Jerry Lee Lewis - The Killer - RIP

Whatever you may feel about him as a person, no one can deny the importance of Jerry Lee Lewis in the history of rock and roll. He has died at the age of 87, after several days of rumour, bringing to an end the life of a hell raiser who had more than his share of controversy over his long career. His death came just a few days after he was inducted, at long last, into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Jerry Lee's life will no doubt be explored in detail in obituaries over the next few days and it really was an amazing one. He recorded some wonderful music, ranging from rock and roll to country, was one of the most exciting performers I ever saw, and maintained an enormous fan base until the very end. Yet his personal life often overshadowed his immense talent. His marriage to a 13 year old cousin cut short his 1958 UK tour as the press turned on him. He was a bigamist, two wives died in tragic circumstances, as did two of his children. He had problems with drink and drugs and apparently had a huge resentment of fellow Memphis resident Elvis Presley back in the day. He was the last surviving original rock and roll great, outliving Little Richard, Fats Domino and Chuck Berry. That in itself was quite surprising, given his extraordinary life.

Jerry Lee's story is well known. The country boy from Ferriday, Louisiana, became a piano maestro playing with cousins Mickey Gilley and Jimmy Swaggart. He was influenced by music he heard in a local black juke joint, shocked the local church with his piano style and was signed in 1956 to Sun Records in Memphis where he recorded some of the all time classic rock and roll records, including 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On', 'Great Balls of Fire'. 'Down The Line' and 'High School Confidential'. After the outcry over his under age third wife his career nose dived, although he continued to record some excellent records, including 'What'd I Say', 'Sweet Little Sixteen' and 'I've Been Twisting'. After a move to the Smash label he had a minor hit with 'I'm On Fire' and played in Hamburg with the Nashville Teens. As time went on he moved into the country field and had success with 'Another Time Another Place', 'What's Made Milwaukee Famous', 'She Still Comes Around;' and 'Once More With Feeling', to name but a few. Despite the fact that his portfiolio of country recordings was immense he remained something of an outsider, as his belated admission to the Hall of Fame shows. But he was always a supreme performer. I didn't see him on his cut short 1958 tour but I did see him in 1963 when he played the Fairfield Hall in Croydon alongside Gene Vincent and Heinz (who was roundly booed). I saw him many times after that and he usually put on a great show, although on occasions he seemed disinterested and would stick to his allotted 45 minutes to the minute. I remember in 1992 I saw him at Wembley on the Giants of Rock and Roll Show and I wrote: 'Finally Jerry Lee Lewis, looking pale and much fatter than in the past. He played a solid if unemotional set until near the end when Little Richard and Lloyd Price came on stage and he stood up, smiled, danced around a bit and played a duet with Richard. It was the first time these three legends had ever been on stage together, according to compere Mike Reid.' Photo above shows Jerry Lee and Little Richard together on stage.

In 2015 he played London for the last time celebrating his 80th birthday with a show at the London Palladium. (top photo). On that occasion I wrote: 'Jerry Lee Lewis played what he says will be his final show in London last night at the Sunday Palladium and he bowed out in style. The Killer played for a full hour at the London Palladium, seemed to enjoy himself (mostly) and, even though his voice is not what it was, his piano playing certainly is and he still retains a kind of stage magic. It's 57 years since his disastrous first UK tour which was cut short when the press learned of his marriage to his 13 year old cousin ('the good old days', he said, tongue in cheek.). Despite that, his career recovered and I remember some amazing shows in the early sixties when he tore concert halls apart. He doesn't climb on his piano any more or create havoc but he is still magnetic. The entire audience stood as he began his set with Drinking Wine Spodie Odie and followed up with Down The Line, but then he slowed things down with She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye. Next came another slowie in the form of Before The Night Is Over. No Jerry Lee show is complete without a complaint about the piano and he claimed it was out of tune, and his curmudgeonly side was further exposed when he complained that his long time guitarist Kenny Lovelace was playing the wrong chord: whether in jest or for real it was hard to tell. The Killer moved on to Don't Put No Headstone On My Grave - beginning slowly but quickly turning it into a rocker. Rather than a headstone, he would appreciate a 'gold monument', he said. More oldies followed with See See Rider, Sweet Little Sixteen and Why You Been Gone So Long. 'I don't drink no more', he revealed, but 'I don't drink no less either'. Whole Lotta Shakin' followed, with Jerry Lee's voice beginning to go off the note even more, and his version of Over The Rainbow was frankly dire. He recovered with Mexacali Rose before finishing his set with Great Balls Of Fire - an exciting performance which got the audience on to its feet again. As his set ended a huge 80th birthday cake appeared which was presented to him, with Ringo Starr and Robert Plant on stage. This was hardly vintage Jerry Lee, but it was a great show and we can only hope that his farewell tours become regular events. But, as compere Mike Read rightly said, this could be the last great rock and roll show that London will see.'

