Jerry Lee Lewis is revered as a country singer & as a rock 'n' roll
pioneer but many forget his great contributions to blues.Jerry Lee's
not only the forgotten bluesman - he's also the BEST bluesman.
It has become convenient in recent years to throw any old label on a
singer just because of skin colour.There are many black performers
who are great country singers (Ray Charles,Fats Domino & Chuck Berry
have all sung country & in many ways were more country orientated than
blues;yet,all 3 are now easily categorised as bluesmen.The term doesn't quite fit them) & many white singers who are great blues singers (Jerry Lee Lewis,Merrill Moore,Moon Mullican & Hank Williams to name but a few).
While Bo Diddley is hailed as a blues pioneer today,was his material really blues you may ask?Yes,he did sing blues but most of his work is heavy on novelty & thus rock 'n' roll may be more appropriate for him to be categorised as.Jerry Lee is far more a valid blues singer (as his music stems from the blues,even when he's doing country).
Many historians look back on Elvis Presley today as the 'first white singer who sang black'.Was he?Certainly not is the answer.Just listen to Moon Mullican's 'Pipeliner blues' or 'Trifling woman blues' from the '40s or Merrill E. Moore's 'Big bug boogie'.The rhythm of black jazz & blues was intact on these great recordings long before Elvis Presley was widely heard of.Then,the blues feeling on such Hank Williams tracks as 'Move it on over' or 'Long gone lonsome blues' are even better-known examples of such pioneering white blues.Even further back,we have Jimmie Rodgers,Gene Autry,Cliff & Bill Carlisle & Jimmie Davis,who all recorded 100s of blues in the '20s & 30s.So,it is nonsense to even think Elvis Presley or Bill Haley were the first whites to sing blues.
Jerry Lee Lewis moulded the styles of both black blues & white blues & created a distinctive new blues.Lewis' music is something special; something in the league of the blues of a Robert Johnson or Blind Boy Fuller.In other words,the last REAL Delta bluesman alive is Jerry Lee. Others like B.B King,Albert King,Robert Cray & Jimi Hendrix have strayed so far from their roots that they are really more pop than blues now.Elvis Presley,who some regard as a blues artist,cut very little blues in his career overall (and whatever blues he did do were done between 1954 & 1956 for the most part with 5 or 6 more recorded occasionally between 1960 & 1977).Like many,Elvis strayed from his roots to be a successful pop artist.That he was - but the music he produced was often dissatisfying.
Jerry Lee,who has recorded 100s of blues at all phases in his career, is far more valid a bluesman & is the last real bluesman alive today. He brings his own feelings & personality into a song (which is essential in both blues & country (Jerry's 2 main influences)) in a way no other post-1956 performer could dream of.Jerry Lee recorded such great gutbucket blues classics as 'Milk cow blues'(1979),'Big legged woman'(1958 & 1979),'Hello hello baby'(1958),'No headstone on my grave'(1973),'Somehow the Killer gets through'(1973),'Big boss man'(1965,1973),'Baby what you want me to do'(1973),'Slippin' & slidin'(1975),'No. 1 loving man'(1979),'Deep Elem blues'(1956),'Skid row'(1965),'Folsom prison blues'(1981),'John Henry'(1960) & 'High blood pressure'(1995). Add to this such boogie blues classics as 'House of blue lights'(1975, 1986 & 1995),'Down the road apiece'(1995),'Rocking with Red'(1957) & 'Rocking pneumonia & the boogie woogie flu'(1965).He also did some ragtimey blues in the shape of 'Walk right in'(1965) & 'End of the road'(1956) as well as some oldtime classic blues like 'C.C Rider'(1960,1961,1972,1979,1984,1994, 1995) & 'Shanty town'(1958).Add to this dozens more & also versions of country blues,redifened oldtime pop hits as blues (notably 'Over the rainbow'),powerful gospel performances & much much more.There is so much to Jerry Lee Lewis - discover it.
PATRICK WALL,December 19th 1997.

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More Jerry Lee blues info

A list of all Jerry Lee's blues performances

Comparisons of Jerry Lee's blues with other rockers blues