― Horace Mann, Wednesday, 8 January 2003 20:52 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 21:04 (twenty-one years ago) link
Sun reissued his greatest hits into two sets back in the early 70's. They has four LP's two were of his earlier rock material, and two were of his post controversy country music.
The one that comes to mind immediately is Golden Cream Of The Country which is good if Jerry Lee Lewis doing country sounds good to you. The two rock LP's are escaping me at the moment, when I get home later tonight I will dig them up.
If you are interested in "old" music, you really should start looking for 70's era reissue LP's of the original 50's and early 60's material. They have no real value because they are not the original artifacts, but the audio is still great and dirt cheap. I got mine for like four dollars each.
― Mike Taylor (mjt), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 21:05 (twenty-one years ago) link
― pauls00, Wednesday, 8 January 2003 21:41 (twenty-one years ago) link
― christoff (christoff), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 21:54 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 22:17 (twenty-one years ago) link
Destroy: the man's social skills.
― Burr, Thursday, 9 January 2003 05:32 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 9 January 2003 06:07 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Thursday, 9 January 2003 06:13 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 9 January 2003 06:20 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 9 January 2003 06:21 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tim (Tim), Thursday, 9 January 2003 10:08 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Andrew L (Andrew L), Thursday, 9 January 2003 10:26 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Horace Mann, Thursday, 9 January 2003 14:45 (twenty-one years ago) link
A few years back I was flipping TV channels and I saw JLL, looking uncomfortably, cohosting some kind of Hawaiian Tropic bikini contest-cum-informercial.
― Amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 9 January 2003 15:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
"Search: his country records on Mercury, there are a number of compilations"
Is there a particular Mercury compilation you'd recommend?
― James Ball (James Ball), Thursday, 9 January 2003 15:46 (twenty-one years ago) link
Also, wouldn't it be great if JLL did a Don't Give Up on Me style record, like hook him up with a good producer and some great songs.
― Horace Mann, Thursday, 9 January 2003 15:48 (twenty-one years ago) link
― James Ball (James Ball), Thursday, 9 January 2003 15:52 (twenty-one years ago) link
Yeah, I kind of copped out of that didn't I? Mostly b/c I wasn't sure what's in print and what's not. Killer Country is probably the best bet, but there were a few volumes called Killer: The Mercury Years which are more exhaustive.
I wish the man continued success and happiness, but I don't know that the world needs another Jerry Lee Lewis record, what with the umpteen Bear Family box sets.
― Amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 9 January 2003 15:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Horace Mann, Thursday, 9 January 2003 15:54 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Thursday, 9 January 2003 20:54 (twenty-one years ago) link
― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Sunday, 30 November 2003 20:55 (twenty years ago) link
― Chris F. (servoret), Sunday, 30 November 2003 21:16 (twenty years ago) link
― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Sunday, 30 November 2003 21:52 (twenty years ago) link
― Huckleberry Mann (Horace Mann), Monday, 1 December 2003 15:55 (twenty years ago) link
― Jazz Funeral in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Thursday, 20 October 2005 19:54 (eighteen years ago) link
― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 20 October 2005 20:02 (eighteen years ago) link
Tosches' "Hellfire" is pretty essential too. Kind of scary. The funniest thing about it though is that at the end, you can tell that Tosches is setting up Lewis' imminent death. And yet here we are 25 years after that book was first published and the Killer is still killing. He'll probably outlive Tosches anyway.
― tylerw, Thursday, 20 October 2005 20:14 (eighteen years ago) link
― Jazz Funeral in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Thursday, 20 October 2005 20:17 (eighteen years ago) link
the live tapes from the very spartan 77 tour of Europe where Jerry tells the Germans to fuck off about 28 times
destroy: upcoming patched-together-via-the-studio duets album
"Overdubbin's like makin' love to a woman: you can't phone it in."JLL
― lastdance, Thursday, 20 October 2005 23:11 (eighteen years ago) link
"Got a Maytag tongue with a sensitive taster"
RIP Mack Vickrey
by the way, there are oodles and oodles of unreleased tapes of JLL (I'm not talkin' Bear Family, neither, Killer) from the mid-seventies on. There's a few hours of Jerry Lee asolo at the piano when he got that Godawful Sire record for Andy Paley which are wildly impromptu, musically exquisite and funny as hell.