I did see Jerry Lee once more after that - at Viva Las Vegas in 2018 - and he was still magnetic on stage (see photo below). On my first visit to the South in 1989 I made a pilgrimage to Ferriday to pay homage to the great man, and in late 2018 I and some friends visited his ranch in Nesbit, south of Memphis, where we were shown round by his son Jerry Lee the Third. There were quite a few signs of his dad's eccentricities, eg. 'There's the glass fronted cabinet with a bullet hole - shot because Jerry Lee didn't like it. And a bedroom door with knife marks in it caused by him sitting on the bed and throwing his many knives at it.' Despite his faults Jerry Lee was undoubtedly one of the greats and will be missed by his many fans. RIP Jerry Lee.

Bettye Crutcher RIP

Sorry to hear of the death of singer and songwriter Bettye Crutcher at the age of 83, who, as a member of the We Three songwriting trio with Homer Banks and Raymond Jackson, was one of the few female songwriters at Stax. She was also a fine singer, as her sole 1974 album, 'Long As You Love Me', demonstrated. She wrote, or co-wrote all the songs on the LP as well as songs such as 'Somebody's Sleeping In My Bed' and 'Who's Making Love' for Johnnie Taylor and 'My Whole World Is Falling Down' for William Bell. Among the many artists who recorded her songs were Albert King, Barbara Mason, Carla Thomas, the Temprees, J Blackfoot, Etta James, Ann Peebles, the Mad Lads, the Staple Singers, Otis Clay, Sam and Dave, Little Sonny and the Sweet Inspirations. Some of her songs were recorded by Shirley Brown including 'Long As You Love Me', 'Passion' and 'It's Worth A Whippin''. After her time at Stax she set up an antiques business but was a frequent visitor to the Stax museum and foundation in Memphis and worked with students there.

Another recent death is that of rockabilly revivalist Robert Gordon, at the age of 75. He first recorded in 1964 with a group called the Confidentials and emerged in the seventies with punk rock band the Tuff Darts. A collaboration with Link Wray brought him greater attention, including 'Fresh Fish Special', which also featured the Jordanaires. He also worked with Chris Spedding extensively, including his solo album 'Rock Billy Boogie' and toured Europe several times. I only saw Gordon once - at the Rockin' Race in Spain in February 2020 (pictured below) when he appeared with Darrel Higham. It wasn't a great performance and I wrote at the time: 'Final act for me, were Darrel Higham and Robert Gordon. Darrel did three numbers, including 'Dark Haired Woman' and 'Ghost Of Love', and performed them well, before Robert Gordon came on stage, looking perhaps a little the worse for wear. He strutted around the stage grimacing and posing, but to be fair his voice came across strongly on numbers such as Jack Scott's 'The Way I Walk', 'I'll Be Your Lover Boy', 'I'm Coming Home' and 'Little Boy Sad'.

A final word, too, for California DJ and promoter Art Laboe (97) who owned Original Sound Records and had hits with Preston Epps, Sandy Nelson and Dyke & The Blazers plus 15 volumes of 'Oldies But Goodies' albums.

Woodies pay tribute to Keith and Claire

For 25 years Keith Woods single handedly brought roots and rock and roll shows to London. Numerous heritage artists from the UK and the US appeared over the years and Keith's efforts, often at a financial loss to himself, were very much appreciated by artists and audiences alike. Central to the success of his shows was the Tales From The Woods House band, led by John Spencely, which featured the excellent keyboard skills of Claire Hamlin. Sadly both Keith and Claire have passed away in the last year. But despite those losses Tales From The Woods, the loose knit group of music fans who live for rock and roll, blues, soul and swamp pop, lives on and they were out in force last night for a tribute show to Keith and Claire organised by John Spencely in the cramped music bar of the Spice Of Life in Soho.

The show in aid of cancer charities featured four artists who have appeared at shows in the past, backed by the TFTW band led by John (pictured above), with Jeff Tuck on drums, Alex Bland on sax and Rob Davies and Pete Pritchard sharing bass guitar duties. John Howard acted as DJ for the night playing tracks by some of the stars of past shows, from Charlie Gracie to Terry Dene.

