Merrill Moore

Jerry Lee Lewis is going to pop up alot in this
blog. Sorry, he was a big influence on the Stones.
He's a touchstone for all of us. I figure if he's
still around, and Keith is still around, there's
hope for the rest of us!

One of Jerry's Lee's big influences was
Merrill Moore. Like most pianists, he started
early- at the age of 9 in Des Moines. I think the
biggest influence on Jerry Lee's playing, is Merrill's
muscular pumping playing style. All these
country and blues guys started playing in some
pretty tough juke joints, gambling joints, and
for lack of a better word, "Man-Bars".
If anyone remembers the scene in the Jerry Lee Lewis
movie where he plays behind chicken wire in a bar
for protection, that was no joke. As a result
most of these musicians learned to play "No Matter
What"! Bottles breaking, guns blasting, knives-a
knifing. It's exciting to think that at one time
people were literally playing as if their lives
depended on it.

I wish there was more available on cd from him
aside from one title, a great compilation from the
Bear Family "Boogie My Blues Away"

Here's one of hell of a cowboy...Merrill Moore.

Jerry Lee Lewis Is My Sun!

This morning I discovered my Peace Lily
bloomed. Did it face the window towards the sun? No. It faced towards
this picture of Jerry Lee Lewis. It was standing proud and tall.

In fairness to the Peace Lily, it was a cloudy rainy day.

Happy Birthday Johnny Cash!

Happy birthday to Johnny- born February 26th, 1932

in Kingsland Arkansas.

Just a few words on why Johnny Cash's legacy

is so big- not only to country, but to rock'n'roll as well.

He was the original outsider in image and

music. His vocals weren't pretty. He sang-spoke

in a common man voice- for the rest of us.

I loved how he always instroduced himself to the

audience, like a regular feller'.

What makes him so memorable was he found the

connection with the greatest American metaphor-

the TRAIN. Always going somewhere, moving forward.

Most of his songs had that chugga-chugga rhythm,

so once you heard a Johnny Cash song, you immediately

knew it was the Man in Black. The railroad meant

freedom, hobos, the chance at adventure.

Johnny also looked different than most country performers-

while everybody else wore rhinestones, he was in black-

a man, who had traveled to the edge, and came back

alive- lived to tell.

What's really amazing is that anyone lived thru the

tour that Jerry Lee Lewis did (his first) with Johnny Cash, Carl

Perkins and Wanda Jackson thru Canada in 1957.

They must have went thru alot of "Pep" pills.

Here's a clip of Johnny, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison

and Jerry Lee performing a song for Elvis (another train

song) on Johnny's Christmas special.

Another thing that was great about Johnny-

how many performers could have had

done a really memorable TV variety show with performers

like Dylan, Neil Young, and Eric Clapton?

Yes, he had alot of different variations-

country singer, gospel singer, prison reformer, variety

show host, outlaw, folk singer, drug addict,

good husband, bad husband, rockabilly pioneer,

perfomer of Trent Rezner and Depeche Mode songs,

but he always remained true to himself and

to his audience.

Check out his really big boots (he was 6-2)

at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Annex

in New York City.

Whole Lotta Shakin' Is Born- Thanks Jerry Lee!

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