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It was with great regret, today, that “Rock n’ Roll” followers learned of the death of possibly the world’s most influential pianists of the 20th century; Mr Jerry Lee Lewis.
Nicknamed ‘The Killer’; the American singer, songwriter, and pianist was born on September 29th, 1935 and came to be described as “Rock n’ Roll’s” first great wild man of Rock Music.
Lewis was born to parents Elmo Kidd Lewis (Senior) and Mary (Mamie) Herron Lewis, in Ferriday, Louisiana, and grew up a member of an impoverished farming family.
In his youth, he began playing the piano with two of his cousins, Mickey Gilley and Jimmy Swaggart.
His parents mortgaged their farm to buy him his first piano, before his mother enrolled him at the Southwest Bible Institute in Waxahachie, Texas, in the hope he would sing evangelical songs exclusively.
When Lewis dared to play a boogie-woogie rendition of “My God Is Real” at a church assembly, it ended his association with the school the next morning, when the Dean of the school called Lewis into his office and expelled him.
He returned home and so began his career playing at clubs in and around Ferriday and Natchez, Mississippi; quickly becoming part of the new era Rock n’ Roll sound.
When Jerry Lee Lewis was 16 years old, he first married Ms Dorothy Barton, the daughter of a preacher.
His second marriage was in September 1953, to Jane Mitchum.
His career faltered somewhat, following his marriage to his 3rd wife, Ms Myra Gale Brown, his 13-year-old cousin, once removed. Lewis was aged 22 at the time and claimed Myra was actually 15 years old. Nevertheless, this publicity caused an uproar, and his tour was cancelled after only three concerts.
Lewis’s piano style had become synonymous with rock and roll; often played with his fists, elbows, feet, and his backside, often climbing on top of his piano during gigs.
His fourth marriage was to Jaren Elizabeth Gunn Pate.
His fifth marriage was to Shawn Stephens, and same lasted only 77 days. His sixth marriage was to Kerrie McCarver, with same lasting a total of 21 years
In 1993, Lewis moved to live in Foxrock, Co. Dublin, with his family in what was suggested to be a move to avoid issues he was having with the American Internal Revenue Service.
Lewis married his seventh wife Judith Lewis (née Brown, the ex-wife of the brother of his 3rd wife Myra Gale Brown)
These seven marriages during his career included bigamous marriages (still legally married to someone else) and resulted in his fathering of 6 children.
However, following the uproar caused by his 3rd marriage, his career would ignited once again in the late 1960s and 1970s, when he topped the country-western charts, with 30 songs reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard Country and Western Chart, including “To Make Love Sweeter for You”; “There Must Be More to Love Than This” and “Would You Take Another Chance on Me”, all hitting the No.1 spot.
Winner of four Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and two Grammy Hall of Fame Awards; Lewis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
He sadly died today, October 28th, 2022, at his home in DeSoto County, Mississippi, US, aged 87 years.
In ár gcroíthe go deo.
“Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover”, written By Stephen Hamilton, is the latest new single from that very talented Tipperary vocalist Ms Molly O’Connell.
The fast rising Co. Tipperary country singing star, began singing on stage first at the age of 6 years; winning her first Munster Final Fleadh at the tender age of 8 years and her first All-Ireland in Scór at the age of 14 years.
She has continued to wow audiences over the years, with her renditions of Country, Folk, Ballad and Traditional songs.
Molly hails from Kilcommon village, Thurles, County Tipperary and developed her passion of performing, from her now sadly deceased father Denis, who played the button accordion and sang in a well-known band, “The Mellow Tones.”
The youngest daughter of a family of five siblings; music and song were an integral part of “The O’Connell Family”, and growing up in such a musical home enabled her to become familiar with all the songs performed by the greatest and most famous of all time Country Singers.
“Boxty on the griddle, Boxty in your pan, if you can’t make good Boxty, sure you’ll never get a man,” ~ Old Irish aphorism.
Boxty
Boxty; pronounced ‘bacstaí,’ was also known as ‘arán bocht tí,’, (Irish meaning ~ “poor-house bread”), or cáca bacstaí (Irish meaning ~ “boxty cake,”), same a traditional Irish potato pancake dish.
The dish is mostly associated with the North West and Midlands of Ireland.
