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Ferriday, United States · 1949–2022

Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis was not just a pianist who pounded the keys as if there were no tomorrow: he was the first rocker to turn chaos into art. His sound was unlike anything before: a mix of unbridled boogie-woogie, gospel with screams, and country with kicks. His left hand set an unrelenting rhythm, almost military, while his right flew with flourishes that sounded like a party and a church at the same time. He recorded his first track in 1952 in New Orleans, but it was in 1956, at Sun Studios in Memphis, where the world first heard that energy that would define him: pure, unfiltered rock and roll. His piano didn’t accompany—it dominated.

The leap to fame came in 1957 with Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On, a song that shook the radios with a piano solo that sounded like an earthquake. It was followed by Great Balls of Fire, a hurricane of notes and vocal distortion that sounded like pure rebellion. But just as everything pointed to him becoming the king of rock, his personal life brought him to a halt: he married his 13-year-old cousin, Myra Gale Brown, and the scandal left him on the brink. In the 60s, when others had already forgotten him, Lewis took refuge in country. No one expected an artist from his past to reinvent himself, but in 1968 he released Another Place, Another Time and returned to the charts. This time, with melancholic ballads that still carried the fire that made him unique.

rockabilly Rock and roll Blues Country country gospel 1930s
1 Albums
11 Songs
1M Listeners/mo
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Essential songs

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01

Don't Be Cruel

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

1:57 02

Goodnight Irene

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

2:51 03

Put Me Down

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

2:07 04

It All Depends (On Who Will Buy the Wine)

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

2:57 05

Ubangi Stomp

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

1:44 06

Crazy Arms

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

2:42 07

Jambalaya (On the Bayou)

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

1:57 08

Fools Like Me

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

2:48 09

When the Saints Go Marching In

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

2:06 10

Matchbox

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

1:40

The full catalog on DoReSol

All songs

01

Crazy Arms

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

02

Don't Be Cruel

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

03

Fools Like Me

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

04

Goodnight Irene

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

05

It All Depends (On Who Will Buy the Wine)

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

06

It'll Be Me

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

07

Jambalaya (On the Bayou)

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

08

Matchbox

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

09

Put Me Down

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

10

Ubangi Stomp

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

11

When the Saints Go Marching In

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

1 album|s · 1958

Full discography

Jerry Lee Lewis 1958 ★ Essential

Jerry Lee Lewis

11 song|s · rockabilly

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Details, awards, members and more

More about Jerry Lee Lewis

Biography

His concerts in that decade were pure adrenaline. The album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg (1964) captures that madness: a sweating, screaming Jerry Lee Lewis defying the audience as the piano cracked under his hands. In the 70s, country fully embraced him. Songs like Me and Bobby McGee or To Make Love Sweeter for You proved he could be tender and wild in the same track. By the 21st century, he was still touring, even when the world remembered him more for his past than his new records. Last Man Standing (2006) sold over a million copies, proving his name was still synonymous with uncompromising music. He recorded with whomever he pleased, from The Big Bopper’s Chantilly Lace to Rockin’ My Life Away, always with that unmistakable mark: the piano as a weapon and the voice as a cry for freedom.

Details

Born
29 Sep 1935
Country
🇺🇸 United States
Genre
rockabilly

Awards and honors

  • Grammy
  • Grammy Lifetime Achievement

Record labels

Sun Records Sun *Smash Records Smash *Mercury Records Mercury *Sire Records Sire *Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. *MCA Records MCA

Links

Spotify Official site Instagram Wikipedia

The full catalog on DoReSol

All songs

11

It'll Be Me

Jerry Lee Lewis · 1958

2:12