| The Return of Rock | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1965 | |||
| Recorded | 1965 | |||
| Genre | Rockabilly, blues | |||
| Label | Smash | |||
| Producer | Shelby Singleton | |||
| Jerry Lee Lewis chronology | ||||
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The Return of Rock is the fourth album by Jerry Lee Lewis released on the Smash label in 1965. [1]
This was the first studio album on Smash to feature new material by Lewis, with the pianist having recorded remakes of his Sun hits for Golden Hits of Jerry Lee Lewis the year before. Lewis had not enjoyed much chart success since becoming an industry pariah after the news of his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin Myra came to light in 1958, but he retained a loyal fan base in Europe, which showed great enthusiasm for his wild shows. Lewis had also recorded Live at the Star Club, Hamburg in 1964, an album that many consider one of the wildest performances ever. Lewis had been touring non-stop since the scandal and his ability to play ferocious rock and roll had remained undiminished in the face of dwindling sales. Hoping to recapture his past success, Lewis and producer Shelby Singleton began work on a new rock and roll album.
In the liner notes, Robert Tubert wrote: "Rock is the music which vibrantly records the time in which we live ... and Jerry Lee Lewis is one of its greatest exponents." Rock is "the voice of the young". Jerry Lee Lewis was one of the founders of the new musical idiom in the 1950s. He should be listened to by the 1960s generation because he is "telling it like it is." It was a sales pitch to the new generation by a legendary musician present at the creation of Rock and Roll.
The single released from the album was "Baby, Hold Me Close" backed by "I Believe in You". [2] [3]
The album featured "Baby, Hold Me Close", a song composed by Jerry Lee Lewis and Bob Tubert. "Baby, Hold Me Close" was the song released as the A side 45 single from the album with "I Believe in You" as the B side. This was the only single from the album. The single reached no. 129 on the Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 Chart. Jerry Lee Lewis performed the song live on the musical variety TV series Shindig! in 1965. [4]
The album includes three Chuck Berry songs, "Maybellene," "Roll Over Beethoven," and "Johnny B. Goode." Although the two rock and roll icons had been rivals in the past, they did have a mutual respect for one another and Lewis would return again and again to Berry compositions throughout his career. (In the 1987 documentary Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll!, Lewis states, "He's the King of rock and roll. Even my mama said that.") Lewis also performs Big Joe Turner's "Flip, Flop and Fly" and the old blues "Corrine, Corrina" in his patented boogie-woogie style. His reading of Hank Ballard's "Sexy Ways" was particularly racy for the time, containing lines like, "Come on darlin', now, I want you to get on your knees one time and shake for Jerry Lee Lewis, honey - yeah!"
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Record Mirror |   [5] |
The album was released on June 4, 1965, and cracked the Top 200 but stalled at number 121, lacking the breakout song for a comeback. In 2014 Lewis biographer Rick Bragg observed, "The problem, as always, was material, not technique." In his 2009 book, Jerry Lee Lewis: Lost and Found, Joe Bonomo, while praising "Baby, Hold Me Close", "Maybellene" and "Sexy Ways", notes that the album came out "as Barbra Streisand, Herman's Hermits, the Supremes, and Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass were chumming it up on the Billboard album chart. The bespangled commercial ceiling was dropping fast." The perception that Lewis was out of step with the times was not helped by the album cover, which Bonomo derides: "The Return of Rock is nearly done in before the needle drops by an atrocious cover: decked out in a mummified paisley tux and frilly shirt, smiling wanly, Jerry Lee looks like Liberace's sickly younger brother, while a few teenagers dance in mild bewilderment as if they'd been teleported from the set of Shindig!" Bonomo, however, characterized the self-penned single from the album "Baby, Hold Me Close" as "a cool studio-concocted groove". [6]
Side A
Side B
Charles Edward Anderson Berry was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive with songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957), and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958). Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music.
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".
"You Can't Catch Me" is a song written for 1956 musical drama film Rock, Rock, Rock!. It was recorded by Chuck Berry and released as a single in 1956.
"Corrine, Corrina" is a 12-bar country blues song in the AAB form. "Corrine, Corrina" was first recorded by Bo Carter. However, it was not copyrighted until 1932 by Bo Carter, along with his publishers Mitchell Parish and J. Mayo Williams.
