jerry lee lewis?

Question

Does anyone think Jerry Lee's career was dampened by the fact that he married his cousin? And did they ever reunite?

Answer 1

Yes..career ruined...He married Jane Mitcham, his second wife, 23 days before his divorce from his first wife was final.

Lewis' turbulent personal life was hidden from the public until a 1958 British tour, when reporters learned about the twenty-three year old star's third wife, Myra Gale Brown, who also happened to be his thirteen-year-old second cousin twice removed. The publicity caused an uproar and the tour was canceled after only three concerts.

The scandal followed Lewis home to America, and as a result he almost vanished from the music scene. Lewis felt betrayed by numerous people who had been his supporters. Dick Clark dropped him from his shows. Lewis even felt that Sam Phillips had sold him out when the latter released "The Return of Jerry Lee," which mocked Lewis' marital and music problems. Only Alan Freed stayed true to Jerry Lee Lewis, playing his records until Freed was removed from the air because of his payola problems.

Even though Jerry Lee Lewis was still under contract with Sun Records, he stopped recording. He had gone from $10,000 a night concerts to $100 a night spots in beer joints and small clubs. He had few friends at the time he felt he could trust. It was only through Kay Martin, the president of Lewis' fan club, T. L. Meade, (aka Franz Douskey) a sometime Memphis musician and friend of Sam Phillips, and Gary Sklar, that Lewis went back to record at Sun Records.

By this time Phillips had built a new state-of-the-art studio at 639 Madison Avenue, in Memphis, thus abandoning the old Union Avenue studio where Phillips had recorded B. B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Lewis, and Johnny Cash. It was at the new Madison Avenue studio that Lewis recorded his only hit during this period,which was a cover of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" in 1961.

His popularity recovered somewhat in Europe, especially in the UK and Germany during the mid-1960s. A live album, Live at the Star Club, Hamburg (1964), recorded with the Nashville Teens, is widely considered one of the greatest live rock and roll albums ever. Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes that: "Live at the Star Club is extraordinary — the purest, hardest rock & roll ever committed to record. Compared to this, The Stooges sound constrained, hardcore punk seems neutered, and the Sex Pistols sound like wimps."[2]


[edit] Switch to country
A comeback eluded him in the United States, however, at least within the rock and roll genre. Although Lewis was again making steady money touring, he didn't have much success in the charts. Producers coaxed Lewis into trying instrumental piano tunes issued under pseudonyms, recording songs without the piano, and even playing the harpsichord. In the late 1960s, Mercury Records producer Jerry Kennedy convinced Lewis to make a complete switch to country music. Lewis, who had always considered country one of the genres he blended into his trademark sound, obliged and "Another Place, Another Time" shot up the country charts in 1968. More country hits soon followed over the late 1960s and through the 1970s, many of them crossing over into the Hot 100 charts.


[edit] Drug addiction and personal tragedies
Although he was always a heavy drinker, he increasingly became plagued by alcohol and drug problems after Myra divorced him in 1970. Tragedy struck when Lewis' 19-year-old son, Jerry Lee Lewis Jr., was killed in a road accident in 1973. During the 1960s, his second son, Steve Allen Lewis, drowned in a swimming pool accident. He also has a daughter, Phoebe Lewis, who is a singer and musician - and for a few years also has been her father's manager. Lewis' own erratic behaviour during the 1970s led to his being hospitalized after nearly dying from bleeding stomach ulcers. Again addicted to drugs, Lewis checked himself into the Betty Ford Clinic.

While celebrating his 41st birthday in 1976, Lewis accidentally shot and injured his bass player, Butch Owens. According to Lewis' own account, he had been playing around and didn't realize the gun was loaded. Owens himself stated that Lewis was trying to shoot at an empty cola bottle and he was simply hit by the ricochet.

A few weeks later (November 23) Lewis was involved in another gun-related incident at Elvis Presley's Graceland residence. Lewis had been invited by Presley, but security was unaware of the visit. Lewis, displaying a gun (given to him by a local sheriff) on the dashboard of his car, was questioned as to his motives for bringing the weapon. He sarcastically replied, "I'm not here to kill Elvis if that's what you're worried about," but the guard remained suspicious. The same sheriff who gave him the gun cleared the matter up.


[edit] Later career
In 1989, a major motion picture based on his early life in rock & roll, Great Balls of Fire, brought him back into the public eye, especially when he decided to re-record all his songs for the movie soundtrack. The film was based on the book by Lewis' ex-wife, Myra Gale Lewis, and starred Dennis Quaid as Lewis, Winona Ryder as Myra, and Alec Baldwin as Jimmy Swaggart.

The very public downfall of his cousin, television evangelist Jimmy Swaggart, resulted in more adverse publicity to an already troubled family. Swaggart is also a piano player, as is another cousin, country music star Mickey Gilley. Lewis' sister, Linda Gail Lewis, is also a piano player, and has recorded with Van Morrison. The next year in 1990, Lewis made minor news when a new song he co-wrote called "It Was the Whiskey Talking, Not Me" was included in the soundtrack to the hit movie Dick Tracy. The song can even be heard in a scene from the movie in which it is playing on the radio.

Despite the personal problems, Lewis' musical talent is widely acknowledged. Nicknamed "The Killer" for his forceful voice and piano production on stage, he was described by fellow artist Roy Orbison as the best raw performer in the history of rock and roll music. In 1986, Lewis was part of the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

That same year, he returned to Sun Studios in Memphis to team up with Orbison, Cash, and Perkins to create the album Class of '55. This was not the first time he had teamed up with Cash and Perkins at Sun. On December 4, 1956, Presley dropped in on Phillips to pay a social visit while Perkins was in the studio cutting new tracks with Lewis backing him on piano. The three started an impromptu jam session, and Phillips left the tapes running. He later telephoned Cash and brought him in to join the others. These recordings, almost half of which were gospel songs, survived, and have been released on CD under the title Million Dollar Quartet. Tracks also include Chuck Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man", Pat Boone's "Don't Forbid Me" and Presley doing an impersonation of Jackie Wilson (who was then with Billy Ward and the Dominoes) singing "Don't Be Cruel."

Lewis has never stopped touring, and fans who have seen him perform say he can still deliver unique concerts that are unpredictable, exciting, and personal. In February 12, 2005, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by The Recording Academy (which also grants the Grammy Awards). On September 26, 2006 a new album titled Last Man Standing was released, featuring many of rock and roll's elite as guest stars. Receiving positive reviews, the album charted in four different Billboard charts, including a two week stay at number one on the Indie charts.

Answer 2

how men and women react relies fairly abit on what quantity of money is being constructed from them .his carreer was once at it is heightsi it was once performed down as was once the jacko case whilst even plenty of the jurors notion he was once responsible bur felt careworn into balloting blameless.gary gliter at the different ahnd was once a washe dup has been so he acquired fairly rightly thr complete drive of peoples revulsion.

Answer 3

Dampened? No........ Destroyed? Yes!

Answer 4

Absolutely - his career went down the tubes after he married her and went out of control as he did. And no they ended up divorcing.....

Answer 5

of course it was. his out in left field romantic interest cost him his career...
The Col. saw this about to happen with Elvis, and a then teenaged pregnant {no kin} Prescilla, but kept it hidden from the public.

Answer 6

Wow! Naomi is a cut and paste master!

Answer 7

Definately he was negatively affected. Badly.

Answer 8

yes it pretty much ruined it