COMPARISONS OF JERRY LEE'S BLUES WITH OTHERS BLUES

This page aims to compare and contrast blues songs that Jerry Lee
has recorded that have been made famous by other rock 'n' roll
singers.

1."MILK COW BLUES":

This has become one of the most covered and revered blues
standards of all time.It dates back to the '30s and continues
to be performed by many rock,blues and country artists ever
since.
Jerry Lee recorded an excellent gutbucket blues version in
1979.The rock 'n' rollers who preceded him with a version were:
Eddie Cochran,Rick Nelson,Elvis Presley and Glen Campbell.
As a blues performance, Jerry Lee's version is far more real
and convincing than any of the other versions.Presley's version
is definitive rockabilly (mixing blues and country - but overall
more lighthearted than Lewis') but Lewis' is definitive blues.
Cochran tried his hand at a blues version of the song - but while
his guitar playing is excellent,his ability to convince you with
a blues vocal style fails miserably.Rick(y) Nelson's versions were
good (from the rockabilly perspective) but were a little TOO like
Elvis'.Glen Campbell never recorded much blues and this was a
surprising number for him to try.However,his version was way too
country.
Overall,no one can compare with Jerry Lee's version (from a
blues perspective).

2."MATCH BOX BLUES":

Like "Milk cow blues",this is a very old blues standard
going right back to the '20s.Again,it has become a rockabilly
and country standard.Jerry Lee has turned to it numerous times
(1957 & 1964 are the most famous).
The song of late has been attribnuted to Carl Perkins (who
recorded it with Jerry Lee backing him) in 1956.Jerry Lee and
Carl learned the song separately (Lewis from Haney's and old
jug band records, Perkins from a black sharecropper).
Again,Jerry Lee comes out with the more blues-orientated
versions (his 1957 master is very bluesy but his alternative
take is even moreso while his Star Club (1964) version is
wild gutbucket blues).Carl's version is much more countrified
in nature.
The words to both Jerry Lee's and Carl's versions are similar
(most of the verses were probably the result of a jam session
between Lewis and Perkins) -most of them didn't appear on the
original versions of the song.Many of the verses owe to Jimmie
Rodgers,Brownie McGhee/Sonny Terry and Robert Johnson standards.

3."C.C RIDER":

Jerry Lee was up against very few worthy versions from his
contemporaries for this one.Again,this is an old '20s blues
song - made famous in the '50s by R&B artist Chuck Willis.
Lewis cut it in 1960,1961,1972,1979,1984,1994 & countless other
times.As the years went on,Jerry Lee tended to give this songs a
far bluesier performance than he did in the early days.His 1984 version (Silver Eagle) is the greatest version of this song ever
recorded.
Jerry Lee was the first rocker to do a version of the song.
Elvis opened most of his '70s concert with a sloppy,pop version
of the song.Jerry Lee's versions were incomparable and far
superior, blueswise.

4."END OF THE ROAD":

This ragtime-jugband influenced blues appeared
as the B-side of Jerry Lee's first single for
Sun Records in 1956.Many claim that Lewis copied
this somehow from a combination of Irving Berlin
and Gus Cannon songs - but this IS 100% Jerry Lee
Lewis originality.Sure,it does owe its style to
jugband blues - but the song is an original.Far more
original in fact than a lot of other artists so-called
originals.
This song has been covered by Ray Smith and when
you compare the original version with Smith's one,
you can see the difference in approach between Lewis
and the conventional rock 'n' roller.Smith's version
lacks the ragtime-jugband-blues feel that Lewis
brought to the song.
Jerry Lee also recorded a great version at Mercury.

5."GOOD ROCKIN' TONIGHT":

Moving onto a more uptown,modern - well not THAT
modern - blues,this one dates from the late '40s
when it was a hit for both Roy Brown and Wynonie
Harris.
Jerry Lee recorded an excellent rock 'n' roll/R&B
version in 1957 but an even better bluesier version
in 1963.Lewis' versions really showed an original
affinity for blues-shouting; it didn't explicitly
copy the styles of people like Wynonie Harris,Lowell
Fulson or Joe Turner and yet the style was black.
Like a lot of R&B songs,this song is most famous
as a white rock 'n' roll hit (well,a cult hit,this
time): This was Elvis Presley's second record on Sun
but in comparison to Lewis',Presley's is uninventive,
sounding somehow incomplete and tinny.Charlie Feathers
recorded an identical version over 20 years later than
showed little invention.Neither Presley or Feathers
had big hits with this song - but their versions are
the most famous to many rockabilly fans.
Once more,Lewis comes up trumps,blueswise.

