Jerry Lee Lewis Performs At The Second Chance Club, February 3 1981 ANN ARBOR MI

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Seller: memorabilia111 ✉️ (808) 100%, Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, US, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 176270370260 Jerry Lee Lewis Performs At The Second Chance Club, February 3 1981 ANN ARBOR MI.
AN EXCEEDLINGLY RARE 8x10 inch PHOTO OF Jerry Lee Lewis Performing At The Second Chance Club, February 3, 1981 in Ann Arbor, Michigan "Killer's Back - Jerry Lee Lewis shows the form that made Monday night's concert at Second Chance one of the Tidal Wave series' best. Lewis even played the piano with his feet - - and hit all the right notes." Photographer Candy

Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935 – October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock 'n' roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made his first recordings in 1952 at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studio in New Orleans, Louisiana, and early recordings in 1956 at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee. "Crazy Arms" sold 300,000 copies in the Southern United States, but it was his 1957 hit "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" that shot Lewis to worldwide fame. He followed this with the major hits "Great Balls of Fire", "Breathless", and "High School Confidential". His rock and roll career faltered in the wake of his marriage to Myra Gale Brown, his 13-year-old first cousin once removed. His popularity quickly eroded following the scandal, and with few exceptions, such as a cover of Ray Charles's "What'd I Say", he did not have much chart success in the early 1960s. His live performances at this time were increasingly wild and energetic. His 1964 live album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg is regarded by many music journalists and fans as one of the wildest and greatest live rock albums ever. In 1968, Lewis made a transition into country music and had hits with songs such as "Another Place, Another Time". This reignited his career, and throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, he regularly topped the country-western charts; throughout his seven-decade career, Lewis had 30 songs reach the Top 10 on the Billboard Country and Western Chart.[7] His No. 1 country hits included "To Make Love Sweeter for You", "There Must Be More to Love Than This", "Would You Take Another Chance on Me", and "Me and Bobby McGee". Lewis's successes continued throughout the decades, and he embraced his rock and roll past with songs such as a cover of The Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace" and Mack Vickery's "Rockin' My Life Away". In the 21st century, Lewis continued to tour worldwide and released new albums. His 2006 album Last Man Standing was his best-selling release, with over a million copies worldwide. This was followed by Mean Old Man in 2010, another of his bestselling albums. Lewis had a dozen gold records in rock and country. He won four Grammy awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and two Grammy Hall of Fame Awards. Lewis was inducted into the inaugural class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, and his pioneering contribution to the genre was recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He was also a member of the inaugural class inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.[8] He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2022. In 1989, his life was chronicled in the movie Great Balls of Fire, starring Dennis Quaid. In 2003, Rolling Stone listed his box set All Killer, No Filler: The Anthology at number 242 on their list of "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[9] In 2004, they ranked him No. 24 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[10] Lewis was the last surviving member of Sun Records' Million Dollar Quartet and the album Class of '55, which also included Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Elvis Presley. Music critic Robert Christgau said of Lewis: "His drive, his timing, his offhand vocal power, his unmistakable boogie-plus piano, and his absolute confidence in the face of the void make Jerry Lee the quintessential rock and roller."[4] Early life Jerry Lee Lewis was born on September 29, 1935, to Elmo Kidd Lewis Sr. and Mary "Mamie" Herron Lewis in Ferriday, Louisiana. He grew up in an impoverished farming family in Eastern Louisiana. In his youth, he began playing the piano with two of his cousins, Mickey Gilley (later a popular country music singer) and Jimmy Swaggart (later a popular televangelist). His parents mortgaged their farm to buy him a piano. Lewis was influenced by a piano-playing older cousin, Carl McVoy (who later recorded with Bill Black's Combo), the radio, and the sounds from Haney's Big House, a black juke joint across the tracks.[11] On November 19, 1949, Lewis made his first public performance of his career, playing with a country and western band at a car dealership in Ferriday. The hit of his set was his performance of R&B artist Stick McGhee's "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee".[12] On the live album By Request, More of the Greatest Live Show on Earth, Lewis is heard naming Moon Mullican as an artist who inspired him.[13] His mother enrolled him at the Southwest Bible Institute in Waxahachie, Texas, so that he could sing evangelical songs exclusively. When Lewis daringly played a boogie-woogie rendition of "My God Is Real" at a church assembly, it ended his association with the school the same night. Pearry Green, then president of the student body, related how during a talent show Lewis played some "worldly" music. The next morning, the dean of the school called Lewis and Green into his office to expel them. After that incident, he went home and started playing at clubs in and around Ferriday and Natchez, Mississippi, becoming part of the burgeoning new rock and roll sound and cutting his first demo recording in 1952 for Cosimo Matassa in New Orleans.[14][15] Around 1955, he traveled to Nashville, where he played in clubs and attempted to build interest, but was turned down by the Grand Ole Opry, as he was already at the Louisiana Hayride country stage and radio show in Shreveport.[16] Career J&M Studio Lewis made his first recordings in 1952 at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studio in New Orleans, Louisiana. He covered Lefty Frizzell's "Don't Stay Away (Till Love Grows Cold)" and his own instrumental composition "Jerry's Boogie" (AKA New Orleans Boogie).[14] Sun Records Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee, where Lewis began his career and recorded many of his most famous singles Duration: 2 minutes and 47 seconds.2:47 Sun Records artist Ray Harris singing the song "Greenback Dollar", with Lewis playing the piano In November 1956, Lewis traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, to audition for Sun Records. Label owner Sam Phillips was in Florida, but producer and engineer Jack Clement recorded Lewis's rendition of Ray Price's "Crazy Arms" and his own composition "End of the Road". In December 1956, Lewis began recording prolifically as a solo artist and as a session musician for other Sun artists, including Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. His distinctive piano playing can be heard on many tracks recorded at Sun in late 1956 and early 1957, including Carl Perkins's "Matchbox", "Your True Love", and "Put Your Cat Clothes On" and Billy Lee Riley's "Flyin' Saucers Rock'n'Roll". On December 4, 1956, Elvis 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. Johnny Cash was also there watching Perkins. The four then started an impromptu jam session and Phillips left the tape running.[17] These recordings, almost half of which were gospel songs, were released on CD as Million Dollar Quartet. Tracks also include Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" and "Paralyzed", Chuck Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man", and Pat Boone's "Don't Forbid Me". Cash Box advertisement, November 16, 1957 Lewis's own singles (on which he was billed as "Jerry Lee Lewis And His Pumping Piano") advanced his career as a soloist during 1957, with hits such as "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", a Big Maybelle cover, and "Great Balls of Fire", his biggest hit, bringing him international fame and criticism of the songs, which prompted some radio stations to boycott them. In 2005, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. According to several first-hand sources, including Johnny Cash, Lewis, a devout Christian, was troubled by the sinful nature of his own material, which he believed was leading him and his audience to Hell.