Rockin' My Life Away With Jerry Lee

I have so many memories, so many golden nights, all directly linked to Jerry Lee Lewis. WIth some friends I chased him at 100 mph through the backroads of Louisiana; meeting him at an empty strip at the airport; sharing a table and wide mouth grins of bliss with,Tom Petty while watching the Killer pound the piano a few feet away from us at the Palamino Club.

I saw him so many times, and he was incredible every time. Especially the shows at the Palamino. The first time my pals and I met him in around 1978 he was uncool. Music had moved on and he was a “dinosaur” while still hovering around 40 years old. He burned the place down. And he loved this little group of absolutely fanatical fans in their mid-20s that accosted him at the airport.

If he played a rock and roll club, you could almost guarantee he’d play country songs. If it was a country venue, he was gonna rock. That’s how Jerry Lee rolled. But it didn’t matter – Jerry Lee Lewis was one of the greatest rock and roll singers, and quite possibly the greatest country singer around. You couldn’t go wrong. There was no on like him. Never will be.

The world lost a giant today, an original architect of rock and roll. I'm so glad my little group of friends and I knew how technicolor cool he was when the world was lost in a black and white soma coma.

RIP Killer and thank you.