 There are simply very few real talents in music. They can be
counted on 1 hand. Many are artists who are in the shadow of less talented but
better promoted artists or artists who are dead for years. Jerry Lee Lewis was
one of the few original white blues men & also one of the very few post-Hank
Williams country stylists. Sam Phillips saw this when he heard Jerry Lee Lewis
sing some of his earliest recordings like the self written ragtime-influenced
'End of the road', the country songs 'Crazy arms' & Gene Autry's 'You're the
only star' backed with boogie piano & the blues song 'Deep Elem blues' in 1956.
Jerry Lee Lewis had created a brand new style: it combined country, blues,
rockabilly, Al Jolson, boogie & gospel to form JERRY LEE LEWIS music.
However, the 1960s, 1970s & 1980s saw Jerry Lee Lewis'
personal life fill with tragedy: his beloved sons Steve Allen & Jerry Lee Jr.
died in accidents in 1962 & 1973 respectively, his mother died in 1970, Myra
divorced him also in 1970 ,2 other wives died in tragic accidents in 1981 &
1983. The 'Rolling stone' wrote a dreadful article of lies blaming Jerry Lee
Lewis for the death of his 5th wife in 1983, without one scrap of fact. All this
tragedy 7 more made Jerry Lee Lewis dependant on drugs and alcohol. He nearly
died in 1981 & 1985 from bleeding ulcers. Kerrie, his present wife, has helped
Jerry overcome his habits.
Despite all of this, the Killer remains the best vocalist,
pianist & showman in the world that ever was. The 1995 album, `Young blood' has
the same energy as anything from the past. As Hank Cochran said on the notes of
'Jerry Lee Lewis: At Hank Cochran's' that George Jones can sing straight country
excellently but can't sing anything else, Frank Sinatra does his music well, but
Jerry Lee Lewis can go from blues to country to Jimmie Rodgers to gospel & do it
as it should be done.
Jerry Lee Lewis suffered a mild heart attack in 1996 but
continues rocking. An all-new album for J. Kennedy in Nashville may be recorded
this year. Jerry Lee is not only King of rock 'n' roll boogie, but also King of
Southern American music. He is the only person who plays down-home Southern
blues & country music in the 1990s. He is also the greatest survivor in rock 'n'
roll.
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