[18] This aspect of Lewis's character was depicted in Waylon Payne's portrayal of Lewis in the 2005 film Walk the Line, based on Cash's autobiographies. As part of his stage act, Lewis pounded the keys with his heel, kicked the piano bench aside and played standing, raking his hands up and down the keys, sat on the keyboard and stood on the piano. He told the Pop Chronicles that kicking over the bench originally happened by accident, but when it got a favorable response, he kept it in the act.[17] His inaugural television appearance, in which he demonstrated some of these moves, was on The Steve Allen Show on July 28, 1957, where he played "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On".[19][20] His dynamic 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. Cub Koda called him "rock & roll's first great wild man" and also "rock & roll's first great eclectic".[21] Classical composer Michael Nyman has also cited Lewis's style as the progenitor of his own aesthetic.[22] In 1960, Phillips opened a new state-of-the-art studio at 639 Madison Avenue in Memphis,[23] abandoning the old Union Avenue studio where Phillips had recorded B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Lewis, Johnny Cash, and others, and also opened a studio in Nashville. It was at the latter studio that Lewis recorded his only major hit during this period, a rendition of Ray Charles's "What'd I Say" in 1961. In Europe, other updated versions of "Sweet Little Sixteen" (September 1962 UK) and "Good Golly, Miss Molly" (March 1963) entered the hit parade. On popular EPs, "Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes", "I've Been Twistin'", "Money", and "Hello Josephine" also became turntable hits, especially in nascent discothèques. Another recording of Lewis playing an instrumental boogie arrangement of the Glenn Miller Orchestra's "In the Mood" was issued on the Phillips International label under the pseudonym "The Hawk".[24] Marriage controversy Lewis's turbulent personal life was hidden from the public until a May 1958 British tour where Ray Berry, a news agency reporter at London's Heathrow Airport (the only journalist present), learned about Lewis's third wife, Myra Gale Brown. She is Lewis's first cousin once removed[25][26] and was 13 years old when they married—though Lewis, who was 22 years old at the time, claimed she was actually 15. The publicity caused an uproar, and the tour was canceled after only three concerts.[27] Smash Records Lewis's Sun recording contract ended in 1963, and he joined Smash Records, where he made several rock recordings that did not further his career. The team at Smash (a division of Mercury Records) came up with "I'm on Fire", a song that they felt would be perfect for Lewis and, as Colin Escott writes in the sleeve to the retrospective A Half Century of Hits, "Mercury held the presses, thinking they had found Lewis's comeback hit, and it might have happened if the Beatles hadn't arrived in America, changing radio playlists almost overnight. Mercury didn't really know what to do with Lewis after that."[28] One of Smash's first decisions was to record a retread of his Sun hits, Golden Hits of Jerry Lee Lewis, which was inspired by the continuing enthusiasm European fans had shown for Lewis's firebrand rock and roll. In June 1963, Lewis returned to the UK for the first time since the scandal that nearly ended his career five years earlier, to headline a performance on the MV Royal Daffodil, for a cross-channel rock and roll cruise from Southend, Essex, to Boulogne, France. For this performance, he was backed by Ritchie Blackmore and the Outlaws.[29] None of Lewis's early Smash albums, including The Return of Rock, Memphis Beat, and Soul My Way, were commercial successes. Live at the Star Club, Hamburg One major success during these lost years was the concert album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg, recorded with the Nashville Teens in 1964, which is considered one of the greatest live albums ever.[30][31][32][33][34] In Joe Bonomo's book Lost and Found, producer Siggi Loch stated that the recording setup was uncomplicated, with microphones placed as close to the instruments as possible and a stereo mic placed in the audience to capture the ambience. The results were sonically astonishing, with Bonomo observing, "Detractors complain of the album's crashing noisiness, the lack of subtlety with which Jerry Lee revisits the songs, the fact that the piano is mixed too loudly, but what is certain is that Siggi Loch on this spring evening captured something brutally honest about the Killer, about the primal and timeless centre of the very best rock & roll..." The album showcases Lewis's skills as a pianist and singer, honed by relentless touring. In a 5-out-of-5-stars review, Milo Miles wrote in Rolling Stone magazine that "Live at the Star Club, Hamburg is not an album, it's a crime scene: Jerry Lee Lewis slaughters his rivals in a thirteen-song set that feels like one long convulsion." Country comeback Lewis performing with Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins on The Johnny Cash Christmas Special in November 1977 Frustrated by Smash's inability to score a hit, Lewis was planning on leaving the label when promotions manager Eddie Kilroy called him and pitched the idea of cutting a pure country record in Nashville. With nothing to lose, Lewis agreed to record the Jerry Chesnut song "Another Place, Another Time", which was released as a single on March 9, 1968, and, to everyone's amazement, shot up the country charts. At the time of the release, Lewis had been playing Iago in a rock and roll adaptation of Othello called Catch My Soul in Los Angeles but was soon rushed back to Nashville to record another batch of songs with producer Jerry Kennedy. What followed was a string of hits that no one could have ever predicted, although country music always remained a major part of Lewis's repertoire. As Colin Escott observes in the sleeve to the 1995 compilation Killer Country, the conversion to country music in 1968 "looked at the time like a radical shift, but it was neither as abrupt nor as unexpected as it seemed. Jerry had always recorded country music, and his country breakthrough "Another Place, Another Time" had been preceded by countless country records starting with his first, 'Crazy Arms', in 1956." The last time Lewis had had a song on the country charts was with "Pen and Paper" in 1964, which had reached number 36, but "Another Place, Another Time" would go all the way to number 4 and remain on the charts for 17 weeks. Between 1968 and 1977, Lewis had 17 Top 10 hit singles on the Billboard country chart, including four chart-toppers. Hits include "What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made A Loser Out of Me)", "To Make Love Sweeter For You", "She Still Comes Around (To Love What's Left of Me)", "Since I Met You Baby", "Once More With Feeling", "One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)", and "Sometimes A Memory Ain't Enough". The production on his early country albums, such as Another Place, Another Time and She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye, was sparse, quite different from the slick "Nashville sound" that was predominant on country radio at the time, and also expressed a full commitment by Lewis to a country audience. The songs still featured Lewis's inimitable piano flourishes, but critics were most taken aback by the rock and roll pioneer's effortlessly soulful vocals, which possessed an emotional resonance on par with the most respected country singers of the time, such as George Jones and Merle Haggard. In his book Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story, biographer Rick Bragg notes that the songs Lewis was recording "were of the kind they were starting to call 'hard country', not because it had a rock beat or crossed over into rock in a real way, but because it was more substantial than the cloying, overproduced mess out there on country radio". In a remarkable turnaround, Lewis became the most bankable country star in the world. He was so huge in 1970 that his former Smash producer Shelby Singleton, who purchased Sun Records from Sam Phillips in July 1969, wasted no time in repackaging many of Lewis's old country recordings with such effectiveness that many fans assumed they were recent releases. One of his later unreleased Sun recordings, "One Minute Past Eternity", was issued as a single and soared to number 2 on the country chart, following Lewis's recent Mercury hit "She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye". Singleton would milk these unreleased recordings for years, following The Golden Cream of the Country with A Taste of Country later in 1970. Grand Ole Opry appearance Lewis played the Grand Ole Opry for the first and only time on January 20, 1973. As Colin Escott writes in the liner notes to A Half Century of Hits, he had maintained an ambivalence to Music City ever since he was turned away as an aspiring musician before his glory days at Sun Records: "It was 18 years since he had left Nashville broke and disheartened...Lewis was never truly accepted in Nashville. He didn't move there and didn't schmooze there. He didn't fit in with the family values crowd. Lewis family values weren't necessarily worse, but they were different."