February 11, 2009 5:59 PM
- Text
Jerry Lee Lewis Still A 'Killer' At 70
Jerry Lee Lewis performs during the 70th birthday party of prominent attorney and philanthropist Walter Umphrey in Umphrey's private airplane hangar at the Southeast Texas Regional Airport in Nederland, Texas, on May 13, 2006. (AP/Beaumont Enterprise)
(AP)
Jerry Lee Lewis' hardheaded life of self-destructive recklessness — filled with drugs, booze, scandal and broken marriages — didn't seem like it would be the formula for a long career.
But "The Killer" is still rocking.
Just shy of his 71st birthday, Lewis — who had his first hell-raising hit 49 years ago with "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" — is releasing his first studio album in more than a decade.
"I just felt like I was ready to do it again," Lewis said with a smile.
Its title? "Last Man Standing."
As a pioneer rock 'n' roller for Sam Phillips' legendary Sun Records, Lewis was a member of the so-called "Million Dollar Quartet" with Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. Together, the young Sun stars carved a special place in the history of American music for Phillips' label and influenced generations of future rock 'n' rollers.
Of course, though they toured together in the early days, they never really performed together as a quartet — even though a photo from Dec. 4, 1956, shows them gathered together at a Sun Studio piano, with Presley, not Lewis, at the keys.
Now, Lewis is the only one left.
Presley died in 1977, Perkins in 1998 and Cash and Phillips in 2003.
"I AM the last man standing," Lewis said. "And the last one breathing."
Though Lewis didn't have the popularity of the King of Rock 'n' Roll or the critical legacy of Cash, he is still one of more important figures in the history of rock 'n' roll. His rollicking piano licks, along with his own fiery voice, fueled a few of rock's most influential songs — most notably, the ultimate classic, "Great Balls of Fire."
But he set off one of the great rock 'n' roll scandals by marrying his 13-year-old cousin in 1957, while still married to someone else. His once-soaring career never quite recovered, though his image over the years has been sufficiently rehabilitated.
He never stopped making music, however. His new album, scheduled for release Sept. 26, was five years in the making. It is being released on the Artists First label through Warner Music Group's Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA).
Lewis is joined on the 21-song album by 21 guests that include Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, B.B. King, George Jones and Kid Rock. But the focus is clearly on Lewis.
"I had an understanding on that on the front end," said Lewis, who's never been known for happily sharing the spotlight.
The guests are big names, but they mostly sing harmony, backup or play instruments without singing.
"Jerry Lee's talent had to be front and center," said Jimmy Rip, one of the album's producers. "His voice and his piano are the loudest things in every mix on every song, and we think that's the way it should be."
And he's still plenty loud, even though he may not pump the piano as easily as he once could.
But "The Killer" is still rocking.
Just shy of his 71st birthday, Lewis — who had his first hell-raising hit 49 years ago with "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" — is releasing his first studio album in more than a decade.
"I just felt like I was ready to do it again," Lewis said with a smile.
Its title? "Last Man Standing."
As a pioneer rock 'n' roller for Sam Phillips' legendary Sun Records, Lewis was a member of the so-called "Million Dollar Quartet" with Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. Together, the young Sun stars carved a special place in the history of American music for Phillips' label and influenced generations of future rock 'n' rollers.
Of course, though they toured together in the early days, they never really performed together as a quartet — even though a photo from Dec. 4, 1956, shows them gathered together at a Sun Studio piano, with Presley, not Lewis, at the keys.
Now, Lewis is the only one left.
Presley died in 1977, Perkins in 1998 and Cash and Phillips in 2003.
"I AM the last man standing," Lewis said. "And the last one breathing."
Though Lewis didn't have the popularity of the King of Rock 'n' Roll or the critical legacy of Cash, he is still one of more important figures in the history of rock 'n' roll. His rollicking piano licks, along with his own fiery voice, fueled a few of rock's most influential songs — most notably, the ultimate classic, "Great Balls of Fire."
But he set off one of the great rock 'n' roll scandals by marrying his 13-year-old cousin in 1957, while still married to someone else. His once-soaring career never quite recovered, though his image over the years has been sufficiently rehabilitated.
He never stopped making music, however. His new album, scheduled for release Sept. 26, was five years in the making. It is being released on the Artists First label through Warner Music Group's Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA).
Lewis is joined on the 21-song album by 21 guests that include Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, B.B. King, George Jones and Kid Rock. But the focus is clearly on Lewis.
"I had an understanding on that on the front end," said Lewis, who's never been known for happily sharing the spotlight.
The guests are big names, but they mostly sing harmony, backup or play instruments without singing.
"Jerry Lee's talent had to be front and center," said Jimmy Rip, one of the album's producers. "His voice and his piano are the loudest things in every mix on every song, and we think that's the way it should be."
And he's still plenty loud, even though he may not pump the piano as easily as he once could.
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