The Pumping Piano Man will rock the house no more.

 

Jerry Lee Lewis, whose youthful wildhair ways defined rock and roll as indelibly as his leering, lascivious vocals and thundering skills on the 88s, died October 28, 2022 at the age of 87. Against all odds, he was one of the last legends standing from the days when Sam Phillips built an astonishing talent roster for his Sun Records. When Lewis appeared on his doorstep in 1956, determined to show the folks in charge precisely what he could do to a defenseless piano, the Memphis label had already bid adieu to Elvis and was riding high thanks to Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, and a posse of other raucous rockabillies.

 

Still, Jerry Lee would captivate Sam—and the world--like no other, despite suffering monumental damage from a 1958 scandal involving his precocious child bride (who also happened to be his cousin) that would have ended any other performer’s career permanently. Jerry Lee, like Old Man River, just kept on rolling along, regenerating his popularity first with the rock and roll crowd and then veering into the country field with tremendous success. Long after he achieved senior citizen status (who would have ever foreseen that happening to the hard-living Lewis?), the Killer insisted on rocking as hard as his health would allow.

 

Born September 29, 1935 in Ferriday, Louisiana, Lewis grew up with a pair of piano-playing cousins, Mickey Gilley (who followed in Jerry Lee’s rocking footsteps) and future evangelist Jimmy Swaggart. Lewis cited country greats Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams as primary influences, along with a little bit of Al Jolson and some of the sweaty blues that he snuck into hear at Haney’s Big House, Ferriday’s top black juke joint. He mostly refused to admit to any pianists as role models, although his 88s-playing cousin Carl McVoy impressed him. So did sightless piano wizard Paul Whitehead when the two played together in Natchez circa 1952. A brief stint at a Texas bible college ended when Jerry Lee transformed My God Is Real into a heathenous boogie, but gospel music always remained close to his heart...