178-575: Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935 – October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. Nicknamed " The Killer ", he was described as " rock 'n' roll 's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made his first recordings in 1952 at Cosimo Matassa 's J&M Studio in New Orleans , Louisiana, and early recordings in 1956 at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee . " Crazy Arms " sold 300,000 copies in
356-640: A Grammy Award . Cash was last arrested in 1967 in Walker County, Georgia , after police found he was carrying a bag of prescription pills when in a car accident. Cash attempted to bribe a local deputy, who turned the money down. He was jailed for the night in LaFayette, Georgia . Sheriff Ralph Jones released him after giving him a long talk, warning him about the danger of his behavior and wasted potential. Cash credited that experience with helping him turn around and save his life. He later returned to LaFayette to play
534-417: A distorted electric guitar solo with warm overtones created by his small valve amplifier . However, the use of distortion was predated by electric blues guitarists such as Joe Hill Louis , Guitar Slim , Willie Johnson of Howlin' Wolf 's band, and Pat Hare ; the latter two also made use of distorted power chords in the early 1950s. Also in 1955, Bo Diddley introduced the " Bo Diddley beat " and
712-531: A double bass (string bass). After the mid-1950s, electric bass guitars ("Fender bass") and drum kits became popular in classic rock. Rock and roll had a profound influence on contemporary American lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language, and is often portrayed in movies, fan magazines, and on television. Some people believe that the music had a positive influence on the civil rights movement , because of its widespread appeal to both Black American and White American teenagers. The term "rock and roll"
890-670: A backlog of recordings with Sun that Phillips continued to release new singles and albums featuring previously unreleased material until as late as 1964. Cash was in the unusual position of having new releases out on two labels concurrently. Sun's 1960 release, a cover of " Oh Lonesome Me ", made it to number 13 on the C&;W charts. Early in his career, Cash was given the teasing nickname "the Undertaker" by fellow artists because of his habit of wearing black clothes. He said he chose them because they were easier to keep looking clean on long tours. In
1068-427: A benefit concert; it attracted 12,000 people (the city population was less than 9,000 at the time) and raised $ 75,000 for the high school. Reflecting on his past in a 1997 interview, Cash noted: "I was taking the pills for awhile, and then the pills started taking me." June, Maybelle, and Ezra Carter moved into Cash's mansion for a month to help him get off drugs. Cash proposed onstage to June on February 22, 1968, at
1246-458: A blues number), " Baby Let's Play House ", " Lawdy Miss Clawdy ", and " Hound Dog ". The racial lines, however, are rather more clouded by the fact that some of these R&B songs originally recorded by black artists had been written by white songwriters, such as the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller . Songwriting credits were often unreliable; many publishers, record executives, and even managers (both white and black) would insert their name as
1424-794: A book was published about it, leading to a re-recording of the songs by contemporary artists and the making of a documentary film about Cash's efforts with the album. This film was aired on PBS in February and November 2016. His Sings the Ballads of the True West (1965) was an experimental double record, mixing authentic frontier songs with Cash's spoken narration. Reaching a low with his severe drug addiction and destructive behavior, Cash and his first wife divorced after having separated in 1962. Some venues cancelled his performances, but he continued to find success. In 1967, Cash's duet with June Carter, " Jackson ", won
1602-409: A composer in order to collect royalty checks. Covers were customary in the music industry at the time; it was made particularly easy by the compulsory license provision of United States copyright law (still in effect). One of the first relevant successful covers was Wynonie Harris 's transformation of Roy Brown 's 1947 original jump blues hit " Good Rocking Tonight " into a more showy rocker and
1780-833: A concert at the London Gardens in London, Ontario, Canada. The couple married a week later (on March 1) in Franklin, Kentucky . She had agreed to marry Cash after he had "cleaned up." Cash's journey included rediscovery of his Christian faith. He took an " altar call " in Evangel Temple, a small church in the Nashville area, pastored by Reverend Jimmie Rodgers Snow, son of country music legend Hank Snow . According to Marshall Grant , though, Cash did not completely stop using amphetamines in 1968; and did not fully end drug use for another two years. He
1958-523: A crime scene: Jerry Lee Lewis slaughters his rivals in a thirteen-song set that feels like one long convulsion." Frustrated by Smash's inability to score a hit, Lewis was planning on leaving the label when promotions manager Eddie Kilroy pitched the idea of cutting a pure country record in Nashville . With nothing to lose, Lewis agreed to record the Jerry Chesnut song " Another Place, Another Time ", which
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#17328692803862136-496: A defiant teen dates a rock and roll-loving boy but drops him for one who likes traditional adult music—to her parents' relief. In Britain, where postwar prosperity was more limited, rock and roll culture became attached to the pre-existing Teddy Boy movement, largely working class in origin, and eventually to the rockers . "On the white side of the deeply segregated music market", rock and roll became marketed for teenagers, as in Dion and
2314-564: A distinctive scar on the right side of his jaw as a result of surgery to remove a cyst . Soon after his return, Cash married Vivian Liberto in San Antonio. She had grown up Catholic and was married in the church by her paternal uncle, Father Franco Liberto. In 1954, Cash and his first wife Vivian moved to Memphis, Tennessee . He sold appliances while studying to be a radio announcer. At night, he played with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant . Perkins and Grant were known as
2492-597: A dozen gold records in rock and country. He won four Grammy awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and two Grammy Hall of Fame Awards. Lewis was inducted into the inaugural class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, and his pioneering contribution to the genre was recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame . He was also a member of the inaugural class inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame . He
2670-503: A fire to stay warm and, under the influence of drugs, failed to notice the fire getting out of control. When the judge asked Cash why he did it, Cash said, "I didn't do it, my truck did, and it's dead, so you can't question it." The fire destroyed 508 acres (206 ha), burned the foliage off three mountains and drove off 49 of the refuge's 53 endangered California condors . Cash was unrepentant and said, "I don't care about your damn yellow buzzards." The federal government sued him and
2848-524: A good person and treat people right." Lewis was married seven times, including bigamous marriages and a marriage with his underage cousin. He had six children during his marriages. When Jerry Lee Lewis was 16, he married Dorothy Barton, the daughter of a preacher. The union lasted from February 1952 to October 1953. Lewis's second marriage to Sally Jane Mitcham in September 1953, was of dubious validity because it occurred 23 days before his divorce from Barton
3026-526: A letter as an advertisement in Billboard , calling the record industry cowardly: "D.J.s – station managers – owners [...] where are your guts? I had to fight back when I realized that so many stations are afraid of Ira Hayes. Just one question: WHY??? Ira Hayes is strong medicine [...] So is Rochester, Harlem, Birmingham and Vietnam." Cash kept promoting the song and persuaded disc jockeys he knew to play it. The song eventually reached number three on
3204-718: A local Arkansas radio station. Decades later, he released an album of traditional gospel songs called My Mother's Hymn Book . He was also strongly influenced by traditional Irish music , which he heard performed weekly by Dennis Day on the Jack Benny radio program. Cash enlisted in the Air Force on July 7, 1950, shortly after the start of the Korean War . After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and technical training at Brooks Air Force Base , both in San Antonio, Texas , Cash
3382-622: A local radio station in high school. He served four years in the Air Force , much of it in West Germany. After his return to the United States, he rose to fame during the mid-1950s in the burgeoning rockabilly scene in Memphis, Tennessee . He traditionally began his concerts by introducing himself with "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash". He began to follow that by " Folsom Prison Blues ", one of his signature songs . His other signature songs include " I Walk
3560-507: A major influence on British Invasion acts and particularly on the song writing of the Beatles and through them on the nature of later rock music. Many of the earliest white rock and roll hits were covers or partial re-writes of earlier black rhythm and blues or blues songs. Through the late 1940s and early 1950s, R&B music had been gaining a stronger beat and a wilder style, with artists such as Fats Domino and Johnny Otis speeding up
3738-534: A major part of Lewis's repertoire. As Colin Escott observes in the sleeve to the 1995 compilation Killer Country , the conversion to country music in 1968 "looked at the time like a radical shift, but it was neither as abrupt nor as unexpected as it seemed. Jerry had always recorded country music, and his country breakthrough 'Another Place, Another Time' had been preceded by countless country records starting with his first, ' Crazy Arms ', in 1956." The last time Lewis had had
