September 15, 2005. Copyright 2005, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Rock and roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis turns 70
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, September 15, Graphic News:  When Jerry Lee Lewis was photographed with model Kate Moss for a music magazine earlier this year, some expressed surprise that the wild man of rock was still around. After all, the career of Lee Lewis, who is 70 on September 29, was not just a masterclass in rock and roll music but also in hellraising for generations to follow.

Many of those he influenced appear on LewisÕs latest album, The Pilgrim, due for release in late 2005 or early 2006. Featuring artists including Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Little Richard, the album comes soon after Lewis was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys in February 2005. Not bad for a notorious hellraiser whose life has been blighted by tragedy.

Born in Ferriday, Louisiana in 1935, LewisÕs musical talent was encouraged by his parents, who struggled to pay for piano lessons. As a youngster living in the Deep South, he was exposed to various music genres, including boogie woogie, country and gospel music. In 1954 he recorded his version of a country ballad, ÒCrazy ArmsÓ, and soon afterwards joined Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison on the lineup signed by Sun Studios.

But Lewis first came to international prominence with ÒWhole Lotta ShakinÕ GoinÕ OnÓ in 1957, followed the same year by his biggest hit, ÒGreat Balls of FireÓ. His performances were wildly unpredictable: Lewis would kick away the piano stool to play standing, or rake his fingers up and down the keyboard. His stunts have been imitated by many, including Elton John, but they never quite captured the raw energy of ÒThe KillerÓ.

That same energy was evident in his erratic personal life. In 1958 news of his third marriage to a 13-year-old second cousin, Myra Gale Brown, caused outrage, and their divorce in 1970 led to yet more bingeing on drugs and alcohol. His fourth and fifth wives died in tragic circumstances. Lewis also suffered the loss of two sons: his son by Myra, Steve Allen Lewis, drowned in a swimming pool aged three, and his eldest, Jerry Lee Lewis Jr, was killed in a car accident in 1973.

But exile from the limelight -- which began with the scandal surrounding his marriage to Myra -- ended in 1989, when Dennis Quaid starred as Lewis in a film about his life. According to his fans, of course, Lewis had never really gone away, and hits such as ÒBreathlessÓ, ÒHigh School ConfidentialÓ and ÒChantilly LaceÓ retain the power to conjure up an exciting era of rock and roll. His outstanding talent on the piano so impressed Elvis Presley that the ÒKingÓ said he would give up singing if he could play as well as Lewis.

In 1986 Lewis was part of the first group, along with Presley, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Little Richard and The Everly Brothers, to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
/ENDS