On the Fringe

What artists' careers have encompassed the Countrypolitan style, either substantially or "On The Fringe?"
A different artist will be featured every month in this new series of articles.

Jerry Lee Lewis


	Click on thumbnail image for enlarged photo. Photos borrowed from a Fan-Dedicated Website.				Without doubt, Jerry Lee Lewis is one of the BIG music players of the twentieth century. A father of Rock ‘n Roll, Jerry Lee is also a master of many other genres: Country, Blues, Soul, Gospel, Jazz, Boogie Woogie, Bluegrass, and Country rock to name only a few. Jerry’s involvement in country music is generally accepted as coming after rock ‘n roll, but this is not necessarily the case. Jerry spent many years combining offerings of rock ‘n roll, country and other genres. It is acknowledged that much of the early influence on Jerry’s style came from country artists: Hank Williams, Moon Mullican, Jimmie Rodgers and others. Whilst Jerry’s country offerings spread over many of the sub-genres, his contribution to `countrypolitan’ is not insignificant. Jerry Lee Lewis was born at Turtle Lake, Calhoun Plantation in 1935 and raised in nearby Ferriday, Louisiana. Jerry’s father, Elmo, loved to listen to Jimmie Rodgers records while his mother, Mamie, loved gospel music. Both these styles were to influence Jerry too. Why, Jerry first sang in the Assembly of God Church in Ferriday. Colored music was also a big influence on Jerry; as a youngster he often attended Haney’s Big House to listen to the music provided by artists such as B.B. King. Notably, Jerry could have been described as a child prodigy for, at the age of 8, his parents had seen his potential to play piano so they mortgaged their farm to buy him a Stark upright. His first public appearance was at age 14 singing `Drinking Wine, Spo dee o dee’ at the opening of a Ferriday car dealership. The same year, 1949, Jerry had his own radio show on WANT, Natchez. However it appeared his music career may have had a premature ending as, the very next year, he enrolled at the Southwestern Bible Institute in Waxahatchie, Texas. But the music did not end there; Jerry was expelled a short time later for playing `My God Is Real’ - boogie style. In 1954, Jerry was employed as a piano player on the `Louisiana Hayride’, but decided to try his luck in Nashville. No luck at all - Nashville only wanted guitar players. So Jerry returned to Ferriday. However, Jerry did record two songs for a Louisiana radio station - Hank Snow’s `I Don’t Hurt Anymore’ and Eddie Fisher’s `If I Ever Needed You I Need You Now’. In 1956, Jerry heard Elvis Presley’s `That’s All Right, Mama’ played on the radio. Inspired, he set out with his Dad for Sun Records, Memphis. Sam Phillips was on vacation but Jerry was allowed to record some songs. Two months later, Sam returned, heard the tapes, and invited Jerry back to the studio to record. The first single: `Crazy Arms’ backed by `End of the Road’ - Jerry’s recording career was launched. Jerry continued to work as a studio musician at Sun Studios and backed Carl Perkins on `Matchbox’ and `Your True Love’. In December that year, a group of Sun artists were in the studio at the same time so they got together for an impromptu jam session. The meeting later became known as `The Million Dollar Quartet’ - the four were: Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. Jerry’s first tour was in the same year with Johnny Cash, Sonny James, Wanda Jackson and Marvin Rainwater. However, 1957 was the year it really happened for Jerry. He recorded `Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On’ on the first take. It was a hit, becoming No1. on the pop, country, and rhythm and blues charts concurrently. The follow up hit, `Great Balls of Fire’ repeated the success. Jerry Lee Lewis was the first and only artist to achieve this feat. Jerry appeared on `The Steve Allen Show’ enabling that show to out rate the `The Ed Sullivan Show’ for the first time ever. Jerry’s success continued into 1958. `Great Balls of Fire’ became the best selling record ever recorded at Sun Records. Other hits followed: `Breathless’, `Down The Line’, `High School Confidential’. Jerry appeared on Dick Clark’s `American Bandstand’, Allen Freed’s `Big Beat Party’, Patti Page’s `Big Record’, and appeared on `The Steve Allen Show’ a second time. His hit `High School Confidential’ also became the theme for the movie of the same name. Also, `Breathless’ was later to become a movie theme, for the 1983 movie of the same name starring Richard Gere. In the interim, however, Jerry married