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#17328692803863916-507: A new song he recorded called "It Was the Whiskey Talkin' (Not Me)" was included in the soundtrack to the hit movie Dick Tracy . The song is also heard in the movie, playing on the radio. The public downfall of his cousin, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart around the same time, resulted in more adverse publicity to a troubled family. Swaggart is also a piano player, as is another cousin, country music star Mickey Gilley . All three listened to
4094-575: A perkier vocal more appropriate for an audience unfamiliar with the song to which James's song was an answer , Hank Ballard 's "Work With Me, Annie". Presley's rock and roll version of "Hound Dog", taken mainly from a version recorded by the pop band Freddie Bell and the Bellboys , was very different from the blues shouter that Big Mama Thornton had recorded four years earlier. Other white artists who recorded cover versions of rhythm and blues songs included Gale Storm (Smiley Lewis' "I Hear You Knockin ' "),
4272-655: A preacher (October 1957), the departure of Presley for service in the United States Army (March 1958), the scandal surrounding Jerry Lee Lewis ' marriage to his thirteen-year-old cousin (May 1958), riots caused by Bill Haley 's ill-fated tour of Europe (October 1958), the deaths of Buddy Holly , The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens in a plane crash (February 1959), the breaking of the Payola scandal implicating major figures, including Alan Freed , in bribery and corruption in promoting individual acts or songs (November 1959),
4450-482: A remarkable turnaround, Lewis became the most bankable country star in the world. He was so huge in 1970 that his former Smash producer Shelby Singleton , who purchased Sun Records from Sam Phillips in July 1969, wasted no time in repackaging many of Lewis's old country recordings with such effectiveness that many fans assumed they were recent releases. One of his later unreleased Sun recordings, " One Minute Past Eternity ",
4628-415: A result heard each other's music and even began to emulate each other's fashions. Radio stations that made white and black forms of music available to both groups, the development and spread of the gramophone record , and African-American musical styles such as jazz and swing which were taken up by white musicians, aided this process of "cultural collision". The immediate roots of rock and roll lay in
4806-484: A revitalized public interest in vintage rock and roll , inspired Mercury to fly Lewis to London in 1973 to record with a cadre of British and Irish musicians, including Rory Gallagher , Kenney Jones , and Albert Lee. By all accounts the sessions were tense. The remake of Lewis's old Sun cut "Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" was the album's hit single, reaching number 20 on the Billboard country chart and peaking at number 41 on
4984-600: A rock and roll standard. As interest in rock and roll was beginning to subside in America in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it was taken up by groups in British cities like Liverpool , Manchester , Birmingham , and London . About the same time, a British blues scene developed, initially led by purist blues followers such as Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies who were inspired by American musicians such as Robert Johnson , Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf . Many groups moved towards
5162-528: A social visit while Perkins was in the studio cutting new tracks with Lewis backing him on piano. Johnny Cash was also there watching Perkins. The four then started an impromptu jam session and Phillips left the tape running. These recordings, almost half of which were gospel songs, were released on CD as Million Dollar Quartet . Tracks also include Elvis Presley's " Don't Be Cruel " and " Paralyzed ", Chuck Berry 's " Brown Eyed Handsome Man ", and Pat Boone 's "Don't Forbid Me". Lewis's own singles (on which he
5340-787: A song on the country charts was with "Pen and Paper" in 1964, which had reached number 36, but "Another Place, Another Time" would go all the way to number 4 and remain on the charts for 17 weeks. Between 1968 and 1977, Lewis had 17 Top 10 hit singles on the Billboard country chart, including four chart-toppers. Hits include "What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made A Loser Out of Me)", "To Make Love Sweeter For You", "She Still Comes Around (To Love What's Left of Me)", "Since I Met You Baby", "Once More With Feeling", "One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)", and "Sometimes A Memory Ain't Enough". The production on his early country albums, such as Another Place, Another Time and She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye ,
5518-419: A song that they felt would be perfect for Lewis and, as Colin Escott writes in the sleeve to the retrospective A Half Century of Hits , "Mercury held the presses, thinking they had found Lewis's comeback hit, and it might have happened if the Beatles hadn't arrived in America, changing radio playlists almost overnight. Mercury didn't really know what to do with Lewis after that." One of Smash's first decisions
Jerry Lee Lewis - Misplaced Pages Continue
5696-443: A source of inspiration. Although almost entirely self-taught, Lewis conceded to biographer Rich Bragg in 2014 that Paul Whitehead, a blind pianist from Meadville, Mississippi, was another key influence on him in his earliest days playing clubs. Along with Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison, Lewis received the first Grammy Award in the spoken-word category for the very rare album of interviews released with some early copies of
5874-461: A special private show at the 100 Club on October 25, and at the London Forum on October 28 with Wanda Jackson and his sister, Linda Gail Lewis . In August 2009, in advance of his new album, a single entitled " Mean Old Man " was released for download. It was written by Kris Kristofferson . An EP featuring this song and four more was also released on November 11. On October 29, 2009, Lewis opened
6052-499: A strong-minded and fierce passion for music making. In very different ways, they all have left a lasting impact on the industry and generations of fans alike. I am thrilled to welcome this deserving class to the Country Music Hall of Fame." "I'm just overwhelmed that they asked me here today," Lewis, 86, said during an event earlier that week at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, adding that his career had taught him to "be
6230-564: A studio in Nashville . It was at the latter studio that Lewis recorded his only major hit during this period, a rendition of Ray Charles 's " What'd I Say " in 1961. In Europe, other updated versions of " Sweet Little Sixteen " (September 1962 UK) and " Good Golly, Miss Molly " (March 1963) entered the hit parade . On popular EPs, "Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes", "I've Been Twistin ' ", "Money", and "Hello Josephine" also became turntable hits, especially in nascent discothèques . Another recording of Lewis playing an instrumental boogie arrangement of
6408-399: A successful country artist). He was primarily of English and Scottish descent. His paternal grandmother claimed Cherokee ancestry. But a DNA test of Cash's daughter Rosanne in 2021 on Finding Your Roots , hosted by historian Henry Louis Gates Jr , found she has no known Native American markers. The researchers found Rosanne Cash has 3.3% Sub-Saharan African DNA, and they found
6586-476: A time of considerable technological change, soon after the development of the electric guitar, amplifier , 45 rpm record and modern condenser microphones . There were also changes in the record industry, with the rise of independent labels like Atlantic , Sun and Chess servicing niche audiences and a similar rise of radio stations that played their music. It was the realization that relatively affluent white teenagers were listening to this music that led to
6764-496: A unique electric guitar style, influenced by African and Afro-Cuban music and in turn influencing many later artists. Rock and roll was strongly influenced by R&B, according to many sources, including an article in The Wall Street Journal in 1985, titled, "Rock! It's Still Rhythm and Blues". In fact, the author stated that the "two terms were used interchangeably", until about 1957. The other sources quoted in
6942-432: A white market, or a new hybrid of black and white forms. In the 1930s, jazz , and particularly swing , both in urban-based dance bands and blues-influenced country swing ( Jimmie Rodgers , Moon Mullican and other similar singers), were among the first music to present African-American sounds for a predominantly white audience. One particularly noteworthy example of a jazz song with recognizably rock and roll elements
7120-509: A wider scale than any other single performer and by 1956, he had emerged as the singing sensation of the nation. Bill Flagg who is a Connecticut resident, began referring to his mix of hillbilly and rock 'n' roll music as rockabilly around 1953. In July 1954, Presley recorded the regional hit " That's All Right " at Sam Phillips' Sun Studio in Memphis. Three months earlier, on April 12, 1954, Bill Haley & His Comets recorded "Rock Around
7298-519: Is Big Joe Turner with pianist Pete Johnson 's 1938 single " Roll 'Em Pete ", which is regarded as an important precursor of rock and roll. The 1940s saw the increased use of blaring horns (including saxophones), shouted lyrics and boogie-woogie beats in jazz-based music. During and immediately after World War II , with shortages of fuel and limitations on audiences and available personnel, large jazz bands were less economical and tended to be replaced by smaller combos, using guitars, bass and drums. In
Jerry Lee Lewis - Misplaced Pages Continue
7476-560: Is certain is that Siggi Loch on this spring evening captured something brutally honest about the Killer, about the primal and timeless centre of the very best rock & roll..." The album showcases Lewis's skills as a pianist and singer, honed by relentless touring. In a 5-out-of-5-stars review, Milo Miles wrote in Rolling Stone magazine that " Live at the Star Club, Hamburg is not an album, it's
7654-516: Is characterized by a regular left-hand bass figure and dancing beat, but his command of the instrument and highly individualistic style set him apart. Appearing on Memphis Sounds with George Klein in 2011, Lewis credited his older piano-playing cousin Carl McVoy as being a crucial influence, stating, "He was a great piano player, a great singer, and a nice-looking man, carried himself real well. I miss Carl very much." Lewis also cited Moon Mullican as