― lastdance, Thursday, 20 October 2005 23:22 (eighteen years ago) link
allmusic The Whole Note
Anyone heard it? It's exciting to think that JLL's Johnny Cash style revival might be upon us. It's about time.
― Marmot (marmotwolof), Friday, 8 September 2006 21:07 (seventeen years ago) link
http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000A6XAWO.01-A2380A3TX9IM30._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
― M. V. (M.V.), Friday, 8 September 2006 21:40 (seventeen years ago) link
― Marmot (marmotwolof), Friday, 22 September 2006 08:46 (seventeen years ago) link
1. Rock and Roll with Jimmy Page 2. Before the Night Is Over with B.B. King 3. Pink Cadillac - with Bruce Springsteen 4. Evening Gown - with Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood 5. You Don't Have to Go - with Neil Young 6. Twilight - with Robbie Robertson 7. Travelin' Band - with John Fogerty 8. That Kind of Fool - with Keith Richards 9. Sweet Little 16 - with Ringo Starr 10. Just a Bummin' Around - with Merle Haggard 11. Honky Tonk Woman - with Kid Rock 12. What's Made Milwaukee Famous - with Rod Stewart 13. Don't Be Ashamed of Your Age - with George Jones 14. Couple More Years - with Willie Nelson 15. Old Glory - with Toby Keith 16. Trouble in Mind - with Eric Clapton 17. I Saw Her Standing There - with Little Richard 18. Lost Highway - with Delaney Bramlett 19. Hadacohl Boogie - with Buddy Guy 20. Irish Heart Beat - with Don Henley 21. The Pilgrim Ch. 33 - with Kris Kristofferson
― Marmot (marmotwolof), Friday, 22 September 2006 09:03 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jim M (jmcgaw), Friday, 29 September 2006 12:02 (seventeen years ago) link
wow, Live At the Star Club absolutely smokes! The drumming on "Good Golly Miss Molly"! I don't know if this is one of those "fake crowd" live albums but the crowd seems pretty nuts, and who wouldn't be: I imagine JLL was physically all over the place. In fact I think his vocals are the weakest part of the album, but he was such a physical performer that I reckon it was hard to sing. And I gather that part of his appeal is a kind of cool intensity, so that singing too wildly would give too much away.
― lube and (Euler), Tuesday, 30 March 2010 15:34 (fourteen years ago) link
Huh, I think his singing's great on that album. BTW Jerry Rocks on the Bear Family label, a single disc covering 1957-1977, is awesome. It's got by far the best-sounding versions of his early Sun stuff.
― Jazzbo, Tuesday, 30 March 2010 16:53 (fourteen years ago) link
The singing is great, but a lot cooler than the white heat of the rest of the performance, and so (for what I'm getting out of the record on first listen) less good than the rest.
― lube and (Euler), Tuesday, 30 March 2010 18:19 (fourteen years ago) link
wow, Live At the Star Club absolutely smokes!
Yeah, it does indeedy. There's another 2-on-1 live album from Bear Family called "Greatest Live Shows On Earth" which doesn't even come close to "Star Club".
I still need a 2 or 3CD condensation of his Sun stuff. One disc isn't enough and the mondo Bear Family box is too much.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 30 March 2010 18:22 (fourteen years ago) link
Star Club is off the hook, it's true. It's not a fake live album, is it? That would kinda break my heart! Or not, it would still be awesome.
anybody have any of these? ysi?