Myra Gale Brown, his cousin of only 13 years - an accepted practice in Jerry’s home State. However, when Jerry toured England in 1958 the press hounded him and the tour was cancelled. The consequences in the USA were also disastrous - record sales declined, DJ’s refused to play Jerry’s music, songwriters declined to deal with him. Not to be deterred, Jerry resurrected Ray Charles’ `What’d I Say’ as a hit. In 1963, Jerry concluded his contract with Sun Records and moved to the Mercury subsidiary, Smash Records, where he released an album of his hits and began to record country music again. Jerry was back in business. In 1964, he toured Germany and recorded a live album at the Star Club, Hamburg. This recording is acknowledged as one of the best live albums ever. In the late 60’s, Jerry’s prime offerings were country music. His band was known as `The Memphis Beats’ and featured James Burton and Kenny Lovelace on guitar. His efforts produced a number of hits including `What’s Made Milwaukee Famous’ - `Another Place, Another Time’ was his first big country hit - `To Make Love Sweeter for You’ became his first No.1 country hit - in all, Jerry would have fifteen Top Ten hits around the turn of the decade, including: `There Must Be More To Love Than This’, `Over The Rainbow’, and `39 and Holding’ - `Would You Take Another Chance On Me’, `Chantilly Lace’, and `Me and Bobby McGee’ all hit No.1 on the country charts. Jerry’s contribution to `countrypolitan’ was not insignificant. His offerings in this regard included: `I Can’t Seem To Say Goodbye’, `Have I Got A Song For You’, `She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye’, and `He Can’t Fill My Shoes’. Jerry was supported in much of his country music recording ventures by noted country music musicians: Harold Bradley, Buddy Harmon, and Bob Moore, as well as significant others. However Jerry’s favorite country songs were Hank Williams: `You Win Again’ and `Lovesick Blues’ and Moon Mullican’s `I’ll Sail My Ship Alone’. Jerry actually recorded Hank William’s `You Win Again’, `Cold, Cold Heart’ and `I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’. Nevertheless, Jerry did not leave Rock ‘n Roll completely. In 1969 John Lennon invited Jerry to join his Rock ‘n Roll revival in Toronto. The concert also featured Jerry’s old foe, Chuck Berry. In 1971 Jerry had his own TV show - `The Jerry Lee Lewis Show’, but his ties with country music were still strong. In 1973 Jerry performed on the Grand Ole Opry, but his recordings still alternated between country and Rock ‘n Roll. Jerry moved to Elektra Records in 1977 and continued recording into the mid 80’s, despite illness and family loss during this period. Jerry signed with MCA Records in 1986 and such was his standing that he was an initial inductee into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. At this time, Jerry also joined with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison to record the album -`The Survivors’ 1989 was another halcyon year for Jerry Lee Lewis. His London concert was a sell-out and he even had a movie made about his life - `Great Balls of Fire’ starring Dennis Quaid as Jerry. Furthermore the story of Jerry’s life was also recorded in print when, in 1993, Jerry wrote his autobiography entitled `The Killer’. Jerry also opened a nightclub in Memphis in the same year - `The Jerry Lee Lewis Spot’. In 1995, Jerry released his last album - `Young Blood’ - through Sire Records. Produced by Andy Paley, the album also utilized the incredible skills of prominent guitarists Kenny Lovelace and James Burton. The same year Jerry was also invited to sing his two biggest hits `Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin On’ and `Great Balls Of Fire’ at the concert for Cleveland’s Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. Today Jerry lives on a ranch in Mississippi but he also spends time touring the USA and Europe with his band, `The Killer Band’. As one of the all-time GREAT artists of the 20th. Century Jerry still packs ‘em in. Whilst his contribution to `countrypolitan’ may be viewed as much more substantial than just `on the fringe’, his career style variation has such dimension that, in relation to his entire distinguished career, his involvement in the `countrypolitan’ sub-genre could be considered to be just that - ON THE FRINGE. *Written by Michael D'Arcy. May 2001, Countrypolitan.com.* Visit Jerry Lee's Official Website.

See who else has been "On The Fringe." Find past articles in our Archives.

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