7832-472: Is defined by Greg Kot in Encyclopædia Britannica as the music that originated in the mid-1950s and later developed "into the more encompassing international style known as rock music ". The term is sometimes also used as synonymous with "rock music" and is defined as such in some dictionaries. The phrase "rocking and rolling" originally described the movement of a ship on the ocean, but by
8010-677: Is general agreement that it arose in the Southern United States – a region that would produce most of the major early rock and roll acts – through the meeting of various influences that embodied a merging of the African musical tradition with European instrumentation. The migration of many former slaves and their descendants to major urban centers such as St. Louis , Memphis , New York City , Detroit , Chicago , Cleveland , and Buffalo meant that black and white residents were living in close proximity in larger numbers than ever before, and as
8188-466: Is often identified with the emergence of teen culture among the first baby boomer generation, who had greater relative affluence and leisure time and adopted rock and roll as part of a distinct subculture. This involved not just music, absorbed via radio, record buying, jukeboxes and TV programs like American Bandstand , but also extended to film, clothes, hair, cars and motorcycles, and distinctive language. The youth culture exemplified by rock and roll
8366-729: Is one of the best-selling music artists of all time , having sold more than 90 million records worldwide. His genre-spanning music embraced country , rock and roll , rockabilly , blues , folk , and gospel sounds. This crossover appeal earned him the rare honor of being inducted into the Country Music , Rock and Roll , and Gospel Music Halls of Fame. Cash was born J. R. Cash in Kingsland, Arkansas , on February 26, 1932, to Carrie Cloveree ( née Rivers) and Ray Cash. He had three older siblings, Roy, Margaret Louise, and Jack, and three younger siblings, Reba, Joanne, and Tommy (who also became
8544-708: Is rock 'n' roll. I think that 'Rocket 88' is R&B, but I think 'Rocket 88' is the cause of rock and roll existing". In terms of its wide cultural impact across society in the US and elsewhere, Bill Haley 's " Rock Around the Clock ", recorded in April 1954 but not a commercial success until the following year, is generally recognized as an important milestone, but it was preceded by many recordings from earlier decades in which elements of rock and roll can be clearly discerned. Journalist Alexis Petridis argued that neither Haley's "Rock Around
8722-511: Is two songs, for about eight minutes of stage time maximum) and invited Del Wood —the one member of the Opry who had been kind to him when he had been there as a teenager—out on stage to sing with him. He also blasted through "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On", "Workin' Man Blues", "Good Golly, Miss Molly", and a number of other classics. Lewis returned to the pop charts with " Me and Bobby McGee " in 1971 and " Chantilly Lace " in 1972, and this, coupled with
8900-477: The British Invasion would become the superseding forms of rock music during the mid-1960s, a few American artists were nonetheless able to achieve chart successes with rock and roll recordings during this time. The most notable of these was Johnny Rivers , who with hits such as "Memphis" (1964), popularized a " Go-go " style of club-oriented, danceable rock and roll that enjoyed significant success in spite of
9078-572: The Class of '55 album in 1986. The original Sun cut of "Great Balls of Fire" was elected to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, and Lewis's Sun recording of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" received this honor in 1999. Only recordings that are at least 25 years old and have left a lasting impression can receive this honor. On February 12, 2005, Lewis received the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award
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#17328692803869256-591: The Glenn Miller Orchestra 's " In the Mood " was issued on the Phillips International label under the pseudonym "The Hawk". Lewis's turbulent personal life was hidden from the public until a May 1958 British tour where Ray Berry, a news agency reporter at London's Heathrow Airport (the only journalist present), learned about Lewis's third wife, Myra Gale Brown. She is Lewis's first cousin once removed and
9434-561: The Great Depression under the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt . It was intended to give poor families the opportunity to work land that they might later own. From the age of five, Cash worked in cotton fields with his family, singing with them as they worked. Dyess and the Cash farm suffered a flood during his childhood. Later he wrote the song " Five Feet High and Rising ". His family's economic and personal struggles during
9612-688: The National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress . According to several first-hand sources, including Johnny Cash , Lewis, a devout Christian, was troubled by the sinful nature of his own material, which he believed was leading him and his audience to Hell . This aspect of Lewis's character was depicted in Waylon Payne 's portrayal of Lewis in the 2005 film Walk the Line , based on Cash's autobiographies. As part of his stage act, Lewis pounded
9790-561: The Tennessee Two . Cash worked up the courage to visit the Sun Records studio, hoping to get a recording contract. He auditioned for Sam Phillips by singing mostly gospel songs, only to learn from the producer that he no longer recorded gospel music. Phillips was rumored to have told Cash to "go home and sin, then come back with a song I can sell". In a 2002 interview, Cash denied that Phillips made any such comment. Cash eventually won over
9968-457: The U.S. Supreme Court ruling that abolished the policy of " separate but equal " in 1954, but leaving a policy which would be extremely difficult to enforce in parts of the United States. The coming together of white youth audiences and black music in rock and roll inevitably provoked strong white racist reactions within the US, with many whites condemning its breaking down of barriers based on color. Many observers saw rock and roll as heralding
10146-654: The US pop charts – topped the British charts later that year and again in 1956 and helped identify rock and roll with teenage delinquency. The initial response of the British music industry was to attempt to produce copies of American records, recorded with session musicians and often fronted by teen idols. More grass roots British rock and rollers soon began to appear, including Wee Willie Harris and Tommy Steele . During this period American Rock and Roll remained dominant but in 1958 Britain produced its first "authentic" rock and roll song and star, when Cliff Richard reached number 2 in
10324-590: The beat music of rock and roll and rhythm and blues from skiffle, like the Quarrymen who became the Beatles , producing a form of rock and roll revivalism that carried them and many other groups to national success from about 1963 and to international success from 1964, known in America as the British Invasion. Groups that followed the Beatles included the beat-influenced Freddie and the Dreamers , Wayne Fontana and
10502-428: The rhythm and blues , then called " race music ", in combination with either boogie-woogie and shouting gospel or with country music of the 1940s and 1950s. Particularly significant influences were jazz, blues , gospel , country, and folk . Commentators differ in their views of which of these forms were most important and the degree to which the new music was a re-branding of African-American rhythm and blues for
10680-415: The tempos and increasing the backbeat to great popularity on the juke joint circuit. Before the efforts of Freed and others, black music was taboo on many white-owned radio outlets, but artists and producers quickly recognized the potential of rock and roll. Some of Presley's early recordings were covers of black rhythm and blues or blues songs, such as " That's All Right " (a countrified arrangement of
10858-843: The 1800s; the recording can be heard on the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website. Various gospel, blues and swing recordings used the phrase before it became widely popular. " Bosom of Abraham ", an African-American spiritual that was documented no later than 1867 (just after the Civil War ), uses the phrase "rock my soul" frequently in a religious sense; this song was later recorded by musicians from various genres, including various gospel musicians and groups (including The Jordanaires ), Louis Armstrong (jazz/swing), Lonnie Donegan ( skiffle ), and Elvis Presley (rock and roll/pop/country). Blues singer Trixie Smith recorded "My [Man] Rocks Me with One Steady Roll" in 1922. It
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#173286928038611036-474: The 1950s, by leading white and black kids to listen to the same music, put the radio personality 'at the vanguard' and made him 'a really important figure ' ". After Freed was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame , the organization's Web site offered this comment: "He became internationally known for promoting African-American rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under
11214-552: The Belmonts ' " A Teenager in Love " (1959). From its early 1950s beginnings through the early 1960s, rock and roll spawned new dance crazes including the twist . Teenagers found the syncopated backbeat rhythm especially suited to reviving Big Band-era jitterbug dancing. Sock hops , school and church gym dances, and home basement dance parties became the rage, and American teens watched Dick Clark 's American Bandstand to keep up on
11392-500: The Billboard 200 album chart. On November 5, 2007, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland , Ohio, honored Lewis with six days of conferences, interviews, a DVD premiere, and film clips, dedicated to him and entitled The Life And Music of Jerry Lee Lewis . On November 10, the week culminated with a tribute concert compered by Kris Kristofferson . Lewis
11570-547: The Clock" nor Presley's version of "That's Alright Mama" heralded a new genre: "They were simply the first white artists' interpretations of a sound already well-established by black musicians almost a decade before. It was a raucous, driving, unnamed variant of rhythm and blues that came complete with lyrics that talked about rocking". Other artists with early rock and roll hits included Chuck Berry , Bo Diddley , Little Richard , Jerry Lee Lewis , and Gene Vincent . Chuck Berry's 1955 classic " Maybellene " in particular features
