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| Jerry Lee's Greatest! | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | December 1961 | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll | |||
| Length | 14:48 (Side A) 13:39 (Side B) 28:27 (Total) [1] | |||
| Label | Sun | |||
| Producer | Sam Phillips | |||
| Jerry Lee Lewis chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Jerry Lee's Greatest! | ||||
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Jerry Lee's Greatest! is the second studio album by the American rock and roll and rockabilly pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis released in 1961 on Sun Records (SLP 1265).
Although Lewis recorded with Sun Records from 1956 to 1963 - far longer than Elvis Presley or Johnny Cash - only two LPs were ever issued on Sun under Jerry Lee's name, the second being Jerry Lee's Greatest in 1961. Part of the reason for the lack of material was no doubt producer Sam Phillips' waning enthusiasm in the wake of Lewis' scandalous marriage to his 13-year-old cousin Myra, which erupted on a tour of Britain in 1958, derailing the star's career. In his authorized 2014 biography Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story, Rick Bragg quotes Phillips as he explained his reasoning to Sun researcher Martin Hawkins: "I was always very cautious about putting out a lot of product on my artists just to ensure a certain amount of income...You only have to look at some of the crap they put out on Elvis Presley, just because he was in a picture show or something...When Jerry Lee took a beating from the press it would have been stupid to try and cram product down people's throats. Believe me, just before that happened, Jerry was the hottest thing in America." Jerry Lee's Greatest! includes mostly later cuts from Lewis's run at Sun, with AllMusic's Cub Koda suggesting that, "While tracks like "Let's Talk About Us," "What'd I Say," and "As Long as I Live" have their own charm, this set simply isn't the place to start a Jerry Lee collection..." The album includes Lewis' biggest hit, "Great Balls of Fire," which had been left off of his debut LP.
Side A
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Money" | 2:30 | |
| 2. | "As Long As I Live" | Dorsey Burnette | 2:25 |
| 3. | "Hillbilly Fever" | George Vaughn | 2:05† |
| 4. | "Frankie and Johnny" | Traditional; arranged by Jerry Lee Lewis | 2:30 |
| 5. | "Home" | Roger Miller | 1:58 |
| 6. | "Hello, Hello Baby" | Traditional; arranged by Jerry Lee Lewis | 3:20 |
| Total length: | 14:48 | ||
Side B
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7. | "Let's Talk About Us" | Otis Blackwell | 2:05 |
| 8. | "What'd I Say" | Ray Charles | 2:25 |
| 9. | "Break Up" | Charlie Rich | 2:36 |
| 10. | "Great Balls of Fire" |
| 1:50 |
| 11. | "Cold, Cold Heart" | Hank Williams | 3:02 |
| 12. | "Hello Josephine" | 1:41 | |
| Total length: | 13:39 | ||
† Mislabeled as "Country Music is Here to Stay" (Ferlin Husky) on the original LP.
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Samuel Cornelius Phillips was an American disc jockey, songwriter and record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Howlin' Wolf. Phillips played a major role in the development of rock and roll during the 1950s, launching the career of Presley. In 1969, he sold Sun to Shelby Singleton.
Jerry Lee Lewis was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made his first recordings in 1952 at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studio in New Orleans, Louisiana, and early recordings in 1956 at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee. "Crazy Arms" sold 300,000 copies in the Southern United States, but it was his 1957 hit "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" that shot Lewis to worldwide fame. He followed this with the major hits "Great Balls of Fire", "Breathless", and "High School Confidential".
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Brad Suggs is a singer and songwriter, but best known as a guitarist that contributed greatly to the legacy of Phillips' Sun and Phillips' International labels. His name is widely unknown although he appeared on more than eight Sun and Phillips International records.
Beyond the Sun is the eleventh studio album by Chris Isaak, released through Vanguard Records on October 18, 2011. It is a collection of songs recorded by Sun Records artists Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. Some of the songs were originally released on Sun Records. The record itself was recorded at Sun Studio, Memphis, Tennessee and the cover photograph was taken by Sheryl Louis outside the studio on Union Avenue.
"Birth of Rock and Roll" is a 1986 song written by Carl Perkins and Greg Perkins. The song was featured on the Class of '55 album which included performances with Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Jerry Lee Lewis. "Birth of Rock and Roll" was released as a 7" single with a picture sleeve, 885 760–7, on the Smash/America label copyrighted by PolyGram Records produced by Chips Moman. The single reached No. 31 on the Billboard country chart and No. 44 on the Canadian country chart in 1986. The B side was "Rock and Roll (Fais-Do-Do)" which featured Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison. The theme of the song “Birth of Rock and Roll" is about how "Memphis gave birth to rock and roll" in the 1950s at Sun Records. A video of the song was also made featuring Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones as they drove to the historic Sun studios in Memphis, Tennessee in a white Cadillac convertible.
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