SIMILAR ARTISTS CONTINUED
CONTEMPORARIES OF JERRY LEE:
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GENE VINCENT:
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Gene Vincent was born in 1935 & jumped straight to international fame
in 1956 with his bluesy hit 'Be bop a Lula'.A great & talented artist,Gene was never to achieve the success of 'Be bop a Lula' again in the states,but hit big in Britain with 'Wild cat','Dance to the bop' & others.His early recordings are pure wild energy & are a must to any real blues or rock 'n' roll fan.
However,like Jerry Lee,Gene was also a great country singer & this is
shown in early songs like 'Waltz of the wind','Keep it a secret' &
'I can't help it'.In the late '60s & early '70s,he recorded albums of
country & country-rock & would have hit big in the C&W market only for his 1971 death from an alcohol-induced bleeding ulcer.
Like his friend,Jerry Lee,Gene Vincent had a hard life & never received his dues for the talent he had.Also,his marriages (4 of them) were stormy & disappointed him.His complex nature can only be understood through his music.He toured many times with Jerry Lee & recorded versions of Jerry Lee's 'Whole lotta shakin',while Jerry Lee recorded great versions of Gene's 'Be bop a Lula'.
BILLY LEE RILEY:
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Born in 1933,Billy Lee Riley deserved international rock 'n' roll success. A great artist,who recorded at Sun between 1956 & 1959 & was (like Jerry Lee) well able to cut convincing blues,rock,country,R&B & gospel songs. He has only had regional hits with songs like R&B singer Billy Emerson's 'Red hot'.
Many of these early Riley performances on Sun featured a boogie pianist called Jerry Lewis,who could play boogie blues piano like no one else. Soon,he would be making records in his own right & using all his 3 names: JERRY LEE LEWIS.
Riley also played guitar on all of Jerry Lee's Sun hits like 'Great
balls of fire'. A great artist - an out & out rocker.Billy Lee Riley is essential to any rock 'n' roll/blues fan.
LITTLE RICHARD:
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Jerry Lee's main rival as a 'wild man' was Richard Penniman.Like Jerry Lee,Richard was caught between secular & sacred music & occupations.Not only that,but Richard gave up rocking at the height of his popularity to preach because he had a dream that he was doing the wrong thing by rocking & leading an 'evil lifestyle'.
Arguably,Little Richard is the best specialist in rock 'n' roll & is
the best example of pure rock 'n' roll.Jerry Lee & Richard as well as
Chuck Berry are touring Europe together this year.
JAMES BROWN:
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In common with both Little Richard & Jerry Lee Lewis,James Brown was a man caught between making secular & sacred music & living a wild or a holy life.
However,James Brown,like Jerry Lee,combined his blues & gospel roots to create explosive music.He sang from the soul in only a way that Jerry Lee could on uptempo bluesy soul numbers like 'Think','Time after time' & 'I'll go crazy' in the 1950s & 1960s.His first big hits were in 1956 & 1958 ('Please,please,please','Try me').
Soon,Brown was the hottest R&B star in the U.S with 1962's 'Live at
the Appollo' (considered one of the greatest ever rock 'n' roll live
albums along with 2 1964 Jerry Lee live albums) which was pure dynamite.
He had huge hits in both R&B & Pop charts in the mid '60s like 'I feel good' & 'Papa's got a brand new bag'.This set the foundations for funk.
And by 1970,he had certainly defined the funk sound with his big hit
'Sex machine' (the kind of suggestive number that only Jerry Lee would tackle as well).Others in this vein followed like 'Get up offa that thing', 'Too funky' & the 'Rocky IV' song 'Living in America'.
DEAN MARTIN:
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While many other oldtime pop artists shied away from blues & country,Dean Martin incorporated them into his style.His friends & contemporaries like Frank Sinatra rarely,if ever,included blues & country songs in their repetoire.
Dean Martin was born in 1917 & was of Italian descent.He became an
actor & comedian in the 1940s after teaming up with Jerry Lewis (no,not Jerry LEE Lewis!!).Soon,he began singing & left Jerry Lewis to go solo as an actor & singer.
His initial hits were Italianesque but by the 1960s,he began to show
us what a great interpreter of country music he was.His versatility was incredible & this was a big edge over his rival Frank Sinatra.Dino (as he was known) recorded many great country standards like 'Send me the pillow that you dream on' & 'Remember me I'm the one' in the 1960s & teamed up with Merle Haggard & Conway Twitty for his last ever album in 1983.His son died in 1987 & this unfortunately lead to increased alcoholism & bad health.
By 1988,he was beggining to suffer from liver trouble & Altzeimer's
disease & in the early '90s,lung cancer & other resperitory problems.He eventually died on Christmas day in 1995. Jerry Lee was certainly aware of Dean Martin & it is probable that a lot of Jerry Lee's country covers may have been inspired by him.
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