Great Balls of Fire; The Uncensored Story of Jerry Lee Lewis

New York: Quill, 1982. First Quill Edition Stated. Trade paperback. Good. 319, [1] pages. Illustrations. Index. Decorative front cover. Cover shows some wear and soiling. He was the wildest mover and shaker of the rock-and-roll era. Here is the story of "The Killer", Jerry Lee Lewis, as told by his child bride Myra. From drug abuse to Bible-quoting, Lewis was on a roller-coaster through love, success, and life! Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935 - October 28, 2022) 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 'n' 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". Myra Gale Lewis Williams (née Brown; born July 11, 1944) is an American author, best known for her controversial marriage at the age of 13 to rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis, who was her first cousin once removed and was 22 at the time. She co-wrote the book Great Balls of Fire: The Uncensored Story of Jerry Lee Lewis (1982), which was adapted into the film Great Balls of Fire! (1989). In 2016 she published her memoir, The Spark That Survived. Murray M. Silver Jr. is an American rock music writer, photographer, a lawyer, promoted rock concerts in Atlanta, bringing many future groups to the city. Derived from a Kirkus review: There's a bizarre blur of viewpoints in this detailed biography of rock-a-billy superstar Lewis: the co-author is much-abused ex-wife Myra, who has found spiritual salvation; the narration, however, is all in the breathless third-person of fan magazines; oddest of all, Jerry himself seems to have cooperated, more or less, on the project--as have many family members. So, as the book follows the wild, gifted piano-player from Natchez clubs through early-1950s teenage marriages to Sun Records in Memphis, Jerry is sometimes a boorish Sinner, sometimes a beleaguered Superhero, sometimes just a regular mixed-up guy. About Jerry's music, there is awe. And the primary focus, not surprisingly, comes to rest on: Jerry's courtship of his 13-year-old cousin Myra, a secret rape victim, the scandal that broke when this child-bride marriage was revealed; Jerry's fall from superstardom; and the deterioration of the Jerry/Myra marriage--especially after his slow, country-crossover comeback, the drowning death of their first child, and Jerry's failure to do right by God. A strange subjective memoir-cum-biography, then, but fervently loyal fans, especially those who share Myra's born-again beliefs, will find this a generous mix of domestic woes, music-biz wrangles, and emotional/spiritual stewings.