11748-462: The Clock". Although only a minor hit when first released, when used in the opening sequence of the movie Blackboard Jungle a year later, it set the rock and roll boom in motion. The song became one of the biggest hits in history, and frenzied teens flocked to see Haley and the Comets perform it, causing riots in some cities. "Rock Around the Clock" was a breakthrough success for the group; traditionally,
11926-746: The Diamonds (The Gladiolas' "Little Darlin ' " and Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers' "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?"), the Crew Cuts (the Chords' "Sh-Boom" and Nappy Brown's "Don't Be Angry"), the Fountain Sisters (The Jewels' "Hearts of Stone") and the Maguire Sisters (The Moonglows' "Sincerely"). Some commentators have suggested a decline of rock and roll starting in 1958. The retirement of Little Richard to become
12104-530: The Great Depression gave him a lifelong sympathy for the poor and working class, and inspired many of his songs. In 1944, Cash's older brother Jack, with whom he was close, was cut almost in two by an unguarded table saw at work. He died of his wounds a week later. According to Cash's autobiography, he, his mother, and Jack all had a sense of foreboding about that day; his mother urged Jack to skip work and go fishing with Cash, but Jack insisted on working as
12282-495: The Joint " (1949) (later covered by Bill Haley & His Comets in 1952), " Rocket 88 " by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats ( Ike Turner and his band The Kings of Rhythm and sung by Brenston), was recorded by Sam Phillips in March 1951. This is often cited as the first rock n' roll record. In an interview however, Ike Turner offered this comment: "I don't think that 'Rocket 88'
12460-609: The Line , he recorded the aforementioned album Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian . The album featured stories of a multitude of Indigenous peoples, emphasizing their violent oppression by white settlers: the Pima people ("The Ballad of Ira Hayes "), Navajo ("Navajo"), Apache ("Apache Tears"), Lakota ("Big Foot"), Seneca ("As Long as the Grass Shall Grow"), and Cherokee ("The Talking Leaves"). Cash wrote three of
12638-643: The Line ", " Ring of Fire ", " Get Rhythm ", and " Man in Black ". He also recorded humorous numbers like " One Piece at a Time " and " A Boy Named Sue ", a duet with his future wife June called " Jackson " (followed by many further duets after they married), and railroad songs such as " Hey, Porter ", " Orange Blossom Special ", and " Rock Island Line ". During the last stage of his career, he covered songs by contemporary rock artists; among his most notable covers were " Hurt " by Nine Inch Nails , " Rusty Cage " by Soundgarden , and " Personal Jesus " by Depeche Mode . Cash
12816-842: The Loma Linda Behavioral Medicine Center in Loma Linda, California , for his final rehabilitation treatment. (Several months later, his son followed him into this facility for treatment.) In the late 1950s Cash began performing concerts at prisons. He played his first notable prison concert on January 1, 1958, at San Quentin State Prison in California. These performances were recorded live, and released on highly successful albums: Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (1968) and Johnny Cash at San Quentin (1969). Both live albums reached number one on Billboard country album music and
12994-473: The Louis Prima rocker "Oh Babe" in 1950, as well as Amos Milburn 's cover of what may have been the first white rock and roll record, Hardrock Gunter 's "Birmingham Bounce" in 1949. The most notable trend, however, was white pop covers of black R&B numbers. The more familiar sound of these covers may have been more palatable to white audiences, there may have been an element of prejudice, but labels aimed at
13172-686: The Mindbenders , Herman's Hermits and the Dave Clark Five . Early British rhythm and blues groups with more blues influences include the Animals , the Rolling Stones , and the Yardbirds . Rock and roll influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language. In addition, rock and roll may have contributed to the civil rights movement because both African-American and European-American teens enjoyed
13350-490: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In May 2013, Lewis opened a new club on Beale Street in Memphis. Lewis was still considered actively performing in concert, though he had to cancel all shows following his February 28, 2019, stroke, waiting for his doctors' go-ahead. In 2017, Lewis had a personal presence at The Country Music Television Skyville Live show. It
13528-400: The Southern United States, but it was his 1957 hit " Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On " that shot Lewis to worldwide fame. He followed this with the major hits " Great Balls of Fire ", " Breathless ", and " High School Confidential ". His rock and roll career faltered in the wake of his marriage to Myra Gale Brown , his 13-year-old first cousin once removed. His popularity quickly eroded following
13706-539: The Sub-Saharan African DNA comes from both maternal and paternal sides of Cash's family. Researchers traced the Sub-Saharan African DNA to Rosanne's enslaved maternal African ancestors: her "third great grand-mother" Sarah A. Shields and Shields' mother, who could have been of "full African descent." Gates also informed Cash that the researchers traced Sub-Saharan African DNA to "an unknown African ancestor on your father's [Johnny's] side." After meeting with
13884-435: The U.S. government. Many non-Native Americans did not address those topics in their music. In 1965, Cash and June Carter appeared on Pete Seeger 's TV show, Rainbow Quest , on which Cash explained his start as an activist for Native Americans: In '57, I wrote a song called "Old Apache Squaw" and then forgot the so-called Indian protest for a while, but nobody else seemed to speak up with any volume of voice. Columbia Music,
14062-420: The United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African American music such as jazz , rhythm and blues , boogie-woogie , electric blues , gospel , and jump blues , as well as country music . While rock and roll's formative elements can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until 1954. According to
14240-530: The age of 87 due to an illness. His death was mistakenly reported by TMZ two days before he died, with a representative stating that TMZ had reported "erroneously off of an anonymous tip." His funeral was held on November 5, 2022, in his hometown of Ferriday, Louisiana. The service was officiated by his cousin Jimmy Swaggart and Swaggart's son. Lewis was an incendiary showman who often played with his fists, elbows, feet, and backside, sometimes climbing on top of
14418-439: The arrest of Chuck Berry (December 1959), and the death of Eddie Cochran in a car crash (April 1960) gave a sense that the initial phase of rock and roll had come to an end. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the rawer sounds of Presley, Gene Vincent , Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly were commercially superseded by a more polished, commercial style of rock and roll influenced pop music. Marketing frequently emphasized
14596-564: The article said that rock and roll combined R&B with pop and country music. Fats Domino was one of the biggest stars of rock and roll in the early 1950s and he was not convinced that this was a new genre. In 1957, he said: "What they call rock 'n' roll now is rhythm and blues. I've been playing it for 15 years in New Orleans". According to Rolling Stone , "this is a valid statement ... all Fifties rockers, black and white, country born and city-bred, were fundamentally influenced by R&B,
14774-472: The basis for the song "Starkville City Jail". He discussed this on his live At San Quentin album.) While on tour later that year, he was arrested October 4 in El Paso, Texas , by a narcotics squad. The officers suspected he was smuggling heroin from Mexico, but found instead 688 Dexedrine capsules (amphetamines) and 475 Equanil (sedatives or tranquilizers) tablets hidden inside his guitar case. Because
14952-485: The black popular music of the late Forties and early Fifties". Further, Little Richard built his ground-breaking sound of the same era with an uptempo blend of boogie-woogie, New Orleans rhythm and blues, and the soul and fervor of gospel music vocalization. Less frequently cited as an influencer, LaVern Baker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. The Hall remarked that her "fiery fusion of blues, jazz and R&B showcased her alluring vocals and set
15130-475: The ceremony took place, so he remarried Brown on June 4, 1958. They had two children: Steve Allen Lewis (1959–1962) and Phoebe Allen Lewis (b. 1963). Brown was only 14 years old when their son was born. In 1962, Steve Allen Lewis drowned in a swimming pool accident at the age of 3. In 1970, Brown filed for divorce on the grounds of adultery and abuse , stating that she had been "subject to every type of physical and mental abuse imaginable." His fourth marriage
15308-553: The charts with " Move It ". At the same time, TV shows such as Six-Five Special and Oh Boy! promoted the careers of British rock and rollers like Marty Wilde and Adam Faith . Cliff Richard and his backing band, the Shadows , were the most successful home grown rock and roll based acts of the era. Other leading acts included Billy Fury , Joe Brown , and Johnny Kidd & the Pirates , whose 1960 hit song " Shakin' All Over " became
15486-623: The concept of rock and roll had been defined, Billboard magazine columnist Maurie Orodenker started to use the term to describe upbeat recordings such as "Rock Me" by Sister Rosetta Tharpe ; her style on that recording was described as "rock-and-roll spiritual singing". By 1943, the "Rock and Roll Inn" in South Merchantville, New Jersey , was established as a music venue. In 1951, Cleveland , Ohio, disc jockey Alan Freed began playing this music style, and referring to it as "rock and roll" on his mainstream radio program, which popularized
15664-495: The country charts and entering the top 20 on the pop charts. It was originally performed by June Carter 's sister, but the signature mariachi -style horn arrangement was provided by Cash. He said that it had come to him in a dream. His first wife Vivian (Liberto) Cash claimed a different version of the origins of "Ring of Fire". In her book, I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny (2007), Liberto says that Cash gave Carter half
