PERFECTLY IMPERFECT

If you're going to get drunk and do something irrational, you couldn't do it much better than Jerry Lee Lewis. In 1976, at the age of 41, he was arrested for public drunkenness and gun possession, ordinarily a pair of offenses that would mark someone forever as an asshole. But not if you're Jerry Lee, and not if you get arrested on the grounds of Graceland. Apparently he was demanding to see Elvis. Just the thought of that makes me chuckle. Imagining Elvis peeking through the blinds, mumbling "Oohh, Priscilla, it's Jerry Lee again. This time he's got a gun... better get Red out there. Baby, why is he always acting like a nut? Priscilla,...you listening to me?" But, that's Jerry Lee. Any normal person would get locked up.

Jerry Lee Lewis is a flawed human being. That much has been established. So let's just get past the storied events of his life that make him less than perfect. More intriguing is the unapologetic, knowingly imperfect, swagger he has. He's just kept plowing through it, year after year. A few years ago, he released an album called "Last Man Standing." The title itself was like a "fuck you" to his contemporaries who had already passed (namely Elvis, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins). His new album is called "Mean Old Man," a title that seems pretty appropriate, and, again, unapologetic. When he decides to hang it up (like that's ever going to happen), he may have reached the point where he titles his swan song, "The Asshole." But, you know what? I love Jerry Lee Lewis, the whole package, glaring warts and all.

The first three cuts below are vintage Killer, from his early years at Sun Records. The quality of the mp3s are less than great, but that's a moot point. You really need to get a Sun collection of his. A major online retailer has a two-fer with his first album,and his first "Greatest Hits" (from his Sun years), for twelve bucks. The last track below, "Over the Rainbow" from 1980, is Jerry Lee at his absolute softest. From his mid-career, it's a beautiful "Georgia"-class track. His voice (cracking in parts), his drawl, the phrasing of his vocals, his understated solos, hell, even the slick production; everything is near perfect. It's touching, like the resignation of his fiery youth.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire mp3 (right click to save) at Bousculade
Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On mp3 (right click to save) at On the Spur of the Moment
Jerry Lee Lewis - High School Confidential mp3 at Metal Bastard Goes Soft
Jerry Lee Lewis - Over the Rainbow mp3 (right click to save) at La Caja de Pandora
Jerry Lee Lewis' Official site
Jerry Lee Lewis at Wikipedia