Totally bat guano, hatstand crazy and he may have married his cousin (13! but not illegal where he came from!!!? (well, then anyhoo!)
Happy Birthday Jerry Lee legend!
Check this version of Whole Lotta Shakin' live on the Steve Allen Show!
"We've got chicken in the barn! Whose barn? MY BARN!"
On stage, he performed in a state close to frenzy. A savage, raw energy burning within him, he hammered the keyboard like a man possessed.
His life was a toxic cocktail of scandal, addiction and violence. Two of his seven wives died in suspicious circumstances; another was a 13-year-old child.
This was the man who - legend has it - once drove to Graceland, high on alcohol and pills, with a gun on the dashboard. "Come out," he said to Elvis Presley, "and we'll soon find out who's King."
Lewis was disgraced many times. But those early tracks - A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On and Great Balls Of Fire - were so deeply part of the soundtrack of the 20th Century, that he never quite faded from the scene.
Sixty years after their recording, he still played to packed houses. And somehow - despite the drink and drugs - Lewis outlived many fellow rock'n'roll pioneers.
BBC
Photo: Richi Howell/Redferns
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