[28] As recounted in a 2015 online Rolling Stone article by Beville Dunkerly, Lewis opened with his comeback single "Another Place, Another Time". Ignoring his allotted time constraints—and, thus, commercial breaks—Lewis played for 40 minutes (the average Opry performance is two songs, for about eight minutes of stage time maximum) and invited Del Wood—the one member of the Opry who had been kind to him when he had been there as a teenager—out on stage to sing with him. He also blasted through "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On", "Workin' Man Blues", "Good Golly, Miss Molly", and a host of other classics.[35] The Session and Southern Roots Lewis performing in 1977 Lewis returned to the pop charts with "Me and Bobby McGee" in 1971 and "Chantilly Lace" in 1972, and this turn of events, coupled with a revitalized public interest in vintage rock and roll, inspired Mercury to fly Lewis to London in 1973 to record with a cadre of British and Irish musicians, including Rory Gallagher, Kenney Jones, and Albert Lee. By all accounts the sessions were tense. The remake of Lewis's old Sun cut "Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" was the album's hit single, reaching number 20 on the Billboard country chart and peaking at number 41 on the pop chart. The Session was his highest pop charting album since 1964's Golden Hits of Jerry Lee Lewis, hitting number 37. It did far better on the country albums chart, rising to number 4. Later that year, he went to Memphis and recorded Southern Roots: Back Home to Memphis, a soul-infused rock album produced by Huey Meaux. According to Rick Bragg's authorized 2014 biography, "the Killer" was in a foul mood when he showed up at Trans Maximus Studios in Memphis to record: "During these sessions, he insulted the producer, threatened to kill a photographer, and drank and medicated his way into but not out of a fog." During one exchange that can be heard on the 2013 reissue Southern Roots: The Original Sessions, Meaux asks Lewis, "Do you wanna try one?", meaning a take, to which Lewis replies, "If you got enough fuckin' sense to cut it."[36] Lewis was still pumping out country albums, although the hits were beginning to dry up. His last big hit with Mercury was "Middle Age Crazy", which made it to number 4 in 1977. Later career Lewis performing in 2009 In 1979, Lewis switched record labels to Elektra and produced the critically acclaimed Jerry Lee Lewis, although sales were disappointing. In 1986, Lewis was one of the inaugural inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Although looking frail after several hospitalizations due to stomach problems, Lewis was responsible for beginning an unplanned jam at the end of the evening, which was eventually incorporated into all future events. That year, he returned to Sun Studio in Memphis to team up with Orbison, Cash, and Perkins along with longtime admirers like John Fogerty to create the album Class of '55. In 1989, a major motion picture based on his early life in rock and 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's ex-wife, Myra Gale Lewis, and starred Dennis Quaid as Lewis, Winona Ryder as Myra, and Alec Baldwin as Jimmy Swaggart. The movie focuses on Lewis's early career and his relationship with Myra and ends with the scandal of the late 1950s. A year later, in 1990, Lewis made minor news when a new song he recorded called "It Was the Whiskey Talkin' (Not Me)" was included in the soundtrack to the hit movie Dick Tracy. The song is also heard in the movie, playing on the radio. The public downfall of his cousin, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart around the same time, resulted in more adverse publicity to a troubled family. Swaggart is also a piano player, as is another cousin, country music star Mickey Gilley. All three listened to the same music in their youth and frequented Haney's Big House, the Ferriday club that featured black blues acts. Lewis and Swaggart had a complex relationship over the years. Lewis performing at the Rhythm Festival in Bedford, England, in 2006 In 1998, Lewis toured Europe with Chuck Berry and Little Richard.[37] On February 12, 2005, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by The Recording Academy.[38] On September 26, 2006, a new album titled Last Man Standing was released, featuring many of rock and roll's elite as guest stars. Receiving positive reviews, the album charted on four different Billboard charts, including a two-week stay at number one on the Indie charts. A DVD entitled Last Man Standing Live, featuring concert footage with many guest artists, was released in March 2007. Lewis performing in 2006 In October 2008, as part of a successful European tour, Lewis appeared at two London shows: a special private show at the 100 Club on October 25 and at the London Forum on October 28 with Wanda Jackson and his sister, Linda Gail Lewis.[39] In August 2009, in advance of his new album, a single entitled "Mean Old Man" was released for download. It was written by Kris Kristofferson. An EP featuring this song and four more was also released on November 11. On October 29, 2009, Lewis opened the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City.[40] In May 2013, Lewis opened a new club on Beale Street in Memphis.[41][42] Lewis was still considered actively performing in concert,[43] though he had to cancel all shows following his February 28, 2019, stroke, waiting for his doctors' go-ahead.[44] In 2017 Lewis had a personal presence at The Country Music Television Skyville Live show. It was a specially recorded performance featuring a whole array of artists paying tribute to the music of Lewis.[45][46] In March 2020, it was announced that Lewis, together with producer T-Bone Burnett and guitarist James Burton, was recording a new album of gospel covers. It was the first time he entered a recording studio following his stroke.[47][48] As of 2023, it is unknown how much progress was made with this gospel album, or if it was ever completed, as nothing from these sessions has been released; Lewis later recorded another gospel album with cousin Jimmy Swaggart that was unrelated to the 2020 project with Burnett and Burton. On October 27, 2020, to celebrate Lewis's 85th birthday, a livestream aired on YouTube, Facebook, and his official website. The livestream special, Whole Lotta Celebratin' Goin' On, featured appearances and performances by Willie Nelson, Elton John, Mike Love, Priscilla Presley, Joe Walsh, and others. John Stamos served as the host.[49][50] Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind is a documentary on Lewis released in 2022 and directed by Ethan Coen.[51] Earlier in 2022, a collaborative gospel album was released with Jerry Lee Lewis and his cousin Jimmy Swaggart, called The Boys from Ferriday.[52] Music legacy Accolades Lewis's "Brass Note" at the Beale Street Walk of Fame in Memphis Jerry Lee Lewis Avenue in Ferriday, Louisiana Along with Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison, Lewis received the first Grammy Award in the spoken-word category for the very rare album of interviews released with some early copies of the Class of '55 album in 1986.[38] The original Sun cut of "Great Balls of Fire" was elected to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, and Lewis's Sun recording of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" received this honor in 1999.