― tylerw, Tuesday, 30 March 2010 18:35 (fourteen years ago) link
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41FA7XZAPZL._SS400_.jpg
― ❽ (M.V.), Tuesday, 30 March 2010 23:03 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evUNYDXfnHo
― brio, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 03:11 (twelve years ago) link
76 today. I love playing this clip for my class:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yRdDnrB5kM
I forgot to tell my story, though, about how his marriage derailed his career. "There were just three problems..."
― clemenza, Thursday, 29 September 2011 22:34 (twelve years ago) link
We had this one around the house when I was a kid, still one of my favorites:
http://991.com/newGallery/Jerry-Lee-Lewis-The-Greatest-Live-373286.jpg
― Brad C., Thursday, 29 September 2011 23:28 (twelve years ago) link
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/482391_549044151802491_351044905_n.jpg
― Vol. 3: The Life & Times of E. "Boom" Carter (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 20 March 2013 02:58 (eleven years ago) link
I ended up quite happy with "Jerry Lee Rocks" from Bear Family, a single disc collection of his rockingest tunes. Their ...Rocks series is awesome in general, got about 8 or 9 so far.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 20 March 2013 03:24 (eleven years ago) link
Charly's "Sun Essentials" is a fantastic, affordable box set covering that period. 4 Discs, 120+ songs, quality annotation. Biggest quibbles are the omission of "Sail Away" (duet w/Charlie Rich) and the thematic programming (splitting individual discs half Rock/half Country or traditional) is kinda "eh?" at times, an idea better on paper than in execution.
― Vol. 3: The Life & Times of E. "Boom" Carter (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 20 March 2013 03:31 (eleven years ago) link
Egads, Amazon has that set for http://www.amazon.com/Sun-Essentials-Jerry-Lee-Lewis/dp/B000H8SEAS/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1363750310&sr=1-1&keywords=jerry+lee+lewis+sun+essentials7.55, although it appears to be the reissue w/downsized packaging. I got my Dad the earlier longbook squarebound version for Father's Day ages ago.
― Vol. 3: The Life & Times of E. "Boom" Carter (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 20 March 2013 03:37 (eleven years ago) link
I meant http://www.amazon.com/Sun-Essentials-Jerry-Lee-Lewis/dp/B000H8SEAS/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1363750310&sr=1-1&keywords=jerry+lee+lewis+sun+essentials7.55
Damn, he’s getting younger!
― I Hate the Aedes (morrisp), Wednesday, 30 September 2020 01:05 (three years ago) link
That prior link was about JERRY LEWIS (now dead).
― "...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 30 September 2020 01:19 (three years ago) link
p much the same haircut his whole life
― Josefa, Wednesday, 30 September 2020 01:23 (three years ago) link
I saw Jerry Lee Lewis at Riot Fest in 2018. My favorite moment as we waited for him was when one fan yelled out "we want JERRY LEWIS!" and someone next to us responded (with a hint of irritation and no humor) "HE DIED TWO YEARS AGO."
― birdistheword, Wednesday, 30 September 2020 01:48 (three years ago) link
lmao
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 30 September 2020 01:52 (three years ago) link
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jerry-lee-lewis-dead-obituary-1234616945/
― Indexed, Friday, 28 October 2022 17:12 (one year ago) link
Not someone who will ever rest in peace, IMO. Good remembrance here:https://variety.com/2022/music/news/jerry-lee-lewis-dead-singer-great-balls-of-fire-1235415340/
Still recall the first time I heard him in the 80s on a cable feature (with Fats Domino, I believe). I was utterly transfixed by how aggressively he played the piano. I can hardly imagine what that must've been like in the 1950's.
The Dennis Quaid movie was an abomination.
See you on the other side, Killer.
