''Jerry Lee's Greatest!'' is the second studio album by the American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

and

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

pioneer

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...

released in 1961 on

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny C ...

(SLP 1265).

Background

Although Lewis recorded with Sun Records from 1956 to 1963 - far longer than

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

- 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 Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American 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, ...

' waning enthusiasm in the wake of Lewis' scandalous marriage to his 13-year-old cousin Myra, which erupted on a tour of

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

." ''Jerry Lee's Greatest!'' includes mostly later cuts from Lewis's run at Sun, with

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Cub Koda suggesting that, "While tracks like " Let's Talk About Us," "

What'd I Say "What'd I Say" (or "What I Say") is an American rhythm and blues song by Ray Charles, released in 1959. As a single divided into two parts, it was one of the first soul songs. The composition was improvised one evening late in 1958 when Charl ...

," 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 "Great Balls of Fire" is a 1957 popular song recorded by American rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun Records and featured in the 1957 movie '' Jamboree''. It was written by Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer. The Jerry Lee Lewis 1957 reco ...

," which had been left off of his debut LP.

Track listing

Side A Side B ^† Mislabeled as " Country Music is Here to Stay" (

Ferlin Husky Ferlin Eugene Husky (December 3, 1925 – March 17, 2011) was an early American country music singer who was equally adept at the genres of traditional honky-tonk, ballads, spoken recitations, and rockabilly pop tunes. He had two dozen top-20 hit ...

) on the original LP.

References

External links

*
''Jerry Lee's Greatest!'' at Allmusic

''Jerry Lee's Greatest!'' at Rate Your Music
{{Authority control Jerry Lee Lewis albums Sun Records albums 1961 albums Albums produced by Sam Phillips Albums recorded at Sun Studio