Complete Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun

JERRY LEE LEWIS - COMPLETE JERRY LEE LEWIS ON SUN - If rock'n'roll was a person, it would be Jerry Lee Lewis. Back in 1957, when Jerry Lee Lewis exploded on radio and jukeboxes with "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On" and "Great BallsOf Fire, " rock'n'roll was brand new, young and wild, loud and dangerous. The same could be said of Jerry Lee. Jerry Lee was in Louisiana when he heard Elvis and Carl Perkins and knew he had to get to Memphis and Sam Phillips, aman he thought would understand his music. He was right. When Sam heard that wild, free spirit with a no holds barredpiano pounding style, he put a microphone in front of him and turned on the recording machine. In this collection, you willhear all of the songs that Jerry Lee Lewis recorded for Sun Records, including those that were never released when he wason Sun. You can hear the piano rumble from Jerry Lee's left hand and feel the wild, manic energy pulsing through the studioas he sang and played. Jerry Lee's single, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On" entered the Billboard country chart on June 17, 1957, the Hot 100 a weeklater and the R&B chart on August 19. It reached number one on the country chart (for two weeks), number three on the Hot100 and number one on the R&B chart. The next single, "Great Balls Of Fire, " also released in 1957, reached number oneon the country chart, number two on the Hot 100 and number three on the R&B chart. Nobody had heard anything like itand those who went to see Jerry Lee perform had never seen anything like him. He was a Louisiana Wild Man set loose andeverything he did, said, sang or played screamed ROCK'N'ROLL!Listening to these songs, recorded over a seven year period, you can hear the roots of rock'n'roll. The early rockabilly performerswere considered country at the beginning and you hear a strong dose of country when Jerry Lee played-he coveredJimmy Rodgers, Hank Williams and country hits. You hear him play R&B from Ray Charles and The Drifters. And you hear himplay pop hits like "Near You" and "Love Letters In The Sand. " But Jerry Lee did not simply cover a song, he took a song andmade it his own, no matter where it came from. No matter who wrote a song, when Jerry Lee played it, it became a Jerry LeeLewis song. There are few performers who are that original. Rock'n'roll during the 1950s was a mixture of something old, something new, something borrowed and some blues. You'llhear that spectrum in this Complete Jerry Lee Lewis set. During the 1950s, rock'n'roll was a teenager's first love. It wasa music that excited them, moved them and gave them a music of their own-stupendously different from their parent'smusic. It was a music that grabbed the heart, moved the feet and changed the world. Listening to rock'n'roll was a rite ofpassage for teenagers in the 1950s, a baptism of freedom for a youth rebellion. Sun Records in Memphis, led by Sam Phillips, was the birthplace of rock'n'roll and Jerry Lee Lewis was a favorite son. -Don Cusic