6."SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL":

To many,this is one of the most readily
identifiable pieces of rock 'n' roll there is.
However,the song was first recorded as a R&B
hit by Big Joe Turner.
Jerry Lee's 1975 version is not only bluesier
than the rock 'n' roll versions but is also even
bluesier and very different to the original.Lewis
does the song in a Delta blues boogie style as
opposed to the jump band style of the original.
As with all of the songs on this page,the most
famous version came from a white rock 'n' roller:
this time,Bill Haley.Unlike Lewis,Haley was never
a real blues singer - but he covered clean,white
versions of R&B hits and standards and achieved
huge hits.A very similar - but better - version
was recorded by Elvis,but it took Jerry Lee to
really record the definitive white blues version
of the song.

7."WALK RIGHT IN"

As with "End of the Road",this song owes a lot
to ragtime/jugband blues.The original version
was recorded by Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers in the
late '20s - but once again,the most famous version
came from a white outfit: this time C&W band,
The Rooftop Singers.
Jerry Lee recorded his version of the song in 1965
and shopwed that Lewis was listening to far more
than the Rooftops!The combination of jazz,blues and
ragtime on Lewis' version made this one of the best
tracks Lewis did for Mercury.

8."TOMORROW NIGHT":

Around the time that Jerry Lee recorded this track in 1957,
the most famous version of it was by LaVern Baker,an R&B
artist on Atlantic.However,it was likely that Jerry Lee's
source for this song dated back longer:it was a hit for
Lonnie Johnson in 1948 and was around in various forms
in the 1930s.It was likely to have been a standard of the
blues bands Lewis heard at Haney's.
Of course,"Tomorrow night" was also a pop standard and
the most then recent version by a pop artist was Elvis
Presley's Sun version from about 1955.It was unlikely
that Jerry Lee knew of this version,as it only surfaced
years later.
One thing is for sure is that Lewis' version beats all
others.It is a fine piece of gutbucket blues/blues balladry
hybrid.A true classic.

9."CORRINE, CORRINA":

When Jerry Lee recorded this song in 1965,it had gone through
many different treatments and was about 40 years old.It started
out as a blues,recorded and adapted by many including Frankie
Jaxon,Blind Boy Fuller,Leadbelly & John Estes.It was related to
similar songs like "Midnight special" & "My bucket's got a hole
in it" from the same era.
However,"Corrine Corrina" - like "My bucket's got a hole in
it" - became a country standard and was a hit for Bob Wills &
was Merrill Moore's first record.In 1956,Big Joe Turner had a
big R&B hit with the song.
It was a '60s Ray Peterson version that became the most famous.
Peterson was one of the many pop singers who thought they could
carve out a career in R&B.
Jerry Lee recorded "Corrine" in 1965 and produced the definitive
version of the song.Great boogie,great R&B sound.Lewis' version
owes most to Joe Turner's - but he probably heard many other
versions,too.

10."MYSTERY TRAIN":

Often this old blues standard is labelled as a definitive
rockabilly classic.However,the song was much older than that
and was around in some form since the '20s.
Most people recall the song as Elvis' last Sun single.Presley
did it as a lighthearted country-blues hybrid in keeping with
his style of the time.He learned it from the Junior Parker R&B
hit from a few years earlier (which was also recorded for Sun).
However,Junior Parker probably got the melody from older blues
like "Rollin' & tumblin' " or "If I had possession over judgement
day" and many of the lyrics are from many the blues standard.
When Jerry Lee revived the song at the 1969 Toronto rock
revival festival,he dedicates it to Presley - but from the
performance,Lewis was listening to more than Elvis.It was
more likely Lewis came across this first at Haney's.When
compared to Elvis',Jerry Lee's version is an awful lot more
bluesy and soulful.

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