Jerry Lee Lewis

Roland · October 2022

Jerry Lee Lewis dies aged 87 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-63433999

GoFish · October 2022

He got older, they remained the same age...

DrCornelius · October 2022

This will be an interesting thread. He was ‘divisive’ to say the least - no doubting his talent though

EricTheWeary · October 2022

He was reported as dead yesterday which was then later denied. This seems to be on a bunch of news outlets now so I guess it's legit.
Certainly one of the greats of early rock and roll. Also pioneered rock stars making dubious personal choices, or to give him the benefit of the doubt what seemed normal from his background seemed abnormal to others.

bertie · October 2022

GoFish said:

He got older, they remained the same age...

I got it if no-one else did, when I say "got it" I wasnt related so..................

Philly_Q · October 2022

Honestly I know very little about him, other than his early hits and some lurid stuff about his private life.

It feels like he's only really famous for things he did 60 years ago, but he probably released dozens of albums I'm just not aware of.

Caffeine_Vampire · October 2022

Best gig I ever saw was Jerry Lee at Butlins of all places. This was I the 90's and I was front row for an afternoon and evening gig. His talent was just a wonder to behold.

bertie · October 2022

Jerry Lee Lewis dead ?

goodness gracious

RocknRollDave · October 2022

Yet another entry in Dave’s “Oh, I thought they were already dead…?” files.

Teetonetal · October 2022

I read his biography a few years ago, had a very hard upbringing and some of his dubious choices were a little bit shaped by his background.

Kittyfrisk · October 2022

Jerry Lee Lewis was probably a deeply flawed human being, who was also a huge seminal influence in the development of what became 'Rock & Roll' & influenced many artists who followed.
I thought this was supposed to be a tribute thread for someone that has died, I'm not seeing so much of that here other than some poor attempts at snide remarks.
RIP "The Killer".

ICBM · October 2022

The last of the early rock 'n' roll greats. Undoubtedly a legend in music.

I've always been unsure what to think about his 'other side' - I don't condone it, but where he came from, legal at the time and culturally fairly normal... although obviously very dodgy by any other modern measure. Should he be judged by our standards, or those of his time and place? Difficult question - but he was not an abuser in the way (eg) Gary Glitter was. It's probably worth remembering that Priscilla Presley was only 14 when Elvis met her too, although they didn't marry until she was 21.

Anyway, I'm willing to separate the man from the music in this case, I feel it's (just) the right side of the line.

RIP. Rock 'n' roll is dead, long live rock 'n' roll.

lustycourtier · October 2022

Philly_Q said:

Honestly I know very little about him, other than his early hits and some lurid stuff about his private life.

It feels like he's only really famous for things he did 60 years ago, but he probably released dozens of albums I'm just not aware of.

Oh no, he murdered 2 people in the 70s as well

Philly_Q · October 2022

lustycourtier said:

Philly_Q said:

Honestly I know very little about him, other than his early hits and some lurid stuff about his private life.

It feels like he's only really famous for things he did 60 years ago, but he probably released dozens of albums I'm just not aware of.

Oh no, he murdered 2 people in the 70s as well

I didn't believe you, but I did have to go and check.

ICBM · October 2022

lustycourtier said:

he murdered 2 people in the 70s as well

Allegedly - the 80s, If you mean his two wives. The first drowned in a friend’s swimming pool when they were separated and he wasn’t there, so pretty unlikely he did it. The second is possibly more credible, she died from a drug overdose. I think it would have been investigated though.

Still a thoroughly nasty man, from the accounts of domestic abuse and violence, but probably not a murderer.

GoFish · October 2022

Yep, the cousin stuff was just the tip of the iceberg thgou it did raise eybrows even at the time. All the early rock n'rollers seemed to be "outsized personalities" wth some "deviant traits". Buddy Holly being the exception who basically invented normcore.

Sure JLL was notorious in his day, but Little Richard would have been considered the most decadent at the time, just for being born gay. Elvis was totally unremarked upon. We all know about Chuck's hard edged idiosynchracies, but Ike Turner was way further towards the "flawed, angry person". They all had tough upbringings. Attitudes towards age exploitation have shifted, but there's never been an excuse for violent controlling behaviour towards your partner. Grea Balls of fire was a cracking song and performance and the art stands alone where possible, but I'm sorry that his death elicits little sympathy from me.

Remember the Dennis Quaid Biopic?

markguitarblaze · October 2022

It seems likely that it won't just be his great balls that will be on fire where he's going. Sad reflection of how the ability to generate money for people or to entertain them makes them willing to overlook anything untoward.

usedtobe · October 2022

I don’t think many of our heroes would stand up to close scrutiny…

RocknRollDave · October 2022

usedtobe said:

I don’t think many of our heroes would stand up to close scrutiny…

Depends who your heroes are, I guess.
I wouldn’t want to have been around Prince or Jimmy Page on a bad day, but I’m fairly sure Charlie Burchill and Warren Haynes have very little to hide.

rlw · October 2022

An innovator and a rock 'n roll God. So he had a few issues.

RIP Jerry.

GoFish · October 2022

Maybe he'll find the peace he never had in life. He was the last of the original wave and probably the final link between us and 1955.

roberty · October 2022

The BBC obituary makes much of his notoriety too, it's not just us

A legend and an utter bastard. One for the history books for sure

usedtobe · October 2022

RocknRollDave said:

usedtobe said:

I don’t think many of our heroes would stand up to close scrutiny…

Depends who your heroes are, I guess.
I wouldn’t want to have been around Prince or Jimmy Page on a bad day, but I’m fairly sure Charlie Burchill and Warren Haynes have very little to hide.

Indeed..
Maybe heroes was a bit much.. artists we admire, maybe.. even us ordinary people.. I think if we knew all there was to know, we might not look up to many people.. then again, we can always separate the artist from the art, or try to..

fretmeister · October 2022

She was 13.
He was a nonce.

rlw · November 2022

fretmeister said:

She was 13.
He was a nonce.

Not in the eye of the law in his home state.

EricTheWeary · November 2022

rlw said:

fretmeister said:

She was 13.
He was a nonce.

Not in the eye of the law in his home state.

Although I think it was still an illegal marriage in the eye of the law of his home state as it was bigamous.
She was pregnant at 14 so this wasn't a platonic arranged marriage. He also physically abused her and cheated on her (prior to the next three wives, one of whom he possibly killed).
Different time and place maybe but that marriage effectively killed his mainstream career.
A great talent but not a great man.

Offset · November 2022

He resurrected/reinvented his career to become a HUGE Country star. And some of that stuff was really good. His cover of Hank Williams' "You Win Again" is bloody fantastic.

fretmeister · November 2022

rlw said:

fretmeister said:

She was 13.
He was a nonce.

Not in the eye of the law in his home state.

It's not against the law to stone women to death for adultery in some places either.
Still doesn't make it right.

Teetonetal · November 2022

Offset said:

He resurrected/reinvented his career to become a HUGE Country star. And some of that stuff was really good. His cover of Hank Williams' "You Win Again" is bloody fantastic.

Yup, spent way more of his career as a country star and would agree some of it is quality.

Dominic · November 2022

My friend was assigned to look after him at the London Country Music festival back in the 90s where he was near the top of the bill along with Willie Nelson and other big names ;
apparently he was a handful and not especially pleasant.........he also insisted on being called 'Killer '

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