Newport and get set up and he’d be there in time to play. They said they’d heard his son had drowned. He confirmed it and said “We still have to play.”
He and Elvis were good friends. A lot of the stuff was hype. Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins both said they all really liked each other.
I think The Killer has more hurt in his voice on this song and thus gives a more soulful performance. To be fair to the Ray Charles version, the lush orchestration and backup singers make it a bit too slick and polished sounding. In contrast, the rawness and sparseness of the JLL arrangement serves to give it an edge in that regard. All IMHO and YMMV.
His drummer told me they were all on a bus one night, or early in the morning, coming home from a gig and one of the guys said he didn’t believe in God. Jerry Lee kicked him off the bus and drove off, leaving the guy standing on the side of the road.
How I knew the drummer, I won’t say his name, is I was playing a gig on New Years Eve in Memphis and needed a drummer. The bass player called him. He was one colorful character.
Ray Charles couldn’t hold a candle to JLL in piano playing. His cousin, Jimmy Swaggart, is also an awesome piano player. Must run in the family.
LOL, and then I look at your screen name - Smokin’ Joe and do a double LOL.
Lewis was a surprise guest at a festival I attended a few years ago. Honestly, I thought he was dead. Yes, he’s older and not in the best of health, but the man could still play.
Great post!
Ray Charles.
I saw Dave Brubeck and his band (again) when he was 80 and he was awesome!
Jerry Lee Lewis - Live at the Star Club 1964
Named by some ‘the best live rock and roll album ever’.
He’s backed by the Nashville Teens (known today mostly for Tobacco Road).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66iOLET0U24
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