15842-497: The country top five. His " I Walk the Line " became number one on the country charts and entered the pop charts top 20. " Home of the Blues " followed, recorded in July 1957. That same year, Cash became the first Sun artist to release a long-playing album . Although he was Sun's most consistently selling and prolific artist at that time, Cash felt constrained by his contract with the small label. Phillips did not want Cash to record gospel and
16020-415: The crossover of African-American "race music" to a growing white youth audience, the popularization of rock and roll involved both black performers reaching a white audience and white musicians performing African-American music. Rock and roll appeared at a time when racial tensions in the United States were entering a new phase, with the beginnings of the civil rights movement for desegregation , leading to
16198-487: The day before the Recording Academy's main Grammy Awards ceremony, which he also attended. In June 1989, Lewis was honored for his contribution to the recording industry with a star along Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . On October 10, 2007, Lewis received the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's American Music Masters Award. His next album, Mean Old Man , was released in September 2010 and reached No. 30 on
16376-443: The decades, and he embraced his rock and roll past with songs such as a cover of The Big Bopper 's " Chantilly Lace " and Mack Vickery 's "Rockin' My Life Away". In the 21st century, Lewis continued to tour worldwide and released new albums. His 2006 album Last Man Standing was his best-selling release, with over a million copies worldwide. This was followed by Mean Old Man in 2010, another of his bestselling albums. Lewis had
16554-588: The development of what was to be defined as rock and roll as a distinct genre. Because the development of rock and roll was an evolutionary process, no single record can be identified as unambiguously "the first" rock and roll record. Contenders for the title of " first rock and roll record " include Sister Rosetta Tharpe 's " Strange Things Happening Every Day " (1944), " That's All Right " by Arthur Crudup (1946), " Move It On Over " by Hank Williams (1947), " The Fat Man " by Fats Domino (1949), Goree Carter 's " Rock Awhile " (1949), and Jimmy Preston 's " Rock
16732-435: The earliest rock and roll styles, either the piano or saxophone was typically the lead instrument. These instruments were generally replaced or supplemented by the electric guitar in the mid-to-late 1950s. The beat is essentially a dance rhythm with an accentuated backbeat , almost always provided by a snare drum . Classic rock and roll is usually played with one or more electric guitars (one lead , one rhythm ) and
16910-473: The early 1960s, Cash toured with the Carter Family, which by this time regularly included Mother Maybelle 's daughters, Anita , June, and Helen . June later recalled admiring him from afar during these tours. In the 1960s, he appeared on Pete Seeger 's short-lived television series Rainbow Quest . He also acted in, and wrote and sang the opening theme for, a 1961 film entitled Five Minutes to Live . It
17088-416: The early 20th century was used both to describe the spiritual fervor of black church rituals and as a sexual analogy. A retired Welsh seaman named William Fender can be heard singing the phrase "rock and roll" when describing a sexual encounter in his performance of the traditional song " The Baffled Knight " to the folklorist James Madison Carpenter in the early 1930s, which he would have learned at sea in
17266-427: The electric guitar as its centerpiece, adapting his rock band instrumentation from the basic blues band instrumentation of a lead guitar, second chord instrument, bass and drums. In 2017, Robert Christgau declared that "Chuck Berry did in fact invent rock 'n' roll", explaining that this artist "came the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together". Rock and roll arrived at
17444-511: The electric guitar, creating what is instantly recognizable as rock guitar. This proposal by Richards neglects the black guitarists who did the same thing before Berry, such as Goree Carter , Gatemouth Brown , and the originator of the style, T-Bone Walker . Country boogie and Chicago electric blues supplied many of the elements that would be seen as characteristic of rock and roll. Inspired by electric blues , Chuck Berry introduced an aggressive guitar sound to rock and roll, and established
17622-451: The electronic treatment of sound by such innovators as Joe Meek , and the " Wall of Sound " productions of Phil Spector , continued desegregation of the charts, the rise of surf music , garage rock and the Twist dance craze. Surf rock in particular, noted for the use of reverb-drenched guitars, became one of the most popular forms of American rock of the early 1960s. While the sounds of
17800-519: The family needed the money. Cash often spoke of the guilt he felt over the incident. He would say that he looked forward to "meeting [his] brother in Heaven". Cash's early memories were dominated by gospel music and radio. Taught guitar by his mother and a childhood friend, Cash began playing and writing songs at the age of 12. When young, Cash had a high-tenor voice, before becoming a bass-baritone after his voice changed . In high school, he sang on
17978-881: The finale's final act with a medley of " Roll Over Beethoven ", "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On", and "Great Balls of Fire". In December 2019, Lewis was honored with a Mississippi Country Music Trail marker at his ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi to celebrate his contributions to country music. In May 2022, Lewis was announced as a member-elect to the Country Music Hall of Fame , to be inducted in October 2022. "This year's inductees are trailblazers who each paved their own unique path within country music," Sarah Trahern, CMA chief executive officer, said. "Jerry Lee, Keith ( Whitley ), and Joe ( Galante ) each found their musical callings early in life and displayed
18156-463: The greatest Black musicians like BB King, Arthur Crudup and Fats Domino. His style of music combined with black influences created controversy during a turbulent time in history. Many other popular rock and roll singers of the time, such as Fats Domino and Little Richard , came out of the black rhythm and blues tradition, making the music attractive to white audiences, and are not usually classed as "rockabilly". Presley popularized rock and roll on
18334-545: The host. Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind is a documentary on Lewis, released in 2022 and directed by Ethan Coen . That same year, Lewis and his cousin Jimmy Swaggart collaborated on and released a gospel album, called The Boys from Ferriday . Lewis had a minor stroke in Memphis on February 28, 2019, which forced him to cancel several appearances. Lewis died at his home three years later on October 28, 2022, in Nesbit, Mississippi, at
18512-409: The journalist Greg Kot , "rock and roll" refers to a style of popular music originating in the United States in the 1950s. By the mid-1960s, rock and roll had developed into "the more encompassing international style known as rock music , though the latter also continued to be known in many circles as rock and roll." For the purpose of differentiation, this article deals with the first definition. In
18690-648: The keys with his heel, kicked the piano bench aside and played standing, raking his hands up and down the keys, sat on the keyboard and stood on the piano. He told the Pop Chronicles that kicking over the bench originally happened by accident, but when it got a favorable response, he kept it in the act. His inaugural television appearance, in which he demonstrated some of these moves, was on The Steve Allen Show on July 28, 1957, where he played " Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On ". His dynamic performance style can be seen in films such as High School Confidential (he sang
18868-434: The label for which Cash was recording then, was opposed to putting the song on his next album, considering it "too radical for the public". Cash singing songs of Indian tragedy and settler violence went radically against the mainstream of country music in the 1950s, which was dominated by the image of the righteous cowboy who makes the native's soil his own. In 1964, coming off the chart success of his previous album I Walk
19046-515: The late 1960s and 1970s, he regularly topped the country-western charts; throughout his seven-decade career, Lewis had 30 songs reach the Top 10 on the Billboard Country and Western Chart . His No. 1 country hits included " To Make Love Sweeter for You ", " There Must Be More to Love Than This ", " Would You Take Another Chance on Me ", and " Me and Bobby McGee ". Lewis's successes continued throughout
19224-587: The later stages of his career. He was known for his deep, calm, bass-baritone voice, the distinctive sound of his backing band, the Tennessee Three , that was characterized by its train-like chugging guitar rhythms, a rebelliousness coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor, and his free prison concerts. Cash wore a trademark all-black stage wardrobe, which earned him the nickname " Man in Black ". Born to poor cotton farmers in Kingsland, Arkansas , Cash grew up on gospel music and played on
19402-435: The latest dance and fashion styles. From the mid-1960s on, as "rock and roll" was rebranded as "rock", later dance genres followed, leading to funk , disco , house , techno , and hip hop . Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash ; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of Cash's music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from
19580-459: The latter crossed over to reach the top of the Billboard pop album chart. In 1969, Cash became an international hit when he eclipsed even The Beatles by selling 6.5 million albums. In comparison, the prison concerts were much more successful than his later live albums such as Strawberry Cake recorded in London and Live at Madison Square Garden , which peaked at numbers 33 and 39 on the album charts, respectively. The Folsom Prison record