[53] Only recordings that are at least 25 years old and have left a lasting impression can receive this honor. On February 12, 2005, Lewis received the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award the day before the Recording Academy's main Grammy Awards ceremony, which he also attended.[38][54] In June 1989, Lewis was honored for his contribution to the recording industry with a star along Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On October 10, 2007, Lewis received the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's American Music Masters Award. His next album, Mean Old Man, was released in September 2010 and reached No. 30 on the Billboard 200 album chart. On November 5, 2007, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, honored Lewis with six days of conferences, interviews, a DVD premiere, and film clips, dedicated to him and entitled The Life And Music of Jerry Lee Lewis.[55] On November 10, the week culminated with a tribute concert compered by Kris Kristofferson. Lewis was present to accept the American Music Masters Award and closed his own tribute show with a rendition of "Over the Rainbow". On February 10, 2008, he appeared with John Fogerty and Little Richard on the 50th Grammy Awards, performing "Great Balls of Fire" in a medley with "Good Golly Miss Molly". On June 4, 2008, Lewis was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and appeared on A Capitol Fourth and performed the finale's final act with a medley of "Roll Over Beethoven", "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On", and "Great Balls of Fire". In December 2019, Lewis was honored with a Mississippi Country Music Trail marker at his ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi to celebrate his contributions to country music.[56] In May 2022, Lewis was announced as a member-elect to the Country Music Hall of Fame, to be inducted in October 2022.[57] "This year's inductees are trailblazers who each paved their own unique path within country music," Sarah Trahern, CMA chief executive officer, said. "Jerry Lee, Keith (Whitley), and Joe (Galante) each found their musical callings early in life and displayed a strong-minded and fierce passion for music making. In very different ways, they all have left a lasting impact on the industry and generations of fans alike. I am thrilled to welcome this deserving class to the Country Music Hall of Fame." "I'm just overwhelmed that they asked me here today," Lewis, 86, said during an event earlier that week at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, adding that his career had taught him to "be a good person and treat people right."[58][59] Piano style Lewis was an incendiary showman who often played with his fists, elbows, feet, and backside, sometimes climbing on top of the piano during gigs and even apocryphally setting it on fire.[60] Like Chuck Berry's guitar playing, Lewis's piano style became synonymous with rock and roll, having influenced generations of piano players. In a 2013 interview with Leah Harper, Elton John recalls that up until "Great Balls of Fire", "the piano playing that I had heard had been more sedate. My dad collected George Shearing records, but this was the first time I heard someone beat the shit out of a piano. When I saw Little Richard at the Harrow Granada, he played it standing up, but Jerry Lee Lewis actually jumped on the piano! This was astonishing to me, that people could do that. Those records had such a huge effect on me, and they were just so great. I learned to play like that." Lewis was primarily known for his "boogie-woogie" style, which is characterized by a regular left-hand bass figure and dancing beat, but his command of the instrument and highly individualistic style set him apart. Appearing on Memphis Sounds with George Klein in 2011, Lewis credited his older piano-playing cousin Carl McVoy as being a crucial influence, stating, "He was a great piano player, a great singer, and a nice-looking man, carried himself real well. I miss Carl very much." Lewis also cited Moon Mullican as a source of inspiration.[13] Although almost entirely self-taught, Lewis conceded to biographer Rich Bragg in 2014 that Paul Whitehead, a blind pianist from Meadville, Mississippi, was another key influence on him in his earliest days playing clubs.[61] Although Lewis's piano playing is commonly labeled boogie-woogie, gospel music was another major influence in the formation of his technique. In Joe Bonomo's 2009 book Jerry Lee Lewis: Lost and Found, Memphis producer and musician Jim Dickinson calls Lewis's occasional penchant for interrupting the standard boogie woogie left-hand progression by omitting the seventh and repeating the fifth and sixth, creating a repetitive, driving, quasi-menacing momentum, "revolutionary, almost inexplicable. Maybe Ella Mae Morse, Moon Mullican had done it, but not in a way that became the propelling force of the song. Rock and roll piano up to that point had been defined by Rosco Gordon, Ike Turner, and to an extent, Ray Charles. None of them was doing that. Even Little Richard, as primitive as he plays, wasn't doing that shuffle... There was something in Jerry Lee that didn't want to play that seventh, and that's the church. Certainly in white spiritual music you avoid sevenths." Personal life Relationships and children Lewis was married seven times, including bigamous marriages and a marriage with his underage cousin.[62] He had six children during his marriages. When Jerry Lee Lewis was 16, he married Dorothy Barton, the daughter of a preacher.[63] Their union lasted for 20 months, from February 1952 to October 1953.[64] Lewis's second marriage in September 1953, to Sally Jane Mitcham, was of dubious validity because it occurred 23 days before his divorce from Barton was final. After four years, he filed for divorce in October 1957. They had two children: Jerry Lee Lewis Jr. (1954–1973) and Ronnie Guy Lewis (b. 1956). In 1973, Jerry Lee Lewis Jr. died at the age of 19 when he overturned the Jeep he was driving.[64][65] His third marriage was to 13-year-old Myra Gale Brown, his first cousin once removed, on December 12, 1957.[66] His divorce from Jane Mitcham was not finalized before the ceremony took place, so he remarried Brown on June 4, 1958.[67] They had two children: Steve Allen Lewis (1959–1962) and Phoebe Allen Lewis (b. 1963). Brown was only 14 years old when her son was born.[68] In 1962, Steve Allen Lewis drowned in a swimming pool accident at the age of 3.[64] In 1970, Brown filed for divorce on the grounds of adultery and abuse,[67] stating that she had been "subject to every type of physical and mental abuse imaginable."[69] His fourth marriage was to Jaren Elizabeth Gunn Pate from October 1971 to June 8, 1982. Pate drowned in a swimming pool at the home of a friend with whom she was staying, several weeks before divorce proceedings could be finalized.[70] They had one daughter, Lori Lee Lewis (b. 1972). Mary Kathy "K.K." Jones of San Antonio, Texas, testified in court during Lewis's income tax evasion trial in 1984 that she lived with him from 1980 to 1983.[71] Lewis's fifth marriage, to Shawn Stephens, lasted 77 days, from June to August 1983, ending with her death[72] from an overdose of methadone.[73] Journalist Richard Ben Cramer alleged that Lewis abused and may have killed her, neither of which is proven.[63] His sixth marriage, to Kerrie McCarver, lasted 21 years, from April 1984 to June 2005. They had one child: Jerry Lee Lewis III (b. 1987).[74] In 1993, Lewis moved to Ireland with his family in what was suggested (but denied) to be a move to avoid issues with the Internal Revenue Service.[75] He lived in a rented house on Westminster Road in Foxrock, Dublin, and during his time there was sued by the German company Neue Constantin Film Production GmbH for failure to appear at a concert in Munich in 1993.[76] Lewis returned to the U.S. in 1997 after his tax issues had been resolved by Irish promoter Kieran Cavanagh.[77] Lewis lived on a ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi, with his family.[78][79][80] Lewis married his seventh wife Judith Lewis (née Brown, Myra Gale Brown's brother's former wife) on March 9, 2012.[62] The next day, Lewis severed business ties with his daughter, Phoebe Lewis-Loftin, who was his manager, and revoked her power of attorney.[81] In 2017, Lewis sued his daughter and her husband Zeke Loftin, claiming that she owed him "substantial sums of money".