Jerry Lee Lewis Rocks [Paperback]

Robert Palmer (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Delilah; 1St Edition edition (February 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0933328079
• ISBN-13: 978-0933328075
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,041,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Palmer was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1945, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1964. He began writing for Rolling Stone in the early '70s -- and continued to do so as a contributing editor throughout his life. From 1981 until 1988, he was the chief pop music critic at The New York Times, the first person to hold that title, and he continued to write for the Times after that. He is the author of Deep Blues: A Musical and Cultural History of the Mississippi Delta (1981); Baby That Was Rock and Roll: The Legendary Leiber and Stoller (1978); A Tale of Two Cities: Memphis Rock and New Orleans Roll (1979); Jerry Lee Lewis Rocks! (1981); The Rolling Stones (1983); and Rock & Roll: An Unruly History (1995). He wrote liner notes for dozens of releases, and his work appeared in virtually every music magazine published during his time, including Downbeat, Crawdaddy, Guitar World, and Musician. Palmer died in 1997.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must For R&R Historians And Fans Alike, September 15, 2008

By 

AvidOldiesCollector (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jerry Lee Lewis Rocks (Paperback)

Since I first picked up a copy of this 8 ½ x 11 volume on Jerry Lee Lewis I don't know how many times I've taken it down from the bookshelf and read it through cover to cover. One reason (other than the subject material - only my favourite R&R artist of all time), is perhaps the author himself, Robert Franklin Palmer Jr. Born on June 19, 1945 (he sadly passed away at an early age on November 20, 1997), this renowned musicologist and blues producer (e.g., The Memphis Blues Festival), who was also pretty adept at the clarinet and saxophone {he played in the 1960's band The Insect Trust), worked as a contributing editor for Rolling Stone, had articles appear in Saturday Review, Penthouse, Atlantic Monthly, The Journal Of American Folklore and Ethnomusicology, and became the first full-time R&R writer for the New York Times from 1976 to 1988. He is also the author of the 1981 book Deep Blues which chronicles Southern black roots of R&B.

Here he lends his talents to the life (to 1981) of Jerry Lee Lewis, now indeed (as his latest CD title states) The Last Man Standing. That relates to the legendary artists who passed through the famed Sun Studios - Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and, of course, Elvis Presley - all gone now except for Jerry Lee, who continues to pound that piano at the age of 73.

After a brief account of his early memories of Jerry Lee, and a picture of himself at age 12, Palmer delivers an often fascinating glimpse into the development of R&R's first "bad boy" - from his formative years through his marriage to Myra and the subsequent lean years when no radio stations would play his music, to his emergence as one of the best Country entertainers of all time.

Photos abound as well, most (of course) of The Killer in action on stage, some candid shots with Myra (including one of the 14-year-old bride and Jerry Lee with their first son in hospital shortly after his birth), one of Sam Phillips, and another showing Sun Studios next door to Taylor's Restaurant.

This is a book that should be put back into print as soon as possible.