19758-399: The levees and plantations, took in folk songs, and features blues and rhythm". In discussing Alan Freed's contribution to the genre, two significant sources emphasized the importance of African-American rhythm and blues. Greg Harris, then the executive director of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, offered this comment to CNN : "Freed's role in breaking down racial barriers in U.S. pop culture in
19936-583: The live album By Request, More of the Greatest Live Show on Earth , Lewis is heard naming Moon Mullican as an artist who inspired him. His mother enrolled him at the Southwest Bible Institute in Waxahachie, Texas , so that he could sing evangelical songs exclusively. When Lewis daringly played a boogie-woogie rendition of "My God Is Real" at a church assembly, it ended his association with
20114-576: The music. Many early rock and roll songs dealt with issues of cars, school, dating, and clothing. The lyrics of rock and roll songs described events and conflicts to which most listeners could relate through personal experience. Topics such as sex that had generally been considered taboo began to appear in rock and roll lyrics. This new music tried to break boundaries and express emotions that people were actually feeling but had not discussed openly. An awakening began to take place in American youth culture. In
20292-659: The name of rock and roll". Not often acknowledged in the history of rock and roll, Todd Storz , the owner of radio station KOWH in Omaha , Nebraska, was the first to adopt the Top 40 format (in 1953), playing only the most popular records in rotation. His station, and the numerous others which adopted the concept, helped to promote the genre: by the mid 50s, the playlist included artists such as " Presley , Lewis , Haley , Berry and Domino ". The origins of rock and roll have been fiercely debated by commentators and historians of music. There
20470-471: The ongoing British Invasion. Another example was Bobby Fuller and his group The Bobby Fuller Four , who were especially inspired by Buddy Holly and stuck with a rock and roll style, scoring their most notable hit with "I Fought the Law" (1965). In the 1950s, Britain was well placed to receive American rock and roll music and culture. It shared a common language , had been exposed to American culture through
20648-418: The phrase. Several sources suggest that Freed found the term, used as a synonym for sexual intercourse, on the record " Sixty Minute Man " by Billy Ward and his Dominoes . The lyrics include the line, "I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long". Freed did not acknowledge the suggestion about that source in interviews, and explained the term as follows: "Rock 'n roll is really swing with a modern name. It began on
20826-506: The physical looks of the artist rather than the music, contributing to the successful careers of Ricky Nelson , Tommy Sands , Bobby Vee , Jimmy Clanton , and the Philadelphia trio of Bobby Rydell , Frankie Avalon , and Fabian , who all became "teen idols". Some music historians have also pointed to important and innovative developments that built on rock and roll in this period, including multitrack recording , developed by Les Paul ,
21004-413: The piano during gigs and even apocryphally setting it on fire. Like Chuck Berry's guitar playing, Lewis's piano style became synonymous with rock and roll, having influenced generations of piano players. In a 2013 interview with Leah Harper, Elton John recalls that up until "Great Balls of Fire", "the piano playing that I had heard had been more sedate. My dad collected George Shearing records, but this
21182-558: The pills were prescription drugs rather than illegal narcotics, Cash received a suspended sentence . He posted a $ 1,500 bond and was released until his arraignment. In this period of the mid-1960s, Cash released a number of concept albums . His Bitter Tears (1964) was devoted to spoken word and songs addressing the plight of Native Americans and mistreatment by the government. While initially reaching charts, this album met with resistance from some fans and radio stations, which rejected its controversial take on social issues. In 2011,
21360-405: The pop chart. The Session was his highest pop charting album since 1964's Golden Hits of Jerry Lee Lewis , hitting number 37. It did far better on the country albums chart, rising to number 4. Later that year, he went to Memphis and recorded Southern Roots: Back Home to Memphis , a soul-infused rock album produced by Huey Meaux. According to Rick Bragg's authorized 2014 biography, "the Killer"
21538-409: The producer with new songs delivered in his early rockabilly style. In 1955, Cash made his first recordings at Sun, " Hey Porter " and " Cry! Cry! Cry! ", which were released in late June and met with success on the country hit parade . On December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley dropped in on Phillips while Carl Perkins was in the studio cutting new tracks, with Jerry Lee Lewis backing him on piano. Cash
21716-430: The public eye, especially when he decided to re-record all his songs for the movie soundtrack. The film was based on the book by Lewis's ex-wife, Myra Gale Lewis, and starred Dennis Quaid as Lewis, Winona Ryder as Myra, and Alec Baldwin as Jimmy Swaggart. The movie focuses on Lewis's early career and his relationship with Myra and ends with the scandal of the late 1950s. A year later, in 1990, Lewis made minor news when
21894-402: The recording setup was uncomplicated, with microphones placed as close to the instruments as possible and a stereo mic placed in the audience to capture the ambience. The results were sonically astonishing, with Bonomo observing, "Detractors complain of the album's crashing noisiness, the lack of subtlety with which Jerry Lee revisits the songs, the fact that the piano is mixed too loudly, but what
22072-454: The same music in their youth and frequented Haney's Big House, the Ferriday club that featured black blues acts. Lewis and Swaggart had a complex relationship over the years. In 1998, Lewis toured Europe with Chuck Berry and Little Richard . On February 12, 2005, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by The Recording Academy . On September 26, 2006, a new album titled Last Man Standing
22250-517: The same period, particularly on the West Coast and in the Midwest , the development of jump blues , with its guitar riffs, prominent beats and shouted lyrics, prefigured many later developments. In the documentary film Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll , Keith Richards proposes that Chuck Berry developed his brand of rock and roll by transposing the familiar two-note lead line of jump blues piano directly to
22428-539: The scandal, and with few exceptions, such as a cover of Ray Charles 's " What'd I Say ", he did not have much chart success in the early 1960s. His live performances at this time were increasingly wild and energetic. His 1964 live album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg is regarded by many music journalists and fans as one of the wildest and greatest live rock albums ever. In 1968, Lewis made a transition into country music and had hits with songs such as " Another Place, Another Time ". This reignited his career, and throughout
22606-598: The school the same night. Pearry Green, then president of the student body, related how during a talent show Lewis played some "worldly" music. The next morning, the dean of the school called Lewis and Green into his office to expel them. After that incident, he went home and started playing at clubs in and around Ferriday and Natchez, Mississippi , becoming part of the burgeoning new rock and roll sound and cutting his first demo recording in 1952 for Cosimo Matassa in New Orleans. Around 1955, he traveled to Nashville , where he played in clubs and attempted to build interest, but
22784-570: The song has been seen as the major breakthrough for the rock and roll genre, as its immense popularity introduced the music to a global audience. In 1956, the arrival of rockabilly was underlined by the success of songs like " Folsom Prison Blues " by Johnny Cash , " Blue Suede Shoes " by Perkins, and the No. 1 hit " Heartbreak Hotel " by Presley. For a few years it became the most commercially successful form of rock and roll. Later rockabilly acts, particularly performing songwriters like Buddy Holly , would be
22962-456: The songs himself and one with the help of Johnny Horton . The majority of these protest songs were written by folk artist Peter La Farge (son of Oliver La Farge , an activist and Pulitzer prizewinner). Cash met the younger La Farge in New York in the 1960s and admired him for his activism. The album's single, " The Ballad of Ira Hayes " was generally not played by commercial radio. ( Ira Hayes
23140-477: The songwriting credit for monetary reasons. In June 1965, Cash's camper caught fire during a fishing trip with his nephew Damon Fielder in Los Padres National Forest in California. It set off a forest fire that burned several hundred acres and nearly caused his death. Cash claimed that the fire was caused by sparks from a defective exhaust system on his camper, but Fielder thought that Cash started
23318-489: The stage for the rock and roll surge of the Fifties". "Rockabilly" usually (but not exclusively) refers to the type of rock and roll music which was played and recorded in the mid-1950s primarily by white singers such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins , Johnny Cash , and Jerry Lee Lewis , who drew mainly on the country roots of the music. Presley was greatly influenced by and incorporated his style of music with that of some of
23496-612: The stationing of troops in the country, and shared many social developments, including the emergence of distinct youth sub-cultures, which in Britain included the Teddy Boys and the rockers . Trad jazz became popular in the UK, and many of its musicians were influenced by related American styles, including boogie woogie and the blues . The skiffle craze, led by Lonnie Donegan , used amateurish versions of American folk songs and encouraged many of
23674-510: The subsequent generation of rock and roll, folk, R&B and beat musicians to start performing. At the same time British audiences were beginning to encounter American rock and roll, initially through films including Blackboard Jungle (1955) and Rock Around the Clock (1956). Both movies featured the Bill Haley & His Comets hit " Rock Around the Clock ", which first entered the British charts in early 1955 – four months before it reached