[82] In the lawsuit, Lewis, his wife Judith Lewis, and his son Jerry Lee Lewis III also claimed Loftin defamed them on Facebook. Lewis-Loftin and her husband counter-sued, claiming Judith Lewis and Jerry Lee Lewis III interfered in the business relationship. In April 2019, U.S. District Judge Neal Biggers ruled that most of the claims were barred by a three-year statute of limitations except the defamation claims.[81][needs update] Religious beliefs As a teenager, Lewis studied at the Southwest Bible Institute in Waxahachie, Texas, before being thrown out for playing a 'worldly' boogie-woogie version of "My God Is Real", and that early incident foreshadowed his lifelong conflict over his faith in God and his love of playing "the devil's music". Lewis had a recorded argument with Sam Phillips during the recording session for "Great Balls of Fire", a song he initially refused to record because he considered it blasphemous ("How can… How can the devil save souls? What are you talkin' about?" he asks Phillips during one heated exchange.) During the famous Million Dollar Quartet jam involving Lewis, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash, they performed several gospel songs. Lewis's biographer Rick Bragg explains that part of the reason the recording only features Lewis and Elvis singing is because "only Elvis and Jerry Lee [were] raised in the Assembly of God", and "'Johnny and Carl didn't really know the words... they was Baptists', [Lewis] said, and therefore deprived."[83] In the 1990 documentary The Jerry Lee Lewis Story, Lewis said to the interviewer, "The Bible doesn't even speak of religion. No word of religion is even in the Bible. Sanctification! Are you sanctified? Have you been saved? See, I was a good preacher, I know my Bible? I find myself falling short of the glory of God." Gospel music was a staple of his performing repertoire. After a string of hit country albums, he decided to record a gospel album for the first time in 1970 (it was released in 1971).[84] Lewis was also a cousin of the televangelist Jimmy Swaggart.[85] Graceland arrest Mugshot in 1976 On September 29, 1976 (Lewis's 41st birthday), Lewis fired a .357 Magnum at a Coke bottle in his bedroom. The bullet ricocheted and accidentally hit bassist Butch Owens in the chest. Owens survived.[86] On November 23, 1976, Lewis was arrested outside Elvis Presley's Graceland home for allegedly intending to shoot him.[87] In Rick Bragg's 2014 authorized biography, Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story, Lewis said that the reclusive Presley had been trying to reach him and finally did on November 23, imploring him to "come out to the house." Lewis replied that he would if he had time, but that he was busy trying to get his father, Elmo, out of jail in Tunica for driving under the influence. Later that night, Lewis was at a Memphis nightclub called the Vapors drinking champagne when he was given a gun. Lewis suddenly remembered that Elvis wanted to see him and, climbing aboard his new Lincoln Continental with the loaded pistol on the dash and a bottle of champagne under his arm, tore off for Graceland. Just before three o'clock in the morning, Lewis accidentally smashed into the famous Graceland gates. Presley's astonished cousin Harold Lloyd was manning the gate and watched Lewis attempt to hurl the champagne bottle out the car window, not realizing the window was rolled up, smashing both. Bragg reports that Lewis denies ever intending to do Presley harm, that the two were friends, but "Elvis, watching on the closed-circuit television, told guards to call the police. The Memphis police found the gun in the car and put Lewis, protesting, hollering, threatening them, away in handcuffs." Lewis said, "The cops asked Elvis, 'What do you want us to do? And Elvis told 'em, 'Lock him up.' That hurt my feelings. To be scared of me – knowin' me the way he did – was ridiculous." Lewis was charged with carrying a pistol and public drunkenness. Released on a $250 bond, his defiant mugshot was wired around the world. Presley himself died at Graceland nine months later.[88][89][90] Debt The gate to Lewis's ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi In 1979, the IRS seized property from Lewis to compensate a $274,000 tax debt.[91] The property included several automobiles, a tractor, five motorcycles, jewelry, musical instruments, home entertainment equipment, and firearms. In 1980, an auction was held, but only 150 potential bidders showed up. The auction amassed $91,382, a third of the debt.[91] In 1984, Lewis was found innocent of evading taxes, but he still owed the IRS money. The next year, the IRS seized property from his Nesbit, Mississippi ranch.[91] In 1988, Lewis filed for bankruptcy, petitioning that he was more than $3 million in debt, including $2 million he owed to the IRS.[91] Health and death Lewis had a minor stroke in Memphis on February 28, 2019.[92] He had to cancel several appearances.[93] Lewis died at his home on October 28, 2022, in Nesbit, Mississippi, at the age of 87.[94][95][96] His death was mistakenly reported by TMZ two days before he died,[97] with a representative stating that TMZ had reported "erroneously off of an anonymous tip."[98] Lewis' funeral was held on November 5, 2022, in his hometown of Ferriday, Louisiana. The service was officiated by his cousin Jimmy Swaggart and Swaggart's son.[99] Selected discography Main article: Jerry Lee Lewis discography Jerry Lee Lewis (1958) Jerry Lee's Greatest! (1962) Live at the Star Club, Hamburg (1964) The Return of Rock (1965) Country Songs for City Folks/All Country (1965) Memphis Beat (1966) Soul My Way (1967) Another Place, Another Time (1968) She Still Comes Around (1969) Sings the Country Music Hall of Fame Hits, Vol. 1 (1969) Sings the Country Music Hall of Fame Hits, Vol. 2 (1969) The Golden Cream of the Country (1969) She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye (1970) A Taste of Country (1970) There Must Be More to Love Than This (1971) Touching Home (1971) Would You Take Another Chance on Me? (1971) The Killer Rocks On (1972) Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano? (1972) The Session...Recorded in London with Great Artists (1973) Sometimes a Memory Ain't Enough (1973) Southern Roots: Back Home to Memphis (1973) I-40 Country (1974) Boogie Woogie Country Man (1975) Odd Man In (1975) Country Class (1976) Country Memories (1977) Jerry Lee Keeps Rockin' (1978) Jerry Lee Lewis (1979) When Two Worlds Collide (1980) Killer Country (1980) Class of '55 (1986) Young Blood (1995) Last Man Standing (2006) Last Man Standing Live (2007) Mean Old Man (2010) Rock and Roll Time (2014) The Boys from Ferriday [with Jimmy Swaggart as Jimmy Lee & Jerry Lee] (2022) Compositions Lewis wrote or co-wrote the following songs: "End of the Road" (1956), "Lewis Boogie" (1956), "Pumpin' Piano Rock" (1957), "High School Confidential" (1958), "Memory of You" (1958), "Baby Baby Bye Bye" (1960), although Discogs credits Jerry Lee Lewis and Huey "Piano" Smith as the songwriters, the song was copyrighted in 1960 as by Lewis Smith,[100] "Lewis Workout"[101] (1960), "He Took It Like a Man" (1963, from the 1967 album Soul My Way), "Baby, Hold Me Close" (1965) from the 1965 album The Return of Rock, "What a Heck of a Mess" (1966), "Lincoln Limousine" (1966), "Alvin"[102] (1970), "Wall Around Heaven" from the 1972 album Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano?, "Rockin' Jerry Lee" (1980, the B-side of "Honky Tonk Stuff", from the album When Two Worlds Collide), "Pilot Baby" (1983), "Crown Victoria Custom '51" (1995), released as a Sire 45 single B-side, and "Ol' Glory" (2006) from the album Last Man Standing.[103] "Great Balls of Fire" is a 1957 popular song recorded by American rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun Records[2] and featured in the 1957 movie Jamboree. It was written by Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer. The Jerry Lee Lewis 1957 recording was ranked as the 96th greatest song ever by Rolling Stone. It is written in AABA form.