Colcannon
Colcannon; (Irish: ‘cál ceannann,’, meaning “white-headed cabbage”), is a traditional Irish dish made up of mashed potatoes mixed with cabbage or kale.
A now dying Irish Halloween tradition, was to serve colcannon with a ring, hidden in the mix; superstition declaring that whoever found it, was next to marry; or a hidden thimble, meaning you would remain a spinster for the coming year.
Other hidden prizes included small coins, such as a threepenny bit or a sixpenny bit; both indicating good fortune or you were about to come into sudden wealth.
Other items could also include a small stick indicating unhappiness in future marriage, or a small piece of rag denoting future poverty.
Suffice is to say that both dishes warranted the writing of songs in praise of the distinctive taste and delightful flavour of both Irish dishes.
‘Little Skillet Pot’ or ‘Colcannon’.
Written by Sean Nolan.
Well did you ever make colcannon
Made with lovely pickled cream,
With the greens & scallions mingled,
Like a pitcher in a dream.
Did you ever make a hole on top,
To hold the melting flake,
Or the creamy flavoured butter,
That our mother’s used to make.
Chorus:
Oh you did, so you did,
So did he and so did I.
And the more I think about it,
Sure the nearer I’m to cry.
Oh weren’t them the happy days,
When troubles we knew not.
And our mother made colcannon,
In the little skillet pot.
Well, did you ever take potato cake
And boxty to the school.
Tucked underneath your oxter,
With your books, your slate and rule.
And when teacher wasn’t looking,
Sure a great big bite you’d take,
Of the creamy flavoured soft and melting,
Sweet potato cake.
Repeat Chorus.
Well did you ever go a courting boys,
When the evening sun went down,
And the moon began a peeping,
From behind the Hill O’ Down.
And you wandered down the boreen,
Where the Clúrachán* was seen,
And you whispered loving praises,
To your own dear sweet cáilín*,
Repeat Chorus
End
* ‘Clúrachán’ ~ A mischievous fairy in Irish folklore.
* ‘Cáilín’ ~ girl.
In a statement this evening, the family of “Murder, She Wrote” actress and singer, confirmed the news of her death, stating:
“The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles at 1:30 AM today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday.
She was pre-deceased in death by her husband of 53 years, Peter Shaw. A private family ceremony will be held at a date to be determined.”
London born, daughter of Irish actress Moyna Macgill and English politician Edgar Lansbury, Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury DBE (16th October 1925 – 11th October 2022) was an Irish-British and American actress and singer who played many film, theatre, and television roles. Her career, one of the longest in the entertainment industry, spanned over 80 years, much of it in the United States; her work also received much international attention. At the time of her death, she was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
Amid difficulties in her personal life, the five-time Tony Award winner and 6 Golden Globe Winnermoved from California to Ireland, owning two addresses in East Cork and earlier in Conna North Co. Cork. She once stated, quote “our gardener had no idea who I was. Nobody there did. I was just Mrs. Shaw, which suited me down to the ground. I had absolute anonymity in those days, which was wonderful.”
Irish audiences possibly will know her best as the much loved, sleuth ‘Jessica Fletcher’ from the American television whodunit series “Murder, She Wrote”, which ran for 12 seasons between 1984 -1996, becoming one of the longest-running and most popular detective drama series in television history.
In ár gcroíthe go deo.
I Would Like To See You Again.
Lyrics are from the pens of Charlie Craig and Larry Atwood and performed, using that smooth, soft, bass-baritone voice of the late great American singer-songwriter Mr Don Williams (May 27th, 1939 – September 8th, 2017)
I was sittin’ here thinkin’ about some old times,
Some old times, some old friends,
And suddenly it came across my mind,
I would like to see you again.
Remember how we used to walk and talk,
Walk and talk, holdin’ hands.
We said we love each other I recall,
We made a lot of future plans.
But the years have come and gone,
And a whole lot has happened since then.
But tonight your memory’s awful strong on my mind,
And I would like to see you again.
It’s funny how a feeling will come back.
It’ll come on back, make you blue,
Cause I just saw a picture in my mind,
Bout a time, of me and you.
But the years have come and gone,
And a whole lot has happened since then,
And tonight your memory’s awful strong on my mind,
And I would like to see you again.
Yes, the years have come and gone,
And a whole lot has happened since then.
But tonight your memory’s awful strong on my mind,
And I would like to see you again.
END
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