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 28 October 2022 17:15 (one year ago) link
Go play "Live At The Star Club" really loudly!! RIP Jerry, almost certainly not wearing a halo but his art will live for quite some time.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 28 October 2022 17:54 (one year ago) link
Amazing that he and Little Richard outlived all their supposedly less xtremo peers. Some more fave sets:Jerry Lee Lewis & Linda Gail Lewis: Togetherhttps://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nHbofHlcJ-OkdSuFPW0OOBN3eUaDroZtIThe (Complete) London Sessions (not seeing one link for the whole thing, but looks like all or most tracks are on youtube)Rock & Roll Timehttps://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_keIMZyXcZ0EvpiB9_bwVseM1gnfl_b4r0That's from 2014, might be his last all-new album. Better title: Country Piano Boogie TimeNote that here he covers a version (birdistheword indicates that there are several) of Dylan's "Stepchild," real good Think there's a wild live JLL performance of that somewhere on the 'Tube, not seeing it just now.
He also covered this Dylan:"Rita May"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfsQIVgf3Yg
Could have sworn I've also seen a cover of "To Be Alone With You," which always sounded like it was written with him in mind, of course.
― dow, Friday, 28 October 2022 18:03 (one year ago) link
Go play "Live At The Star Club" really loudly!!
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 28 October 2022 18:04 (one year ago) link
So that's it: everyone on Mount Rushmore (whether 5, 6, or 7 faces) dead. My favourite is "Lewis Boogie," second "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"--never really cared for "Great Balls of Fire."
― clemenza, Friday, 28 October 2022 20:40 (one year ago) link
No members of the inaugural 1986 Rock Hall of Fame left; Smokey Robinson the only one left from 1987.
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 28 October 2022 21:11 (one year ago) link
I heard "Great Balls of Fire" so many times in so many (usually innocuous) contexts when I was a kid that it seemed like background music for a while. I love it now and I grew to appreciate it immensely when I tried playing it at home. That's when I realized how much was put into it - like you really have to pound the shit out of the piano and at warp speed, to the point where it's almost chaotic. But on top of that, Jerry Lee's singing seems to be in a different gear. There's a lot of passion underneath, but he phrasing is so smooth and completely in control, letting just enough to bubble up to the surface when needed. It's a pretty amazing performance.
― birdistheword, Friday, 28 October 2022 23:03 (one year ago) link
*but his phrasing
I should also emphasize, you can't just play the song, you have to try replicating the performance that's on the record to really appreciate what Lewis is doing.
― birdistheword, Friday, 28 October 2022 23:07 (one year ago) link
Probably my issue too, hearing it too many times before I was 15 (especially as a soundbite on commercials for K-Tel and similar '50s compilations). I kind of group "Great Balls of Fire" with "All Shook Up" and "Chantilly Lace"--goofy novelties. (And if you love them, believe me, I understand; there are goofy novelties I love too, like Nervous Norvus's "Transfusion.") "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," by way of contrast, sounds really sinister to me, like "Who Do You Love."
― clemenza, Friday, 28 October 2022 23:12 (one year ago) link
The Book of Rock Lists, from 1980, had Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard tied for best rock keyboard player, but Lewis was a lot more adept and adaptable a player.
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 28 October 2022 23:24 (one year ago) link
Here's Harry "The Hipster" Gibson in 1945, think Jerry Lee must have been a fan.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8Swpw9yZ5w
― link.exposing.politically (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Saturday, 29 October 2022 07:16 (one year ago) link
Listening to Live at the Star Club, so tuff
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 29 October 2022 15:17 (one year ago) link
I don't know if it's apocryphal or not, but I wish they'd included that story about Jerry Lee Lewis showing up at Graceland and screaming "I'm the King!" in Elvis. (I can't remember, but I don't think Lewis turned up anywhere in the film.)
― clemenza, Saturday, 29 October 2022 16:11 (one year ago) link
The Greatest Live Show on Earth from 1964 is not quite as wild as Star Club but well worth hearing
For those who haven't already read it, the long 1984 Rolling Stone article about the death of Shawn Stevens Lewis is important for understanding how fucked up and evil JLL was and how his milieu enabled his worst behavior: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/the-strange-and-mysterious-death-of-mrs-jerry-lee-lewis-179980/
― Brad C., Saturday, 29 October 2022 16:45 (one year ago) link
For Spotify users, if you want to hear the complete original Star Club album, go straight to The Killer Live: 1964-1970, which begins with all of Star Club and then continues with all of The Greatest Live Show On Earth and his other period live sets.