[3] It sold one million copies in its first 10 days of release in the United States making it one of the best-selling singles in the United States at that time. Background and Composition "Great Balls of Fire" is best known for Jerry Lee Lewis's original, which was recorded in the Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee,[2] on October 8, 1957, using three personnel: Lewis (piano/vocals), Sidney Stokes (bass), and a session drummer, Larry Linn, instead of the usual Sun backups Jimmy Van Eaton (drums) and Roland Janes (guitar). Lewis was quoted in the book JLL: His Own Story by Rick Bragg, (pg 133), as saying "I knew Sidney Stokes but I didn't know him that well either, and I don't know what happened to them people. That's the last time I ever seen 'em. That's strange isn't it?" It was released as a 45rpm single on Sun 281 in November 1957. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard pop charts, No. 3 on the R&B charts,[4] and No. 1 on the country charts.[5] It also reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart,[6][7] and appeared on the New Zealand Singles Chart and the Dutch Top 40. The song was featured in a performance by Jerry Lee Lewis and his band in the 1957 Warner Brothers rock and roll film Jamboree, which also featured Carl Perkins, Fats Domino, Buddy Knox, and Dick Clark. The recording was released in the UK on London Records. The tune opens up side 2 of Lewis's 1964 album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg. Chart performance Chart (1957–1958) Peak position Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[8] 30 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[9] 8 UK Singles Chart (The Official Charts Company)[6] 1 U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles 1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 2 Legacy The song was performed by Levi Kreis in the 2010 musical Million Dollar Quartet, portraying Jerry Lee Lewis.[10][11] The title of the 1989 biopic, Great Balls of Fire! about Lewis, played by Dennis Quaid, is derived from the song title. In 2017, WWE held a professional wrestling event titled Great Balls of Fire, referencing the song. Jerry Lawler's personal attorney, who also represents Jerry Lee Lewis, informed him that the singer had actually trademarked the phrase, prompting Lawler to inform them of this. He stated that he "put him in touch with the WWE people, gave him a name. Apparently he called them and got everything worked out. Not only are they using the name, they are using Jerry Lee's song, which is awesome."[12] Ric Flair revealed he started using his iconic "Wooo!" catchphrase in 1974 after he heard Jerry Lee Lewis sing the lyric, “Goodness gracious, great balls of fire, woo!”[13] Cree Summer, at age 17, sang the song as the opening and closing for Madballs’ Escape from Orb. Dolly Parton sang it at the grand opening of FireChaser Express. In 1998, the 1957 recording of "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[14] Top Gun franchise In the 1986 film Top Gun, LTJG Nick "Goose" Bradshaw (portrayed by Anthony Edwards) plays the song in a bar with his family and Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise). The song is available on the Top Gun soundtrack special edition released in 1999. The song is performed again in the sequel, the 2022 film Top Gun: Maverick by Goose's son LT Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (portrayed by Miles Teller). Teller's performance is included on that film's soundtrack Top Gun: Maverick (Music from the Motion Picture), on which it is labeled as a live performance. Paramount Pictures later released the extended scene of Teller's performance as Rooster on YouTube on June 16, 2022.[15] __________________________ The club opened as Chances Are at 516 E. Liberty Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan in August 1974. It was an instant success. Featuring such weekly bands as Dr. Bop and the Headliners, Cheap Trick, Masquerade, Radio King, Chopper, Head East and Starcastle.  Chances Are’s first national act was Stephen Stills in October 1974 followed by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band on October 30th, right before he exploded into a national act. The club also housed the very popular Conservatory restaurant. In 1976, due to a conflict with a Chicago business, the name was changed to the Second Chance, later to be nick named “The Chance.” Many top named acts continued to play there to sell out crowds. Some such as George Thorogood, would only play the Second Chance when in the Detroit area. In the spring and early summer of 1984, the Second Chance closed for remodeling, and under the same management, reopened in July as The Nectarine Ballroom. The live music continued. On April 6, 1991 the Nectarine Ballroom presented the “Happy Trails” concert, featuring: Fred “Sonic” Smith, Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, Jay Dee Daugherty and Scott Morgan.  This concluded 17 years of the live band era, so to speak.  Music at what Michigan and in particularly, Ann Arbor, would remember as Chances Are, Second Chance and Nectarine Ballroom.  In 1996 the remaining original owners sold the Nectarine Ballroom, which was later remodeled into a much smaller dance club that is currently called The Necto. Live music at 516 E. Liberty sadly, became a thing of the past. Overview Jerry Lee Lewis was born on September 29th, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana. He began playing the piano at age 9, copying the styles of preachers and black musicians that traveled through the area. He signed with Sun Records in 1956 and quickly became a star. He was the first person inducted into the first class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. Early Life With his innovative and flamboyant piano playing style, Jerry Lee Lewis emerged as one of rock music’s early showman in the 1950s. His musical talents became apparent early on in life. He taught himself to play piano and sang in church growing up. Lewis listened to such radio shows as the Grand Ole Opry and Louisiana Hayride. Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams and Al Jolson were some of his early influences. When he was 10, Lewis’ father mortgaged the family farm to buy Jerry Lee his first piano. He gave his first public performance at the age of 14, wowing the crowd gathered for the opening of a local car dealership with his piano prowess. With little formal education, he basically gave up on school around this time to focus on his music. Rise To The Top Lewis eventually ended up in Memphis, Tennessee, where he found work as a studio musician for Sun Studios. In 1956, he recorded his first single, a cover of Ray Price’s “Crazy Arms,” which did well locally. Lewis also worked on some recording sessions with Carl Perkins. While working at Sun, he and Perkins jammed with Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. This session by the “Million Dollar Quartet” was recorded at the time, but it was not released until much later. In 1957, Lewis became a star with his unique piano-driven sound. “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” became a hit on the pop, country and R&B charts. By this time, Lewis had also developed some of his famous stage antics, such as playing standing up and even lighting the occasional piano on fire. He had such energy and enthusiasm in his performances that he earned the nickname “The Killer” for the way he knocked out his audiences. Lewis was on a roll with his next single, “Great Balls of Fire,” proving to be another big hit in December 1957. The following March, Lewis struck again with “Breathless,” which made into the Top 10 of the pop charts. Later Albums In the 1960s, Lewis returned to the music of his youth. He found a new career as a country artist, scoring a hit with 1968’s “Another Place, Another Time.” Lewis recorded several country albums over the next few years, including 1970’s Olde Tyme Country Music and 1975’s Boogie Woogie Country Man. Lewis never left the rock world completely. In 1973, he did well on the album charts with “The Session”. He revisited some of his older songs as well as the works of Chuck Berry and John Fogerty on this popular recording. When he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s first class in 1986, there was a strong resurgence in his rock & roll career and music. A new generation of listeners got introduced to Lewis through the 1989 biopic “Great Balls of Fire”, when Lewis was played by actor Dennis Quaid. Recent Projects This nearly lifelong musician and singer continues to record new music and perform around the world. For 2006’s “Last Man Standing”, Lewis sang a number of rock, blues and country classics with some help from such famous admirers as Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Buddy Guy. Collaborator Kristofferson described Lewis as “one of the few who can do rock ‘n’ roll, country or soul, and every song is authentic.” He told USA Today that Lewis is “one of the best American voices ever.” Lewis and Kristofferson worked together again on Lewis’s next effort, 2010’s “Mean Old Man”. The all-star guests on this release included Eric Clapton, Tim McGraw, Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock and John Fogerty among others. In April of 2013 Lewis opened Jerry Lee Lewis’ Café & Honky Tonk on historic Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. It is filled with one of the Killer’s pianos, a motorcycle, photos, and memorabilia, along with great food and live music. 