![]() ![]() For a moment, it looked as if he might not even make it to the piano bench to start the concert, but by the end of the first song, with the crowd pushing him along, he felt nothing but the music. The previous week, Lewis played the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, despite such crippling pain. They weren’t too happy with me.” That was in the mid-’70s Whitten has been with Lewis - off and on, though mostly the latter - ever since. ![]() And he said ‘Would you find out what these people are supposed to be doing for me?’ About 10 or 12 of them did nothing but drink on his tab. “I got involved with Jerry Lee about 1971, but working for him, actually getting paid, took a few more years,” says Whitten, laughing. A close friend and confidant of “The Killer” for 40-plus years, Whitten is compactly built and tanned, with a thatch of silver hair pulled back into a ponytail and a deeply protective manner when it comes to his boss. Along a green sloping hill, in the midst of many rolling acres, sits Lewis’ ranch-style home. It’s a warm October afternoon in the sleepy Mississippi hamlet of Nesbit. “I still am.” “They just like the fact that I’m still around.” But I worked hard at it too,” he says, pausing to look down at the hands that have earned him so much. He’s one of the most accomplished and musical people I’ve ever met.” “There’s a real depth with him, that if you get to know him or hear his playing up close you really understand. “He’s not just this crazy guy with the crazy hair, singing those wild two-chord songs,” says Lewis’ producer and sideman-to-the-stars Jim Keltner. But if you get right down to the fingers on those keys, who is better?” His journey to that place was troubled and violent and dangerous. If you ask Jerry Lee Lewis who the greatest piano player of all-time is, he’s likely to tell you, ‘Jerry Lee Lewis,’ and he might not be far off. ![]() “I think Jerry Lee is keenly aware of his legend, of his impact and import on American music and culture,” says Bragg. In conversation, Lewis may occasionally downplay or act disinterested in his legacy, but there is no doubt that he knows exactly who and what he is. Lewis’ recent product blitz also includes a new book, titled “Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story” written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Bragg. ![]()
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