Rock, Rock, Rock! is the soundtrack album to the motion picture of the same name and was the first LP ever released by Chess Records labeled LP 1425 and Chuck Berry's first appearance on a long player. Only four songs from the album actually appear in the film. Eight additional songs by Chuck Berry, the Moonglows, and the Flamingos make up the balance of the songs. Other artists who appeared in the film were not on the album. Rock, Rock, Rock! is regarded as the first rock and roll movie to have had a soundtrack album issued.
Live at the Star Club is a 1964 live album by rock and roll pianist and singer Jerry Lee Lewis, accompanied by the Nashville Teens. The album was recorded at the Star-Club in Hamburg, West Germany on April 5, 1964. It is regarded by many music journalists as one of the greatest rock and roll albums ever, noted for its hard-hitting energy and Lewis' wild stage presence.
Chuck Berry's Golden Decade is a compilation of music by Chuck Berry, released in three volumes in 1967, 1973, and 1974. Covering the decade from 1955 to 1964, each volume consists of a two-LP set of 24 songs recorded by Berry. The first volume reached number 72 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart. The second volume peaked at number 110. The third volume, which included only two hit singles among its tracks, did not chart.
"Brown Eyed Handsome Man" is a rock and roll song written and recorded by Chuck Berry, originally released by Chess Records in September 1956 as the B-side of "Too Much Monkey Business." It was also included on Berry's 1957 debut album, After School Session. The song title was also used as the title of a biography of Berry.
Here We à Go Go Again! is Johnny Rivers's second official album, and like his first album, At the Whisky à Go Go, it was recorded live at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, California. The album was on the Billboard Charts for 23 weeks and reached #38 on December 12, 1964. The album spawned two hit singles: "Maybellene", #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Midnight Special", #20 in 1965.
Another Place, Another Time is the eighth album by the musician Jerry Lee Lewis, released in 1968 by Smash Records. It was Lewis's "comeback album" and features a stripped down, "hardcore" country sound that yielded two top five country hits, his first major chart success in a decade.
She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye is the 13th album by pianist and singer Jerry Lee Lewis. It was released on Mercury Records in 1970.
The Golden Hits of Jerry Lee Lewis is the third studio album by musician Jerry Lee Lewis that was released on Smash Records in 1964. It was Lewis's first album with the label after leaving Sun Records.
Soul My Way is the seventh album by Jerry Lee Lewis released on the Smash label in 1967.
Country Songs for City Folks is the fifth studio album by Jerry Lee Lewis released on the Smash label in 1965.
The Killer Rocks On is an album by Jerry Lee Lewis that was released on Mercury Records in 1972.
The Greatest Live Show on Earth is a live album by the pianist and rock and roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis. It was released on Smash Records in 1964. It was Lewis' best-selling album of the decade, with its cover of Tommy Tucker's "High Heel Sneakers" becoming a mild pop hit.
By Request: More of the Greatest Live Show on Earth is a live album by Jerry Lee Lewis, released on Smash Records in 1966.
"Baby, Hold Me Close" is a song written by Jerry Lee Lewis and Bob Tubert and released as a single by Lewis in the U.S. in February 1965 on Smash Records. The song was also released in the UK in 1965 as a 45 single on Philips Records.
Rock & Roll Time is the 41st and final studio album by American singer Jerry Lee Lewis, released on November 7, 2014, by Vanguard Records. The album featured several big name friends as musicians including Keith Richards, Band guitarist Robbie Robertson, Neil Young and Nils Lofgren. The album peaked at number 33 on Billboard's Top Rock Albums chart and number 30 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart.
A Whole Lotta...Jerry Lee Lewis: The Definitive Retrospective is a 4-disc box set by American rock and roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis. It was released in 2012 by Salvo Records and Universal Music Group. It consists of 106 songs recorded between 1956 and 1989 for the Sun, Smash, Mercury, Elektra, and MCA record labels and contains a 70-page booklet written by rock historian Roger W. Dopson. All tracks were remastered by Tim Turan at Turan Audio.
