Recommendations of the Editorial team
I would like to know how many pianos Jerry Lee Lewis used in his life. Anyone who was always responsible in the Sun Studios to vote and repair the piano must have broken out into tears every time Jerry Lee came to play.
A piano has something conservative, set, and it has almost completely disappeared from the rock’n’roll over the past 20 years. But how he played it was so insanely percussive. You can hear the hammers pop on the strings. He transformed his piano into an orchestra. He had these stable bass lines and stunning soloparts, everything always razor -sharp in timing.
“Great Balls of Fire”:
Whether Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard or Gene Vincent – these boys exuded anarchy and sex. They can go completely on their plates, at least it sounds like that. As if they had given up every hope for commercial success or even recognition and just wanted to play and fuck crazy music.
That is what fascinates me: how Jerry Lee left the libidinous energy, more than a white musician had ever done.
If you really want to understand Jerry Lee Lewis, get a appearance from him on video
To be sexy is simply a means of selling plates today. I see Jerry Lee more in the tradition of Iggy & The Stooges or Black Flag. There was also this chaos without consequences. I also hear Jerry Lee in “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin, in “Anarchy in the UK” by the sex pistols or “It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back” by public enemy.
If I had a daughter, I would not let her go with a musician because most of them are just stupid. If Jerry Lee Lewis would eat, I would literally lock her away. The story, as he married his 13-year-old cousin, is unbearably sad. He was never allowed to sit on the throne that was condition. And the piano disappeared because it was too big. The nice thing about the electric guitar is that it is small, portable and loud.
If you really want to understand Jerry Lee Lewis, get a appearance from him on video and see how he plays “Great Balls of Fire”. It is pure, narcotic, exciting rock’n’roll. Precious moments that have become rare.