Jerry
Lee Lewis, Countrypolitans
Crystal Ballroom,
1332 W Burnside St., 778-5625
8 pm Wednesday, June 9
$30 advance
Killer1183, cyber-citizen of the '90s, raises his voice above
the hard-sell babble of Amazon.com, America's millennial fusion
of the Great Library of Alexandria and a vacant-lot flea market.
"Jerry Lee Lewis is the Greatest Rock and Roll Star he
is the best and I love this CD I give it more than five
stars more like ten," Killer1183 scrawls in the Web site's
customer comment box, his sentiment far more genuine than
grammatical. He praises a comp called All Killer No Filler,
an album packed with searing rave-ups and maudlin country
odes to drunken, bad, sad love.
More to the point, he champions the self-proclaimed "mean
ol' country boy" whose 1950s bid for rock's throne was derailed
when he plunged into the marital bed of his 14-year-old
cousin. This country boy is the man who once maintained
a pharmacy-breaking pill habit and has had several wives
die under "mysterious circumstances."
Killer1183 extols the work of a slouching beast out of
place in his own time--and sure as hell out of place now.
In an era when Marilyn Manson's poses are marketed (and
denounced) as genuine menace and the fact that Fatboy Slim
sometimes parties all night long! makes him a stone-cold
badass, there's not much of a niche for Jerry Lee. The human
cell phones staffing AR departments would be helpless in
the face of a modern-day Lewis: What, sign the white-trash
scion of a family of crooked Mississippi holy rollers? Jesus,
no! Let's find the new Jewel.
I dropped Killer1183 a line. It turned out that this other
Killer is actually Mark, a 15-year-old living in La Puente,
Calif. I had to know: What draws someone born in 1984 to
Jerry Lee's antique madness?
Killer1183 did indeed have some thoughts on the subject.
The highlights of our exchange, edited a little for clarity
follow:
Willamette Week: So, Killer1183, how do you explain
Jerry Lee Lewis' ongoing popularity?
Killer1183: He is a true showman. He puts his all
in a concert and he plays clean music. Growing up in the
genre-fractured '90s, kids my age think that using curse
words and talking about killing, sex and drugs is cute.
The Killer's music offers tradition, roots and, in some
cases, vulgarity. Jerry Lee Lewis has overcome tragedies,
and he has been rockin' and rolling since. His friends and
fans remember the good and they forget the past. I had a
little trouble understanding his marriage to his cousin....
That ruined his career for years. What's your conclusion?
I know he really loved her. He would have quit doing music
if he didn't. Many people think he is a damn pervert, but
no one knows the hell he went through just to get where
he is today.
How'd you first get into him and why?
I read about him in Hellfire: The Jerry Lee Lewis Story
by Nick Tosches. The book showed me the true, dedicated
rock star. His will to amaze is what really interested me.
I had also always been a boogie-woogie, rock-'n'-roll and
country listener.
Have you listened to his other work, including the later
country albums?
I have heard his country stuff--songs like "Me and Bobby
McGee," "What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Made a Loser Out
of Me)," "He Can't Fill My Shoes"...songs like those are
great. I love all his music.
You mentioned that you think other kids your age are
"genre-fractured." I think that's a very interesting description.
Obviously, you like old-school rock 'n' roll. What about
this older music do you think makes it more valuable than
some of what's being produced today?
This music sends a messenger to my generation. Sadly no
one gives a damn what the hell you tell them. If it don't
have a swear word or violence related to it, it's nothing
but bullshit.
Very true. Thanks, Killer.
Naive? Maybe a little. When you're dealing with a savage,
unruly old cuss like Jerry Lee Lewis, I don't know how "clean"
the music can ever really be. And violence? Well, nothing's
ever been proven in court, I guess. Still, Killer1183 certainly
has the shallow, plastic pantomime rebellion of most '90s
pop frozen in his critical sights. He may be just one kid
of millions living out there in the American Empire, but
he's not afraid to buck trends and embrace that which speaks
to his heart instead of his wallet. That's an achievement,
plain and simple.
And his love for Jerry Lee poses the question: Will anyone
be trading e-mails (or anything else) about Mr. M. Manson
in 45 years? Anywhere?
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Willamette Week | originally
published June 9, 1999
|