2014 kicked off Jerry Lee’s “80th Birthday Tour” with shows across the country, from California to Tennessee to New York. The Killer is also traveling to Europe. In October of 2014 The Killer released his first ever biography with Pulitzer Prize winning author Rick Bragg. “Jerry Lee Lewis – His Own Story” came out to critical acclaim. His new CD “Rock & Roll Time” also came out in October. He told Rolling Stone magazine “This is a rock & roll record…That’s just the way it came out”. As he looks back on six decades of music and what the future holds, Lewis says he’s grateful. “I just think it’s a blessing from God that I’m still living… and I’m still rocking.” Personal Life Lewis spends most of his time-off at The Lewis Ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi, where he is happily married to his wife Judith, since March 9th, 2012. Jerry Lee Lewis, the hard-driving rockabilly artist whose pounding boogie-woogie piano and bluesy, country-influenced vocals helped define the sound of rock ’n’ roll on hits like “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great Balls of Fire,” and whose incendiary performing style expressed the essence of rock rebellion, died on Friday at his home in DeSoto County, Miss., south of Memphis. He was 87. His death was announced by his publicist, Zach Farnum. No cause was given, but Mr. Lewis had been in poor health for some time. Mr. Lewis was 21 in November 1956 when he walked into Sun Studio in Memphis and, presenting himself as a country singer who could play a mean piano, demanded an audition. His timing was impeccable. Sun Records had sold Elvis Presley’s contract to RCA Records a year earlier and badly needed a new star to headline a roster that included Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison. Mr. Lewis more than filled the bill. His first record, a juiced-up rendition of the Ray Price hit “Crazy Arms,” was a regional success. With “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” released in April 1957, he gave Sun the breakout hit it was looking for. Although initially banned by many radio stations for being too suggestive, “Whole Lotta Shakin’” reached a nationwide audience after Mr. Lewis performed it on “The Steve Allen Show.” It rose to No. 3 on the pop charts and sold some six million copies worldwide, making it one of the biggest hits of the early rock ’n’ roll era. Overnight, Mr. Lewis entered into direct competition with Presley. As Mr. Lewis saw it, there was no contest. “There’s a difference between a phenomenon and a stylist,” he told the record-collector magazine Goldmine in 1981. “I’m a stylist, Elvis was the phenomenon, and don’t you forget it.” Image Mr. Lewis was a country singer who played a mean piano. Sun Records needed a new star to replace Elvis Presley. Mr. Lewis was a country singer who played a mean piano. Sun Records needed a new star to replace Elvis Presley.Credit...Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images In November 1957, Sun released “Great Balls of Fire,” a high-octane sexual anthem written by Otis Blackwell, whose other songs included the Presley hits “All Shook Up” and “Don’t Be Cruel.” The song again featured Mr. Lewis’s distinctive barrelhouse piano style, with the left hand insistently beating the keys and the right executing rippling glissandos, while he gave a leering swoop to lines like “Kiss me, baby — mmmm, feels good.” The record reached No. 2 on the pop charts, selling more than five million copies in the United States alone. His scorching performing style suited his material. Mr. Lewis, sometimes called by his childhood nickname the Killer, discovered that audiences loved it when he kicked his piano bench aside and attacked the keyboard standing up. Possessed by “the Devil’s music,” as he called it, he writhed and howled, raked the keyboard with his right foot and tossed his wavy blond hair until it looked like a fright wig. “Nobody had a more creative approach to the music or a more incendiary approach to performing it,” Peter Guralnick, the author of the definitive two-volume Presley biography, said in an interview for this obituary. “He had the ability to put his stamp on every kind of material he recorded.” Editors’ Picks The Days Are Getting Shorter. At These Restaurants, Time Stands Still. Branding the Good Life A Glove-Making Tradition Survives in Ireland Image Mr. Lewis in performance in New York in 1958. Mr. Lewis in performance in New York in 1958.Credit...Bettmann/Getty Images But Mr. Lewis fell as quickly as he had risen. In 1958, as his third hit, “Breathless,” rose to No. 2, he embarked on what was meant to be a triumphal tour of Britain. Reporters discovered that the young girl traveling with him, Myra Gale Brown, was his 13-year-old bride — and his cousin — and that Mr. Lewis had still been married to his second wife when he recited the vows for his third marriage. Asked by reporters if 13 wasn’t a little young to be married, Mr. Lewis’s wife said: “Oh, no, not at all. Age doesn’t matter back home. You can marry at 10 if you can find a husband.” The revelations caused a scandal on both sides of the Atlantic. Mr. Lewis cut his tour short and returned to the United States, where he quickly discovered that his career as a rock star was over. His recording of “High School Confidential,” from the movie of the same name, eventually came out — Sun feared to release it after the scandal broke — and reached No. 21. But his subsequent records failed miserably. Sun, which Mr. Lewis would leave in 1963, was reluctant to promote him. Many radio stations refused to play his music. Concert dates dried up. Mr. Lewis seemed mystified by the response. “I plumb married the girl, didn’t I?” he said to one reporter. Jerry Lee Lewis: Listen to 10 Songs From a Rock ’n’ Roll Pioneer Oct. 28, 2022 A New Path Reduced to performing in small clubs for a few hundred dollars a night, Mr. Lewis found redemption in country music. At Smash Records, which signed him in 1963, a string of failures led producers to suggest that he return to his roots and record some purely country songs. It was a natural fit. Both of his biggest rock ’n’ roll hits had topped the country charts, and his soaring, resonant voice, in the vein of Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams, lent itself equally to up-tempo honky-tonk numbers and cry-in-your beer laments. His first country release, “Another Place, Another Time,” reached No. 4 on the Billboard country chart in 1968, and he scored Top 10 country hits that year with “What’s Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me),” “She Still Comes Around (to Love What’s Left of Me)” and “To Make Love Sweeter for You.” His hot streak continued into the 1970s. He would eventually record nearly two dozen Top 10 country singles, ending with “39 and Holding” in 1981, and nearly as many Top 10 country albums. He even managed to creep onto the pop charts in 1972 with a recording of the Kris Kristofferson song “Me and Bobby McGee” and a cover version of the Big Bopper hit “Chantilly Lace.” Years of heavy drinking and drug abuse began to take their toll, however, and his life for much of the 1970s and ’80s was a sad catalog of family catastrophes, health crises and run-ins with the I.R.S. and the police. His troubled son Jerry Lee Jr. died in a car crash in 1973. In September 1976, while watching television at his wife’s house, Mr. Lewis accidentally shot his bass player, Norman Owens, in the chest with a .357 Magnum handgun after announcing, “I’m going to shoot that Coca-Cola bottle over there or my name ain’t Jerry Lee Lewis.” Mr. Owens survived and filed a lawsuit. Two months later, Mr. Lewis drove his Lincoln Continental into the front gates of Graceland, Presley’s mansion in Memphis, just hours after being arrested and jailed on a drunken-driving