23852-545: The then- laird of Falkland in Fife , Major Michael Crichton-Stuart, Cash became interested in his Scots ancestry. He traced his Scottish surname to 11th-century Fife. Cash Loch and other locations in Fife bear the surname of his father. He is a distant cousin of British Conservative politician Sir William Cash . He also had English ancestry. Because his mother wanted to name him John and his father preferred to name him Ray when he
24030-401: The time, such as George Jones and Merle Haggard . In his book Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story , biographer Rick Bragg notes that the songs Lewis was recording "were of the kind they were starting to call 'hard country', not because it had a rock beat or crossed over into rock in a real way, but because it was more substantial than the cloying, overproduced mess out there on country radio". In
24208-572: The title song from the back of a flatbed truck ), and Jamboree . Cub Koda called him "rock & roll's first great wild man" and also "rock & roll's first great eclectic". Classical composer Michael Nyman has also cited Lewis's style as the progenitor of his own aesthetic. In 1960, Phillips opened a new state-of-the-art studio at 639 Madison Avenue in Memphis, abandoning the old Union Avenue studio where Phillips had recorded B.B. King , Howlin' Wolf , Elvis Presley , Roy Orbison , Carl Perkins , Lewis, Johnny Cash , and others, and also opened
24386-451: The way for desegregation, in creating a new form of music that encouraged racial cooperation and shared experience. Many authors have argued that early rock and roll was instrumental in the way both white and black teenagers identified themselves. Several rock historians have claimed that rock and roll was one of the first music genres to define an age group . It gave teenagers a sense of belonging, even when they were alone. Rock and roll
24564-799: The white market also had much better distribution networks and were generally much more profitable. Famously, Pat Boone recorded sanitized versions of songs recorded by the likes of Fats Domino, Little Richard, the Flamingos and Ivory Joe Hunter. Later, as those songs became popular, the original artists' recordings received radio play as well. The cover versions were not necessarily straightforward imitations. For example, Bill Haley's incompletely bowdlerized cover of " Shake, Rattle and Roll " transformed Big Joe Turner's humorous and racy tale of adult love into an energetic teen dance number, while Georgia Gibbs replaced Etta James ' tough, sarcastic vocal in "Roll With Me, Henry" (covered as "Dance With Me, Henry") with
24742-426: Was 13 years old when they married—though Lewis, who was 22 years old at the time, claimed she was actually 15. The publicity caused an uproar, and the tour was canceled after only three concerts. Lewis's Sun recording contract ended in 1963, and he joined Smash Records , where he made several rock recordings that did not further his career. The team at Smash (a division of Mercury Records ) came up with "I'm on Fire",
24920-599: Was a Native American who was one of the six soldiers featured in a photo raising the U.S. flag at Iwo Jima during World War II.) The record label denied it promotion due to what it considered a provocative and "unappealing" nature. Cash faced resistance and was urged by an editor of a country music magazine to leave the Country Music Association , who said: "You and your crowd are just too intelligent to associate with plain country folks, country artists, and country DJs." In reaction, on August 22, 1964, Cash posted
25098-401: Was a recurring source of concern for older generations, who worried about juvenile delinquency and social rebellion, particularly because, to a large extent, rock and roll culture was shared by different racial and social groups. In America, that concern was conveyed even in youth cultural artifacts such as comic books . In "There's No Romance in Rock and Roll" from True Life Romance (1956),
25276-429: Was a specially recorded performance featuring a whole array of artists paying tribute to the music of Lewis. In March 2020, it was announced that Lewis, together with producer T-Bone Burnett and guitarist James Burton , was recording a new album of gospel covers. It was the first time he entered a recording studio following his stroke. As of 2023, it is unknown how much progress was made with this gospel album, or if it
25454-493: Was also in the studio, and the four started an impromptu jam session . Phillips left the tapes running and the recordings, almost half of which were gospel songs, survived. They have since been released under the title Million Dollar Quartet . In Cash: the Autobiography , Cash wrote that he was the farthest from the microphone and sang in a higher pitch to blend in with Elvis. Cash's next record, "Folsom Prison Blues", made
25632-467: Was assigned to the 12th Radio Squadron Mobile of the U.S. Air Force Security Service at Landsberg , West Germany . While in San Antonio, he met Vivian Liberto , an attractive girl of Sicilian, Irish and German ancestry. They dated briefly before his departure. During the years he served overseas, they exchanged thousands of letters. He worked in West Germany as a Morse code operator, intercepting Soviet Army transmissions. While working this job, Cash
25810-470: Was awarded $ 125,172. Cash eventually settled the case and paid $ 82,001. Although Cash cultivated a romantic outlaw image, he never served a prison sentence. Despite landing in jail seven times for misdemeanors , he was held only one night each time. On May 11, 1965, he was arrested in Starkville, Mississippi , for trespassing late at night onto private property to pick flowers. (He used this incident as
25988-576: Was backed by Ritchie Blackmore and the Outlaws . None of Lewis's early Smash albums, including The Return of Rock , Memphis Beat , and Soul My Way , were commercial successes. One major success during these lost years was the concert album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg , recorded with the Nashville Teens in 1964, which is considered one of the greatest live albums ever. In Joe Bonomo 's book Lost and Found , producer Siggi Loch stated that
26166-417: Was billed as "Jerry Lee Lewis And His Pumping Piano") advanced his career as a soloist during 1957, with hits such as " Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On ", a Big Maybelle cover, and " Great Balls of Fire ", his biggest hit, bringing him international fame and criticism of the songs, which prompted some radio stations to boycott them. In 2005, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" was selected for permanent preservation in
26344-523: Was born on September 29, 1935, to Elmo Kidd Lewis Sr. and Mary "Mamie" Herron Lewis in Ferriday, Louisiana . He grew up in an impoverished farming family in Eastern Louisiana. In his youth, he began playing the piano with two of his cousins, Mickey Gilley (later a popular country music singer) and Jimmy Swaggart (later a popular televangelist). His parents mortgaged their farm to buy him a piano. Lewis
26522-461: Was born, they compromised on the initials "J. R." But when Cash enlisted in the Air Force after high school, he was not permitted to use initials as a first name. He adopted the name "John R. Cash". In 1955, when signing with Sun Records , he started using the name "Johnny Cash". In March 1935, when Cash was three years old, the family settled in Dyess, Arkansas , a New Deal colony established during
26700-420: Was deeply addicted to amphetamines. Cash would use the stimulants to stay awake during tours. Friends joked about his "nervousness" and erratic behavior, many ignoring the warning signs of his worsening drug addiction . Although he was in many ways spiraling out of control, Cash could still deliver hits due to his frenetic creativity. His rendition of " Ring of Fire " was a crossover hit, reaching number one on
26878-631: Was drug-free for a period of seven years. In his memoir about time with Cash, Grant said that the birth of Cash's son, John Carter Cash , inspired the singer to end his dependence. Cash began using amphetamines again in 1977. By 1983, he was deeply addicted again. He entered rehab at the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage for treatment. He stayed off drugs for several years, but relapsed. In 1989, he entered Nashville's Cumberland Heights Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center. In 1992, he started care at
27056-543: Was ever completed, as nothing from these sessions has been released; Lewis later recorded another gospel album with cousin Jimmy Swaggart that was unrelated to the 2020 project with Burnett and Burton. On October 27, 2020, to celebrate Lewis's 85th birthday, a livestream aired on YouTube, Facebook, and his official website. The livestream special, Whole Lotta Celebratin' Goin' On , featured appearances and performances by Willie Nelson , Elton John , Mike Love , Priscilla Presley , Joe Walsh , and others. John Stamos served as
27234-461: Was final. They had two children: Jerry Lee Lewis Jr. (1954–1973) and Ronnie Guy Lewis (b. 1956). After four years, he filed for divorce in October 1957. Jerry Lee Lewis Jr. died in 1973, at the age of 19, when the Jeep he was driving overturned. His third marriage was to 13-year-old Myra Gale Brown , his first cousin once removed, on December 12, 1957. His divorce from Jane Mitcham was not finalized before
27412-737: Was in Florida, but producer and engineer Jack Clement recorded Lewis's rendition of Ray Price 's " Crazy Arms " and his own composition " End of the Road ". In December 1956, Lewis began recording prolifically as a solo artist and as a session musician for other Sun artists, including Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash . His distinctive piano playing can be heard on many tracks recorded at Sun in late 1956 and early 1957, including Carl Perkins's " Matchbox ", " Your True Love ", and "Put Your Cat Clothes On" and Billy Lee Riley 's "Flyin' Saucers Rock'n'Roll". On December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley dropped in on Phillips to pay
27590-463: Was in a foul mood when he showed up at Trans Maximus Studios in Memphis to record: "During these sessions, he insulted the producer, threatened to kill a photographer, and drank and medicated his way into but not out of a fog." During one exchange that can be heard on the 2013 reissue Southern Roots: The Original Sessions , Meaux asks Lewis, "Do you wanna try one?", meaning a take, to which Lewis replies, "If you got enough fuckin' sense to cut it." Lewis
