I once interviewed Billy Joel and asked the Piano Man about his musical influences.
“Jerry Lee Lewis,” Joel answered without hesitation.
Lewis, who died Friday at 87, helped turn the piano into a rock and roll instrument. You might say he is the godfather to generations of keyboard rockers.
Sir Elton John Friday called Lewis: “a trailblazing inspiration. Without Jerry Lee Lewis, I wouldn’t have become what I am today. He was groundbreaking and exciting, and he pulverized the piano. A brilliant singer, too.”
Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones tweeted: “R.I.P. JLL the Killer. What a man.”
Ringo Starr: “God bless Jerry Lee Lewis and his family.”
DJ Al Brady, of Villages radio station WVLG, said Lewis is “a founding father of rock and roll and the last big star from that ‘50s era.
“Jerry Lee Lewis could set his own piano on fire but he showed the “killer” instinct on the ivory keys to inspire so many in music today.”
Lewis was one of the original wild men of rock and roll.
In the 1950s, Elvis scared adults by shaking his hips. Jerry Lee Lewis took it a step further by kicking out his stool, standing on the piano while screaming and wildly gyrating. He would bob his head back and forth as his long, curly hair fell over his forehead, drenched with sweat.
In some ways, Lewis’ actions could fit in a revival tent. Jerry Lee was born in Ferriday, La. and heavily influenced by religion, like his cousin, evangelist Jimmy Swaggart. Another cousin was country singer Mickey Gilley.
Jerry Lee was more interested in rocking, than preaching. He started playing in bands as a kid and — like Elvis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins — he joined Sun Records in Memphis. They were known as The Million Dollar Quartet.
Jerry Lee roared to the top of the charts with hits like: “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Breathless” and “High School Confidential”
Here he is in a 1957 television appearance:
But it wasn’t just the music that burnished Jerry Lee’s wild man reputation. In 1958, at the height of his fame, Lewis, 22, married his 13-year old first cousin once removed –Myra Gayle Brown. It was his third marriage.
Suddenly, radio stations stopped playing his records. His tours were canceled and he was called a “cradle robber.”
It didn’t bother Myra, who told reporters: “Age doesn’t matter back home. You can marry at 10 if you find a husband.”
Didn’t bother Jerry Lee who told the press: “I plumb married the girl, didn’t I?’
Jerry Lee Lewis was married seven times, and his union with Myra was one of the longer ones, lasting over a decade.
After the controversy, Jerry Lee stayed out of the spotlight but began to reappear in the mid-60s, after the Beatles and other English bands counted him as a major influence. He moved into a country sound and would stay musically relevant for the rest of his life.
Lewis’ country hits included: “What’s Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made A Loser Out of Me),” “She Still Comes Around,” and “To Make Love Sweeter for You.”
The wild life caught up with Lewis in the ‘70s and ‘80s. He reportedly battled drugs and alcohol. He had some scrapes with the law, including an infamous early morning in 1976 when he drove his Lincoln Continental to the gates of Elvis’ Graceland mansion, demanding to see Presley. Elvis never came down and Jerry Lee was arrested, although most of the charges were reduced or dropped.
Eventually, Jerry Lee became a cultural icon. He became a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Dennis Quaid played him in the bio-flick “Great Balls of Fire!” That was based on a book by his onetime teen wife Myra. He was featured in “The Million Dollar Quartet,” which was a hit on Broadway and in theaters around the country.
Lewis suffered a stroke about three years ago, and with the deaths of so many pioneer rockers, seemed to understand he was part of a dying breed.
“I’m the only one left who’s worth a damn,” he once told Goldmine magazine. “Everyone else is dead or gone. Only the Killer rocks on.”
Now that’s changed but DJ Al Brady believes there’s life in the Killer’s music. “The Million Dollar Quartet are now all together in rock and roll heaven,” he said. “And Jerry Lee Lewis’ legacy will endure.”
Gerry “Rocky” Seader of Rocky and the Rollers was on stage with Lewis many times.
Tony Violanti covers arts and music for Villages-News.com. He was inducted into the Buffalo NY Music Hall of Fame as a music journalist.
