Flipping heck Jerry Lee Lewis has died

[rtbcIII]

And boy he could burn a piano.
You could say as in the movies the last important figure of rhe golden age early rock n roll has gone.
May he keep em shakin' up there.

He could singe anything within six feet of him. Here he is at 29 and a low point in his career (1964), burning the whole damn house down in London for ITV's Don't Knock the Rock revival show.

[Rave O Lucien]

I'm really sad about that. He just seemed unstoppable.

I agree. He was a unique performer who outlived his Sun labelmates. I saw him twice, and he put on a great show.
Requiescat in pace, Jerry Lee.

[rtbcIII]

So you mean he was far from being a perfect human being ?
Oh, you forgot the time when he tried to break into Graceland with a gun to "talk" to Elvis.
Would you write, commenting on John Lennon's death, the day he died, as sole comment, "he was a wife-beater" (he slapped Cynthia once), "he never cared for his first son", or, "he wrote a song with the word nigger in it therefore he is a racist" ? (not making that up, I actually read that somewhere).
I don't think that's what matters here, right now.
I guess most people writing here are educated enough to know that he had his flaws (a lot) like Elvis, like Chuck Berry, like most human beings to different extents. Most rock'n'rollers aren't saints.
In short, he also made great music and brought pleasure to many people, he was the last of the founding fathers of rock'n'roll and that's why some of us are sad today.

People who date 13 year old girls are usually prosecuted sir, in most countries it's a federal crime. It appears though Jerry and Bill Wyman escaped this because of "Rock n Roll" status.

While this is the case now, unfortunately at the time there were states in the US that had no minimum age for marriage. So while its crazy to think now, back then it wasn't criminal. If I understand right, he didn't really have any problems at home until he went to the UK and they called him out for it, which then caused him problems in the US for the next several years. This is not meant in anyway to justify it, just to provide some context.

Unfortunately for some, it's just another opportunity to a) display their profound ignorance and b) fire off a few virtue signaling flares to alert us all how obnoxiously self-righteous they are. And pardon me, but WTAF does Rolf Harris have to do with any of this?!?

Have the outraged marched on Baton Rouge to express their ire at the State laws of 70 years ago that literally sanctified Lewis' marriage? (his only "crime" BTW was ignoring the waiting period for his divorce to finalize)

Are they ready to dig up Elvis and crucify him for dating Priscilla when she was 14?

[jpgrcat007]

Places like Arkansas, one used to able to be married at age 14 for a girl, & 18 or 21 for the man

A lot of US laws, were created when the State join the Union

In the 1800's folks married young....

In Canada until PM Harper changed to laws in Canada...It used to be age 14
Not sure of the Age of Concent now....as I'm 62, & chasing online with a 57 Lady

Jerry Lee Lewis I chatted recently about Orphanages, a few months ago...

So sad he passed.... I'm glad he recorded with Ringo

We lost Elvis, Johnny, Roy, Chuck, Richard...& others all Pioneers

[rtbcIII]

I'm really sad about that. He just seemed unstoppable.

To borrow a six-dollar phrase, he was quintessentially American, the embodiment of conflicting cultures caught up in a glorious musical train-wreck. Sinner? He'd tell you that. Saint? Not by a long-shot, though he'd forcefully argue the criteria. Here's perhaps the best distillation of that essence - Sun Records, Memphis, Oct. 1957. Recording "Great Balls of Fire," Lewis is overcome by his religious convictions (he was a recent Bible School expellee) and launches into a fervent spiritual debate with Sam Phillips. Billy Lee Riley sits in as the amen chorus.



A few minutes later, Lewis resumes recording, cutting the very take of "Great Balls of Fire " he'd soon mime to for the Warner Brothers film Jamboree.

[Rave O Lucien]

"I wanted to get married. I got married. They don't like it, they can kiss my butt."
JLL 1958

[rtbcIII]

"I wanted to get married. I got married. They don't like it, they can kiss my butt."
JLL 1958

In Nick Tosches great Lewis biography, Hellfire, Jerry is quoted answering some criticism with "Bark my hole. Use my d*ck for a walking pole."

[Help67]

It is sad to talk about Jerry in these terms. This man, with his lights and shadows, is part of the group of the chosen ones: Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Everly Brothers, Bill Haley and him. Personally I would include Larry Williams but he's not even in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame. He is a great and always will be.

[rtbcIII]

In honor of Major League Baseball's World Series, here's Lewis on Shindig! in 1965, playing some hits and closing the show with an incandescent rendition of "America's second national anthem."

[dannysonar]

People who date 13 year old girls are usually prosecuted sir, in most countries it's a federal crime. It appears though Jerry and Bill Wyman escaped this because of "Rock n Roll" status.

I'm aware of that, thanks. And I totally agree it should be, in case it worries you. By the way, as you mention "most countries", "federal crime" is an expression applying to the US and has no meaning in most countries.

Thanks to everyone who explained (better than I would do as English is not my first language) in detail how the 1950's are not the 2020's, and that values and way of thinking evolve with time, something that seems unfortunately hard to grasp for an increasing number of people, it seems.