When I was growing up, this was the Devil's Music:
"You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain
Too much love drives a man insane"
A few days ago a rumor hit the internet (via TMZ) that the great Jerry Lee Lewis (age 87) had passed away at his home near Memphis. Before I found it it was false, I had mentioned it to several friends, none of whom knew who he was! I was shocked, and even disappointed, so I decided to write about the time I went down to Memphis and met him. And, as you probably know by now, the 7-time married Lewis, did pass away today.
I had seen him several decades earlier when he was being widely boycotted after marrying his 13 year old cousin (while still married to another wife). I was very young, 13, and I saw him at a Murray the K show after he had basically been cancelled by the music establishment because of the cousin thing. (Another cousin was evangelical huckster Jimmy Swaggert.) Murray the K never struck me as the kind of guy who cared about that kind of thing-- not if he could make a buck. The show I saw also included Etta James, The Belmonts, The Chantels, Jackie Wilson… and it was at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater 6 months after my Bar Mitzvah (1961). I didn't tell anyone I was going, just got on the subway and went downtown, an area everyone I knew was afraid of. I loved Jerry Lee's early records, you know, when I was a kid. But I didn’t follow his career once the British Invasion and the psychedelic movement got going, especially not when he veered away from marketing himself as rock and towards country.
Then, in 1993, Seymour Stein signed him to Sire, primarily, I assumed, for two reasons: 1- Seymour loved his old music and hoped he could revitalize his career, the way Sire did for Lou Reed; and 2- he wanted to help his closest friend, Andy Paley, land a great producing job. Andy did produce the album, Young Blood— and co-wrote 4 songs on it, including Goosebumps and Crown Victoria ’51, the A and B sides of the single.
Andy recorded the album in 5 studios around the country, including Sunset Sound Factory in L.A. and Your Place or Mine in Glendale, each of which I could have theoretically walked to. But Seymour encouraged me to fly down to Memphis to meet Jerry Lee and to support Andy. I don’t think I had ever been to Memphis and I wanted to see it and Roland really wanted to see it. And one of Sire’s great new British bands, The Farm, which I loved, was playing there. So… several birds with one stone.
I don’t remember much about our day at the studio except that Jerry Lee and Andy were talking a lot about the OJ case. I also recall how gracious Jerry Lee was to me and Roland (even if not towards OJ). I really liked the music they played for me— not in a way that I thought there would be any radio hits, but in a way people like music just because it sounds great and sounds fun. Oh, and the legendary James Burton, who Andy hired to play guitar on the album, was also really nice and got us some VIP passes to visit Graceland. And Andy introduced us to Sam Phillips’ top engineer who gave us a personal tour of Sun Studios. Roland remembers the details better than I do. He sent me these texts today:
"Andy hooked us up with Sam Phillips main engineer at Sun Studios. We had a private tour of the Studios with this guy. He was doing blow on the console and talking a mile a minute about feeling the ghost presence of all that was recorded there. He played original That's Alright Mama (Elvis recording) and Carl Perkins original Blue Suede Shoes demo. Magic. It was 3 great days of American music history. It was just him, you and me in there."
But, to be honest, mostly what comes right to mind when I think about that trip to Memphis was the famous ducks at the Peabody Hotel, where we stayed, and The Farm concert at the Overton Park Shell. It was drizzly and humid but the show was great and I recall the opening band, Techno-Squid Eats Parliament from Little Rock. I made friends with Shayne Gray, the drummer and we’re still in touch. He became an actor afterwards and starred in The Delta. Roland, Andy and I hung out with legendary dj and former Elvis amigo George “GK” Klein at the show. The Farm were amazing, even better live than on their perfectly-produced debut album. They became one of my favorite bands on the label. Unfortunately American radio was no more interested in them than they were in the new Jerry Lee album.