Whole lotta dyin’ goin’ on . Jerry Lee Lewis is gone at 87. He is mourned by his ex-wife, who just turned 14.
Kidding aside, life has a way of evening things out. When they got married, he was 22, she 13. The significance of that vast age gap totally disappeared when they were 87 and 78.
Who would have guessed that Jerry Lee would outlive Elvis by decades?
How many people, watching Elvis’ triumphant 1968 comeback, would have guessed the guy had less than a decade to live?
The catch with the Isleys, is that they only had one hit in the 50s, only a couple in the 60s, and then exploded in the 70s. Chubby Checker, nah.
And Wanda Jackson is still around. One big hit but it was a killer: Let’s Have a Party. The follow-up, Fujiyama Mama, would be banned from airplay today:
I’ve been to Nagasaki, Hiroshima too!
The things I did to them, baby, I can do to you!
‘Cause I’m a Fujiyama Mama
And I’m just about to blow my top!
Fujiyama-yama, Fujiyama!
And when I start erupting
Ain’t nobody gonna make me stop!
I drink a quart of sake, smoke dynamite!
I chase it with tobaccy and then shoot out the lights!
‘Cause I’m a Fujiyama Mama
And I’m just about to blow my top!
Fujiyama-yama, Fujiyama!
And when I start erupting
Ain’t nobody gonna make me stop!
Well you can talk about me, say that I’m mean!
I’ll blow your head off, baby, with nitroglycerine!
‘Cause I’m a Fujiyama Mama
And I’m just about to blow my top!
Fujiyama-yama, Fujiyama!
And when I start erupting
Ain’t nobody gonna make me stop!
Well you can say I’m crazy, so deaf and dumb!
But I can cause destruction just like the atom bomb!
‘Cause I’m a Fujiyama Mama
And I’m just about to blow my top!
Fujiyama-yama, Fujiyama!
And when I start erupting
Ain’t nobody gonna make me stop!
I drink a quart of sake, smoke dynamite!
I chase it with tobaccy and then shoot out the lights!
‘Cause I’m a Fujiyama Mama
And I’m just about to blow my top!
Fujiyama-yama, Fujiyama!
And when I start erupting
Ain’t nobody gonna make me stop!
” the song was a major hit in Japan, reaching No. 1 in 1958.[2] It held the No. 1 spot in Japan for six months and was the first rock and roll song to become a big hit in Japan.” Why I love history. You’d never dare make this stuff up.
OMG, an actual ballgame has broken out during the Astros’ coronation.
Brenda Lee’s still coming on strong. She got started in the late 50’s and the Beatles once opened for her. And the radio’s playing that forgotten song
Jeezo Flip! How could I have missed her?
This has got me on a Brenda binge on YouTube, some I haven’t listened to in decades. I wouldn’t have thought of her without your post, so thanks. Well worth the time investment
The Brits would make a case for Cliff Richard.
Well maybe his guitarist, Hank Marvin, might rate a look.. Big influence on practically any young Brit guitarist in the early 60s.
Unless some of you have better memories, this is the last of the biggies from the first era of rock’n’roll ending around 1960. When Lloyd Price went last year, I did a little checklist, and the Killer was the last one left.
Anyone saying Pat Boone, wash your cursor out with soap.
If by “around 1960,” you include 1960, then Chubby Checker’s still around. Also, Ronald Isley of the Isley Brothers is still with us.
Of course Johnny Mathis was not a rocker, but his biggest hits were in the mid-50s. He is still around 65 years later, still performing live, and still sounds good. In fact, he’s doing a live concert tonight (Oct 29) in New Brunswick, NJ
And at last check, Harry Belafonte was still taking in nourishment at age 95.
I go every once and a while to the youtubes and check out his beautiful rendition of Shenandoah. They quite often have a version up, to be taken down in short order.
Looks like they have an official channel for him now…