charge. A guard later told the police that Mr. Lewis, waving a pistol, had demanded to see Presley and refused to leave. Repeat visits to hospitals and rehabilitation centers ensued. Internal bleeding from a tear in his stomach lining almost killed him in 1981. His fourth wife, Jaren Pate, drowned in a friend’s swimming pool in 1982. His fifth wife, Shawn Michelle Stephens, died after taking an overdose of methadone in 1983. In 1985, after doctors removed half his stomach to correct a bleeding ulcer, Mr. Lewis slowly began to settle down. His marriage to Kerrie McCarver ended in divorce in 2004. He is survived by his wife, Judith Coghlan Lewis; his children, Jerry Lee Lewis III, Ronnie Lewis, Phoebe Lewis and Lori Lancaster; his sister, Linda Gail Lewis, who is also a singer and pianist; and many grandchildren. Myra Lewis’s book “Great Balls of Fire: The Uncensored Story of Jerry Lee Lewis,” published in 1982, inspired the 1989 film “Great Balls of Fire!,” with Dennis Quaid playing Mr. Lewis. The film and book, as well as Nick Tosches’s biography “Hellfire: The Jerry Lee Lewis Story,” also published in 1982, contributed to a renewed interest in the singer. (“Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story,” by Rick Bragg, was published in 2014.) His recordings were repackaged by Rhino Records in “Jerry Lee Lewis: 18 Original Sun Greatest Hits” and “The Jerry Lewis Anthology: All Killer No Filler!,” a compilation of 42 of his rock and country hits. The German company Bear Family reissued virtually every note he ever recorded for Sun and Smash in the boxed sets “Classic Jerry Lee Lewis: The Definitive Edition of His Sun Recordings” and “Jerry Lee Lewis: The Locust Years.” Image Mr. Lewis performing in 1989 at a party for the opening of the movie “Great Balls of Fire!,” which starred Dennis Quaid as Mr. Lewis. He found that audiences loved it when he played standing up or raked the keyboard with his shoe. Mr. Lewis performing in 1989 at a party for the opening of the movie “Great Balls of Fire!,” which starred Dennis Quaid as Mr. Lewis. He found that audiences loved it when he played standing up or raked the keyboard with his shoe.Credit...Todd Lillard, via Associated Press Sure Yet Wild Jerry Lee Lewis was born on Sept. 29, 1935, in Ferriday, La., to Elmo Lewis, a carpenter, and Mamie (Herron) Lewis. When he was a boy, he and two of his cousins, the future evangelist Jimmy Swaggart and the future country singer Mickey Gilley (who died this year), liked to sneak into a local dance hall, Haney’s Big House, to hear top blues acts perform. He showed an aptitude for the piano, and his father borrowed money to buy him one. “The more he practiced, the surer the left hand and wilder the right hand became,” Mr. Tosches wrote in “Hellfire.” At 14, he was invited to sit in with a band performing at a local Ford dealership, which was celebrating the arrival of the 1950 models. He played “Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee” — the tune, a hit for Stick McGhee in 1949, would be a minor pop hit for Mr. Lewis in 1973 — and took home nearly $15 when someone passed the hat. He soon became a regular at clubs in Natchez, just across the Mississippi River, and on the radio station KWKH in Shreveport, La. His deeply worried mother, a Pentecostal Christian, enrolled him in the Southwestern Bible Institute in Waxahachie, Texas. “I didn’t graduate,” he told The New York Times in 2006. “I was kind of quit-uated. I was asked to leave for playing ‘My God Is Real’ boogie-woogie style, rock ’n’ roll style. I figured that’s the way it needed to be played.” After selling sewing machines door to door, Mr. Lewis tried his luck in Nashville, without success. “I remember it very well,” he told Colin Escott and Martin Hawkins, the authors of “Sun Records: The Brief History of the Legendary Record Label” (1980). “I was turned down by every label in town.” A hardscrabble life on the road ensued. “My father would load that old piano onto the back of his truck, we’d drive somewhere, unload it, I’d give a show, we’d pass the hat, he’d load it back on again, and we’d go home and see what we’d got,” he said. In desperation, he and his father sold 33 dozen eggs and, with the proceeds, headed for the studios of Sun Records. Initially he planned to sing country music, but the producer Jack Clement urged him to try rock ’n’ roll. The label on his first single billed him as “Jerry Lee Lewis With His Pumping Piano.” Image Mr. Lewis performing in New York in 2010. Late in his career he often recorded with younger artists eager to work with one of rock ’n’ roll’s founding fathers. Mr. Lewis performing in New York in 2010. Late in his career he often recorded with younger artists eager to work with one of rock ’n’ roll’s founding fathers.Credit...Chad Batka for The New York Times The Sun period was brief but eventful. After cutting his first record, Mr. Lewis worked as a studio musician for the label. He was in the studio on Dec. 4, 1956, when Presley dropped by for a friendly visit, sat down at the piano and began singing rhythm-and-blues songs and hymns with Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Mr. Lewis in an informal session later released as the album “Million Dollar Quartet.” The session inspired a popular musical of the same name, by Floyd Mutrux and Mr. Escott, which opened on Broadway in 2010, ran for a year, and then played Off Broadway for another year. With the success of “Whole Lotta Shakin’,” Mr. Lewis’s performance fee rose from $50 to $10,000 in a matter of months. He was invited on “American Bandstand” and appeared in “Jamboree,” a 1957 rock ’n’ roll film that also featured performances by Frankie Avalon, Fats Domino, Mr. Perkins and others. Image From left, Mr. Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash in the Sun Records studio in Memphis on Dec. 4, 1956. Their informal session was later released as the album “Million Dollar Quartet.” From left, Mr. Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash in the Sun Records studio in Memphis on Dec. 4, 1956. Their informal session was later released as the album “Million Dollar Quartet.”Credit...Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Later in his career, despite his success as a country singer, Mr. Lewis sometimes confessed to hankering after the old rock ’n’ roll days. “You know, if I could just find another like ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’,’” he told Mr. Guralnick in a 1971 interview. “Some records just got that certain something. But I ain’t gonna find another. Just like I was born once into this world and I ain’t gonna be born again.” In 2019 he suffered a serious stroke that left him unable to play the piano. A year later, however, he recorded an album of gospel songs in Nashville and, during the session, found that his right hand had begun moving, allowing him to pound the keys. (That album has yet to be released.) Before then he had been recording sporadically, often with younger artists eager to work with one of rock ’n’ roll’s founding fathers. On albums like “Last Man Standing” (2006), “Mean Old Man” (2010) and “Rock & Roll Time” (2014), he performed with the likes of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Page, Neil Young and Kid Rock. The idea that the greatest names in rock should come to him struck him as perfectly natural. “I’m the only one left who’s worth a damn,” he told Goldmine in 1981. “Everyone else is dead or gone. Only the Killer rocks on.” In 2022 — 36 years after he was one of the first inductees in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — Mr. Lewis was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was too ill to attend the ceremony; Mr. Kristofferson accepted his award in his stead and presented it to him at his home. In a statement the day his induction was announced, Mr. Lewis said, “To be recognized by country music with their highest honor is a humbling experience.” He added, “I am appreciative of all those who have recognized that Jerry Lee Lewis music is country music and to our almighty God for his never-ending redeeming grace.”
  • Condition: Used
  • Type: Photograph
  • Year of Production: 1981
  • Theme: Music
  • Image Color: Black & White
  • Featured Person/Artist: JERRY LEE LEWIS
  • Subject: Musical Bands & Groups

PicClick Insights - Jerry Lee Lewis Performs At The Second Chance Club, February 3 1981 ANN ARBOR MI PicClick Exclusive

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