When I first heard the news, one image emerged in my mind. I saw my neighbors house and then the back bedroom that my neighborhood friend shared with his older brother. There, on top of Ricky’s dresser was what I was most excited to see. It was a 45 copy of Jerry Lee Lewis’ mega hit Great Balls of Fire. We had to wait for Ricky to return before we could beg and plead with him to play it for us.
I lived the records label The gold and brown colors on those original Sun records really popped. Jerry Lee was something we’d never seen before. Like Elvis, he was colorful, mercurial and completely unpredictable. It was like a guilty pleasure. This was no Pat Boone. If Jerry Lee appeared on TV, all hell broke loose. Something was happening to the post war culture of this country and as teenagers, we were right in the middle of it.
It didn’t take long for Jerry Lee to establish himself as a rock and roll bad boy. Marrying his 13 year old cousin sealed the deal. But with his fellow musicians on the Sun roster, American music would never be the same. It’s hard to believe that Sam Phillips stable at Sun contained Elvis, Jerry Lee, Johnny Cash, and the likes of Howlin’Wolf and Charlie Rich.
Eldridge Cleaver once said that Elvis taught white America how to shake its ass. Jerry Lee did too.
As the world remembers and celebrates the life of Jerry Lee Lewis, there is one thing that will largely go unnoticed. Ironically, it is something that both Jerry Lee and Elvis share. Quite simply, both these rock icons owe their success to blues performers who recorded versions of the songs that brought them fame earlier than they did. Elvis got “That’s Alright Mama”from Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup who first recorded it in the late 1940s. And, Big Maybelle put out “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” a full two years before Jerry Lee’s version. As you might imagine, both blues performers never got the royalties or the recognition they deserved.
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