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 29 October 2022 16:58 (one year ago) link
A great blues number
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0REuVsNVBk4
― birdistheword, Saturday, 29 October 2022 17:06 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu740yz-cOI
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 29 October 2022 17:07 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h90cfSZ65sg
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 29 October 2022 17:14 (one year ago) link
Not pictured: The Parents of America losing their collective shit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs_bkhqJmRI
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 29 October 2022 17:18 (one year ago) link
There's a whole movie in this four minutes of dialogue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-wsEcmwJK0
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 29 October 2022 17:33 (one year ago) link
The Sequel: Having Fun With Jerry Lee On Stage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeNk5hE4cGY
"the live tapes from the very spartan 77 tour of Europe where Jerry tells the Germans to fuck off about 28 times"
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 29 October 2022 17:42 (one year ago) link
This is weird. Scroll down to "Lewis performs at Guilfest, Guildford, in 2012"
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/oct/28/jerry-lee-lewis-obituary
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but that guy don't look a thing like Lewis.
― birdistheword, Saturday, 29 October 2022 18:09 (one year ago) link
I can't find much info, but from what little I did find, that was actually a 50s tribute act called "Elvis & Friends." So no, not Jerry Lee.
― birdistheword, Saturday, 29 October 2022 18:11 (one year ago) link
Jerry Lee wasn't there in Guildford in 2012, but at least Elvis and his Friends were.
― Halfway there but for you, Saturday, 29 October 2022 18:24 (one year ago) link
From the NY Times obit:
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.”
Oof.
― birdistheword, Saturday, 29 October 2022 18:40 (one year ago) link
I have the Killer Country compilation (not the studio album of the same title) and want to dig a little deeper into his peak country period. Any album recommendations?
― Brad C., Saturday, 29 October 2022 19:12 (one year ago) link
Go play "Live At The Star Club" really loudly!!I was just listening to it! (it's mentioned as a highlight of his lost years in the Variety piece). Unbelievable.― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, October 28, 2022 2:04 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
I was just listening to it! (it's mentioned as a highlight of his lost years in the Variety piece). Unbelievable.― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, October 28, 2022 2:04 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
Yeah this is probably the rawest, most explosive live album I've ever heard. The way his piano is constantly inching ahead of the already manic beat, pure punk rock
― J. Sam, Saturday, 29 October 2022 20:48 (one year ago) link
Listening now but don’t think I can get past “High School Confidential.”
― Regex Dwight (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 October 2022 21:26 (one year ago) link
Meaning I just wanna listen to that on repeat.
xxxp Another Place, Another Time, She Still Comes Around and She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye are great albums. The two CD All Killer No Filler! anthology from Rhino also does a very good job of exploring his career with fine liner notes by Jimmy Guterman. (Guterman originally tried to do a triple CD set, but he was told to cut it down.) FWIW, if you remove the Sun tracks and the live Star Club cuts from the aforementioned LP, what's left of All Killer No Filler! squeezes into one 79 minute CD and makes a fine post-Sun compilation.
― birdistheword, Saturday, 29 October 2022 21:35 (one year ago) link
you should hear his version of john cage's 4'33", wow
― donald wears yer troosers (doo rag), Saturday, 29 October 2022 21:56 (one year ago) link
_The Greatest Live Show on Earth_ from 1964 is not quite as wild as Star Club but well worth hearingFor those who haven't already read it, the long 1984 Rolling Stone article about the death of Shawn Stevens Lewis is important for understanding how fucked up and evil JLL was and how his milieu enabled his worst behavior: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/the-strange-and-mysterious-death-of-mrs-jerry-lee-lewis-179980🕸/🕸
― Naive Teen Idol, Sunday, 30 October 2022 12:56 (one year ago) link
thanks
rollingstone.com doesn't paywall me and I don't have a subscription, not sure what's up with that
― Brad C., Sunday, 30 October 2022 14:27 (one year ago) link
A little bit of me wants to say that Lewis's country stuff is great and worth listening to
But a big bit of me has to say I don't feel like praising this monster just cos he's dead
― saigo no ice cream (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 30 October 2022 14:36 (one year ago) link
Yeah, I hear you. Talk about having to separate the art from the artist. I knew some of this but it sure puts it all in stark terms: https://www.vulture.com/2022/10/jerry-lee-lewis-obituary-1935-2022.html
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Sunday, 30 October 2022 16:44 (one year ago) link
Never in the history of art!
