I had to cover this moment in the history of music.
During the week of February 22, 1957...
Jerry Lee Lewis is a force of nature...and still here
as a living legend.
So on to our story...
Jerry Lee had already been signed to Sun Records
in 1956, and had done session work as well as
recording "Crazy Arms". Somewhere along the
way, he must of heard "Whole Lotta Shakin" maybe
at a club? The song is originally credited to Dave
"Curlee" Williams and James Fay "Roy" Hall.
Nobody could have given this song, the kind of life
Big Maybelle could when she recorded it in 1955.
It's much slower, bouncy relaxed. (Her own back-
ground is equally interesting, but I'll get to her on
her on another post in Exile In Blues. She performed
and sang in a touring company called THE
INTERNATIONAL SWEETHEARTS OF RHYTHM!
They were a mixed race female swing band.)
She sounds like she's having fun, there's piano
sax, horns, a fairly uptempo standard blues
number. (Quincy Jones is credited as the
producer) So wonderful. As bold and powerful
a singer as she's known as, it's her ballads like
"You'll Be Sorry" and "You'll never Know"
that I love. Here's a link to "Whole Lotta Shakin"
I highly recommend the Okeh Sessions
Back to Jerry Lee- in many of his interviews he mentions
his hanging out at black music clubs, and he obviously
learned all the classic elements of blues, boogie-woogie
and honky-tonk, and fused them into a monster of a
pumping left hand capable of holding that beat,
and the right one doing some fierce rolls.
In Nick Tosches' book "Hellfire", he writes of a
performance in Arkansas on
February 22, 1957, where Jerry Lee
found the right spirit for "Whole Lotta Shakin"
at a club with his band. Just to put all this in a
time frame, his idol, Hank Williams had just died in
1953, and Jerry Lee had been at Sun Studios in
December with Elvis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny
Cash jamming and recording the moment for
the Million Dollar Quartet sessions.
Poor Jerry Lee, he must have been busting for
his moment in the spotlight. A few days after
his gig in Arkansas, while in the studio, they
suggest recording "Whole Lotta Shakin".
It's just Jack Van Eaton drumming and Roland
Janes on guitar along with Jerry Lee. According
to the story, they used the first take, but I have
another version on cd called "Rockin' The Blues"
The widely known version has more echo and fiercer
with a fiercer pounding rhythm.
Jerry Lee sounds oddly relaxed, totally
in control. The lack of a bass intstrument means
nothing for the Killer. Whether it's his playing, or
maybe some foot pounding action, there's plenty
of solid earth under there. The alternate version
sounds slightly drier, and the guitar is more prominent.
Jerry Lee's vocals sound less menacing. You can hear
how young he is. I love how his solo is completely
different. That's his big thing. Never play anything
the same. The big blow-out at the end is also
much calmer than the main version.
To be continued on the release date of March 1,
back in the year of our lord, 1957
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