The first time I ever saw Jerry Lee Lewis was in Virginia
Beach. It was about 1980; just after the “Killer” had been stricken with
bleeding ulcers. It was at a small venue; a place with tables. I had one only a
few feet from the small stage. He did a short set with the band and then
dismissed them from the stage and offered to take requests.
I was quick to call out for some Webb Pierce. Just as
quickly he looked at me and said, “You’re too young to know Webb Pierce!” It
was like an accusation on his part, but then he grew thoughtful; fingers
roaming the keys of the piano; and said, “I can’t drink anymore, but I sure do
love to sing about it!” Then he launched into a wonderful barrel house piano
version of “There Stands the Glass.” When he was through playing it he looked
at me and asked, “How’d I do, son?” I do not recall my reply; probably because
I was speechless.
Now, author Rick Bragg has written a biography of Mr. Lewis
which most likely will serve as his oral autobiography; much in the same way
that Merle Miller’s “Plain Speaking” serves as Harry Truman’s. Mr. Bragg spent
2 years with Mr. Lewis while writing this book; sometimes in the entertainer’s
bedroom; which is equipped with a locking metal gate. The author doesn’t tell
us whether or not the gate is there to keep the imaginary demons out; or the
real ones inside. At any rate, this is where Mr. Lewis spends some of his time
when not touring. (He was still performing on a limited basis until a year or
so ago.)
Along with Jerry Lee’s own story; and the demons which haunt
him; Mr. Bragg has given a good history of Ferriday and Louisiana in general.
He describes it as a hard place; and as a southern boy himself he recognizes
the dichotomy between religion and reality. He understands why Jerry Lee
worries that playing rock and roll may exclude him from Heaven. It is only through his
strong belief in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ that he manages to hold on these
days. He is; after all is said and done;
the cousin of Jimmy Swaggart; an evangelist of note, if not an entertainer in his
own right.
The book has a surprising humanity to it, given all that one
associates with Jerry Lee Lewis and the Devil’s music. And Rick Bragg is just
the right person to put it all done on paper. The conflict he feels with the
talent God gave him to play rock and roll; or what just may be “the devils
music” after all; worries him. It is plainly apparent that he comes from a
place of ghosts, some of which haunt him. But at the same time he makes no
apologies for who he has been and what he has done. He would; he believes; have
done it differently now, but acknowledges freely that he probably wouldn’t.
He’s a walking contradiction.
Rick Bragg does an excellent job in conveying the true
essence of Jerry Lee Lewis; the original “bad boy” of rock and roll. He was
there at the beginning and is still around today; at a time when most of his
colleagues, and rivals, are gone. He is; as they say; the last man standing. He’s
had health troubles; women troubles; financial troubles; you name it. He’s
buried wives and children; been to the top of the pops and then down to playing
cheap bars and clubs; then back up again, several times.
He’s been counted out as many times as Keith Richards; yet
he’s always bounced back. At 79 years of
age; his body is ravaged by pain and he can only sit or stand in any one
position for a few minutes at a time. But, recently married in 2012 to his longtime
friend and recent caregiver; Judith Ann Coghlan; 14 years his junior, he is
still rocking his life away.