― Regex Dwight (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 30 October 2022 17:22 (one year ago) link
That Vulture article is really well-written, thanks for the link. (It’s helpful that it summarizes the core details of the Rolling Stone piece… I tried reading that a few days ago, but it’s incredibly long.)
― Reese's Pisces Iscariot (morrisp), Sunday, 30 October 2022 17:26 (one year ago) link
Yes, same. Still trying to locate the Jo Carol Pierce song about him.
― Regex Dwight (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 30 October 2022 17:35 (one year ago) link
Just sent some messages to some of my regexes in Texas.
― Regex Dwight (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 30 October 2022 18:30 (one year ago) link
thanksrollingstone.com doesn't paywall me and I don't have a subscription, not sure what's up with that
― Naive Teen Idol, Sunday, 30 October 2022 20:56 (one year ago) link
I think Bob Mehr's remembrance probably nails it - he saw Lewis perform many times but only met him once when Lewis was already about 80 and stuck in bed thanks to a back ailment. From that interview alone, Lewis came off as the "purest artist and most frightening person" Mehr had ever encountered.
I'm not sure if it's the nature of culture or just an instinctive fallacy to engage in an artist's work mostly as a reflection of their character, but I've always been wary of that, whether it ends up in some kind of hero worship or unforgiving demonization. There's a great line by Jimmy Stewart's character in Anatomy of a Murder where he says "I've had to learn that people aren't just good or just bad - people are many things," and that's especially true for artists since they tend to be more complex and interesting than your average person, which is probably why they end up dedicating their lives to creative work.
Lewis was always scary, and he's not a guy I'd hesitate to find guilty if I was on the jury for one of his many offenses. But he's a fascinating guy - that's not a quality that hinges on upstanding character - and a lot of his most compelling work probably comes out of that. Here's a guy who knows he's got a gift for rock n' roll and delivers on it even though he truly believes it's the devil's music and could very well damn him for eternity. Meanwhile, his best country records are probably the ones where he convincingly portrays a shit who knows his demons and believes he's too weak to escape them despite the damage it's doing to himself, his marriage/relationship, etc. It's terrible we can find those things in his personal life, but I don't think those are great records for voyeuristic value. They bring to mind the things Rainer Werner Fassbinder used to say about great movies, particularly Douglas Sirk's work, and how they make you ask "what’s really going on with me and my life?" and how they leave you with a better understanding of what the world's like and what it's doing to you.
― birdistheword, Monday, 31 October 2022 00:13 (one year ago) link
"I've had to learn that people aren't just good or just bad - people are many things"
At the end of Joe Posnanski's chapter on Tris Speaker in The Baseball 100, he quotes Buck O'Neil: "People aren't one thing."
― clemenza, Monday, 31 October 2022 00:26 (one year ago) link
WIthout Jerry how would we have had that magical scene in Top Gun
― | (Latham Green), Monday, 31 October 2022 12:44 (one year ago) link
We mark the life of Lewis, who died Oct. 28, by listening to archival interviews with his sister, pianist/singer Linda Gail Lewis, and with Myra Lewis Williams, who married Jerry Lee when she was 13.
How country music allowed Jerry Lee Lewis to vary his wild-man personaNovember 8, 20222:06 PM ETHeard on Fresh AirthumbnailKEN TUCKER
― dow, Wednesday, 9 November 2022 02:01 (one year ago) link