First up was Essex's own Jackson Sloan who, although not a heritage artist in the accepted sense, has a great feel for jump blues and swing and was excellent on his four songs which included 'Big Top' and 'Kicking Up Dust'. He has a natural flair to his singing and this was a good start to the evening.

This continued with a sparkling set by Liverpool born Beryl Marsden, who enjoyed chart success in 1963 with a cover of Barbara George's 'I Know'. She began with 'Everything's Gonna Be Alright', continued with 'I Know' and included three well delivered Shirelles songs - 'Baby It's You', 'Everybody Loves A Lover' and 'Boys'. Other songs were "Hi Heel Sneakers' and 'Whole Lotta Shakin' the latter song delighting the many rock and roll fans in the audience.

The rockers will have been well pleased with the next act Graham Fenton, who was lead singer of rockabilly revival band Matchbox. As ever his set featured songs by his hero Gene Vincent ('Rocky Road Blues' and 'Right Now") plus Eddie Cochran's 'Somethin' Else', "Pretend', 'Wild One' and Matchbox favourites 'When You Ask About Love', 'Buzz Buzz A Diddle It' and 'Rockabilly Rebel'. The highlight was a duet with Jackson Sloan on "Let's Rock' (top photo).

Final artist of the night was Mike Berry who first recorded in 1961 amd who showed he had a flair for comedy with a stint in the TV series 'Are You Being Served?' He interspersed his numbers with amusing anecdotes and asides and showed that his voice remains in superb shape. His numbers, which included 'Rock Around With Ollie Vee', 'Rocket In My Pocket', 'Stood Up', 'Three Steps To Heaven' and his 'Tribute To Buddy Holly' were a delight. Throughout the show the band provided excellent support with some exciting sax breaks by Alex and incisive guitar work from John. There's no doubt that the audience, nearly all of whom were 70 or over, enjoyed the show. I'm sure Keith and Claire would have loved it too.

More music deaths

It's been a while since I wrote anything about musicians who have died recently. But as ever there have been quite a few. The latest is Jody Miller, a country singer who had several memorable pop hits in the sixties, who has died aged 80. Born in Arizona, she grew up in Oklahoma but started her career in Los Angeles as a folk orientated pop singer. She was introduced to Capitol records by actor Dale Robertson and had initial success with 'He Walks Like A Man'in 1964. She took part in the San Remo Festival the following year performing a song which eventually became a hit for Dusty Springfield as 'You Don't Have To Say You Love Me'. Jody's biggest hit was 'Queen Of The House', an answer song to Roger Miller's 'King Of The Road' which celebrated the role of a housewife and she had further success with the original version of 'Home Of The Brave', a song which championed the right of young people to be different. The song was later covered by Bonnie and the Treasures in a version produced by Phil Spector. She moved further into the country field in the seventies with records such as 'Look At Mine' and 'If You Think I Love You Now (I Just Started)' and covered sixties hits such 'Baby I'm Yours', 'Be My Baby', 'To Know Him Is To Love Him' and 'He's So Fine'. She enjoyed her last country hit in 1977 with 'When The New Wears Off Our Love'. Later she recorded several Christian albums and was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999.

Another not so recent death was that of Ramsey Lewis, aged 87, a pianist and composer who straddled the line between soul and jazz. Born in Chicago, his best known records included 'The In Crowd', 'Wade In The Water', 'Hang On Sloopy' and 'A Hard Day's Night'. During this period he led the Ramsey Lewis Trio which also included Red Holt and Eldee Young. In total he recorded over 80 albums between 1956 and 2021.

I must not forget, either, the death of country artist Loretta Lynn, who died aged 90. Over a 60 year career her hits included 'You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)', 'Don't Come Home A Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)' and 'Coal Miner's Daughter' - the latter being the title of her autobiogrqaphy which became a film in 1980. She had a successful collaboration in the seventies with Conway Twitty and in total had 24 number one country singles and 11 number one albums.

Another death that I have just learned of is that of Motown songwriter Ivy Jo Hunter at the age of 82. A member of the Motown house band, he wrote or co-wrote such hits as 'Sweet Thing' (The Spinners), 'Behind A Painted Smile' (Isley Brothers), 'Dancing In the Street' (Martha and the Vandellas), 'Can You Jerk Like Me' (The Contours) and 'Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead' (Marvelettes). The photo below shows Ivy receiving a lifetime award from Phil Dick at the Motown A Go Go festival in Detroit in 2019.