Jerry Lee Lewis and “the dream” of becoming a musician
In terms of rock and roll heroes, there wasn’t anyone much more distinguished than the late Jerry Lee Lewis. Nicknamed ‘The Killer’, he brought high-octane energy to the form, imbuing it with the kind of rebellious dynamism that the likes of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones would take and run off into the sunset with. A highly controversial character, as can be extrapolated from his moniker, this never phased the Sunset Records star, as he always knew that he was on the highway to greatness, despite his origins on a poor farm in Louisiana.
It’s a testament to the work of Lewis that he is spoken about in the same breath as the likes of Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. Via his raucous form of vocal delivery and almost acrobatic way of approaching the piano, he inspired his listeners to cast off the mundane life that their parents set out for them, and told them to concentrate on the present, let their hair down, and get it on.
His influence on ‘The Rocketman’, Elton John, reflects just how much he changed rock ‘n’ roll. When speaking to Leah Harper in 2013, John discussed the impact of Lewis’s 1957 hit ‘Great Balls of Fire’, and it was a formative moment in his life.
Until hearing the track, “the piano playing that I had heard had been more sedate”, John said. “My dad collected George Shearing records, but this 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.”
An incendiary sense of showmanship endeared Jerry Lee Lewis to the world, and unsurprisingly, it was funnelled by the self-confidence that carried him right until the very end. In his 2014 autobiography (per The Guardian), he looked back on his career and revealed why he chose to be a musician, and unsurprisingly his account was underpinned by the confidence we hear in his music.
“There was rockabilly. There was Elvis. But there was no pure rock’n’roll before Jerry Lee Lewis kicked in the door,” he said at one point, which was followed by, “Other people… just wished they could have done what I done.”
Elsewhere, he described why he chose to be a musician and asserted he was born to do it, explaining that the stage was where he was “the happiest”. “I was born to be on a stage,” he said. “I couldn’t wait to be on it. I dreamed about it. And I’ve been on one all my life. That’s where I’m the happiest. That’s where I’m almost satisfied.”
“I do really love it,” he maintained, whilst proceeding to note the sacrifices you have to make in order to achieve success. “You have to give up a lot. It’s hard on a family, on your women, on the people that loves you.”
In his typically lively style, he concluded the reappraisal of his career by saying contently: “I picked the dream.”