27768-403: Was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2022. In 1989, his life was chronicled in the movie Great Balls of Fire , starring Dennis Quaid . In 2003, Rolling Stone listed his box set All Killer, No Filler: The Anthology at number 242 on their list of " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ". In 2004, they ranked him No. 24 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Lewis
27946-461: Was influenced by a piano-playing older cousin, Carl McVoy (who later recorded with Bill Black 's Combo), the radio, and the sounds from Haney's Big House, a black juke joint across the tracks. On November 19, 1949, Lewis made his first public performance of his career, playing with a country and western band at a car dealership in Ferriday. The hit of his set was his performance of R&B artist Stick McGhee 's "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee". On
28124-522: Was introduced by a rendition of his "Folsom Prison Blues", while the San Quentin record included the crossover hit single " A Boy Named Sue ", a Shel Silverstein novelty song that reached number one on the country charts and number two on the U.S. top-10 pop charts. In 1972 Cash performed at the Österåker Prison in Sweden. The live album På Österåker ( At Österåker ) was released in 1973. "San Quentin"
28302-599: Was issued as a single and soared to number 2 on the country chart, following Lewis's recent Mercury hit "She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye". Singleton would milk these unreleased recordings for years, following The Golden Cream of the Country with A Taste of Country later in 1970. Lewis played the Grand Ole Opry only once, on January 20, 1973. As Colin Escott writes in the liner notes to A Half Century of Hits , he had maintained an ambivalence to Music City ever since he
28480-485: Was later re-released as Door-to-door Maniac . Cash's career was handled by Saul Holiff , a London, Ontario , promoter. Their relationship was the subject of Saul's son's biopic My Father and the Man in Black . As his career was taking off in the late 1950s, Cash started drinking heavily and became addicted to amphetamines and barbiturates . For a brief time, he shared an apartment in Nashville with Waylon Jennings , who
28658-445: Was paying him a 3% royalty rather than the standard rate of 5%. Presley had already left Sun, and Cash felt that Phillips was focusing most of his attention and promotion on Lewis. In 1958, Cash left Phillips to sign a lucrative offer with Columbia Records . His single " Don't Take Your Guns to Town " became one of his biggest hits. He recorded a collection of gospel songs for his second album for Columbia. However, Cash left behind such
28836-619: Was present to accept the American Music Masters Award and closed his own tribute show with a rendition of " Over the Rainbow ". On February 10, 2008, he appeared with John Fogerty and Little Richard on the 50th Grammy Awards , performing "Great Balls of Fire" in a medley with " Good Golly Miss Molly ". On June 4, 2008, Lewis was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and appeared on A Capitol Fourth and performed
29014-516: Was proven. His sixth marriage, to Kerrie McCarver, lasted 21 years, from April 1984 to June 2005. They had one child: Jerry Lee Lewis III (b. 1987). In 1993, Lewis moved to Ireland with his family in what was suggested (but denied) to be a move to avoid issues with the Internal Revenue Service . He lived in a rented house on Westminster Road in Foxrock , Dublin , and during his time there
29192-487: Was recorded with Cash replacing "San Quentin" with "Österåker". In 1976, a concert at Tennessee State Prison was videotaped for TV broadcast. It was posthumously released after Cash's death as a CD entitled A Concert Behind Prison Walls . Cash used his stardom and economic status to bring awareness to the issues surrounding the Native American people. Cash sang songs about indigenous humanity in an effort to confront
29370-503: Was released as a single on March 9, 1968, and, to everyone's amazement, shot up the country charts. At the time of the release, Lewis had been playing Iago in a rock and roll adaptation of Othello called Catch My Soul in Los Angeles but was soon rushed back to Nashville to record another batch of songs with producer Jerry Kennedy . What followed was a string of hits that no one could have predicted, although country music always remained
29548-476: Was released, featuring many of rock and roll's elite as guest stars. Receiving positive reviews, the album charted on four different Billboard charts, including a two-week stay at number one on the Indie charts. A DVD entitled Last Man Standing Live , featuring concert footage with many guest artists, was released in March 2007. In October 2008, as part of a successful European tour, Lewis appeared at two London shows:
29726-422: Was responsible for beginning an unplanned jam at the end of the evening, which was incorporated into all future events. That year, he returned to Sun Studio in Memphis to team up with Orbison, Cash, and Perkins along with longtime admirers like John Fogerty to create the album Class of '55 . In 1989, a major motion picture based on his early life in rock and roll, Great Balls of Fire! , brought him back into
29904-414: Was said to be the first American to be given the news of Joseph Stalin 's death (supplied via Morse code). His daughter, Rosanne , said that Cash had recounted the story many times over the years. While at Landsberg, he created his first band, "The Landsberg Barbarians". On July 3, 1954, he was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant , and he returned to Texas. During his military service, he acquired
30082-427: Was sparse, quite different from the slick " Nashville sound " that was predominant on country radio at the time, and also expressed a full commitment by Lewis to a country audience. The songs still featured Lewis's inimitable piano flourishes, but critics were most taken aback by the rock and roll pioneer's effortlessly soulful vocals, which possessed an emotional resonance on par with the most respected country singers of
30260-489: Was still pumping out country albums, although the hits were beginning to dry up. His last big hit with Mercury was "Middle Age Crazy", which made it to number 4 in 1977. In 1979, Lewis switched record labels to Elektra and produced the critically acclaimed Jerry Lee Lewis , although sales were disappointing. In 1986, Lewis was one of the inaugural inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . Although looking frail after several hospitalizations due to stomach problems, Lewis
30438-602: Was sued by the German company Neue Constantin Film Production GmbH for failure to appear at a concert in Munich in 1993. Lewis returned to the U.S. in 1997 after his tax issues had been resolved by Irish promoter Kieran Cavanagh. Rock %27n%27 roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll , rock-n-roll , rock 'n' roll , rock n' roll , Rock n' Roll or proto-rock ) is a genre of popular music that evolved in
30616-469: Was the first time I heard someone beat the shit out of a piano. When I saw Little Richard at the Harrow Granada, he played it standing up, but Jerry Lee Lewis actually jumped on the piano! This was astonishing to me, that people could do that. Those records had such a huge effect on me, and they were just so great. I learned to play like that." Lewis was primarily known for his " boogie-woogie " style, which
30794-451: Was the last surviving member of Sun Records ' Million Dollar Quartet and the album Class of '55 , which also included Johnny Cash , Carl Perkins , Roy Orbison , and Elvis Presley . Music critic Robert Christgau said of Lewis: "His drive, his timing, his offhand vocal power, his unmistakable boogie -plus piano, and his absolute confidence in the face of the void make Jerry Lee the quintessential rock and roller." Jerry Lee Lewis
30972-666: Was to Jaren Elizabeth Gunn Pate, from October 1971 to June 8, 1982. Pate drowned in a swimming pool at the home of a friend with whom she was staying, several weeks before divorce proceedings could be finalized. They had one daughter, Lori Lee Lewis (b. 1972). Mary Kathy "K.K." Jones of San Antonio, Texas , testified in court during Lewis's income tax evasion trial in 1984 that she lived with him from 1980 to 1983. Lewis's fifth marriage, to Shawn Stephens, lasted 77 days, from June to August 1983, ending with her death from an overdose of methadone . Journalist Richard Ben Cramer alleged that Lewis abused and may have killed her, neither of which
31150-539: Was to record a retread of his Sun hits, Golden Hits of Jerry Lee Lewis , which was inspired by the continuing enthusiasm European fans had shown for Lewis's firebrand rock and roll. In June 1963, Lewis returned to the UK for the first time since the scandal that nearly ended his career five years earlier, to headline a performance on the MV Royal Daffodil , for a cross-channel rock and roll cruise from Southend, Essex , to Boulogne, France . For this performance, he
31328-640: Was turned away as an aspiring musician before his glory days at Sun Records : "It was 18 years since he had left Nashville broke and disheartened...Lewis was never truly accepted in Nashville. He didn't move there and didn't schmooze there. He didn't fit in with the family values crowd. Lewis family values weren't necessarily worse, but they were different." As recounted in a 2015 online Rolling Stone article by Beville Dunkerly, Lewis opened with his comeback single " Another Place, Another Time ". Ignoring his allotted time constraints—and, thus, commercial breaks—Lewis played for 40 minutes (the average Opry performance
31506-637: Was turned down by the Grand Ole Opry , as he was already at the Louisiana Hayride country stage and radio show in Shreveport . Lewis made his first recordings in 1952 at Cosimo Matassa 's J&M Recording Studio in New Orleans , Louisiana. He covered Lefty Frizzell 's "Don't Stay Away (Till Love Grows Cold)" and his own instrumental composition "Jerry's Boogie" ( a.k.a. New Orleans Boogie). In November 1956, Lewis traveled to Memphis, Tennessee , to audition for Sun Records . Label owner Sam Phillips
31684-466: Was used in 1940s recordings and reviews of what became known as " rhythm and blues " music aimed at a black audience. Huey "Piano" Smith credits Cha Cha Hogan , a jump-blues shouter and comic in New Orleans, with popularizing the term in his 1950 song "My Walking Baby". In 1934, the song "Rock and Roll" by the Boswell Sisters appeared in the film Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round . In 1942, before
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