"The Killer", K-Doe & The Beatles

Today in Music History: May 22, 1958

Not much "shakin'" going on as people were shouting, "Great balls of fire!"...NOT because of Jerry Lewis's performance of either song. The year was 1958 and teenage fans were overwhelmed with the raucous music and songs of the times. Tours were scheduled across America and abroad with everyone lovin' it! Except on this day, May 22, 1958, when Jerry Lee "The Killer" Lewis arrived at Heathrow Airport in the UK with his new 'child bride'.

The songs themselves were rowdy enough but "The Killer" crossed the boundaries when he was questioned about a young girl in his entourage.

"I'm Myra, Jerry's wife," said Myra Gail Lewis. Tanfield followed up with a question for the Killer himself: "And how old is Myra?" It was at this point that Jerry Lee must have cottoned to the fact that the rest of the world might take a somewhat skeptical view of his third marriage, because the answer he gave was a lie: "Fifteen." Myra Gail Lewis was actually only 13 years old.
Source: This Day in History

In spite of his on-stage excitement, energy, and charisma, Jerry Lewis's career suffered. Jerry Lee Lewis left the UK, less than a week after his dramatic arrival on this day in 1958. Back home, he would face a blacklisting from which his career would never fully recover. 

   

 Ernie K-Doe

 1961 - The song 'Mother-in-Law' by Ernie K-Doe topped the charts and stayed there for a week.

Songfacts: K-Doe claimed that he fished the song out of Allen Toussaint's trash can and recorded it because he related strongly to its sentiments: his mother-in-law was living in his house at a time of marital turmoil. In our interview with Toussaint, he explained what happened: "I wrote four songs for him to do, because we always recorded four songs at a time, and 'Mother-In-Law' was one of them. When I tried it out on him the first time, he began to shout and preach at it and I really didn't like his approach to it. I thought it was a waste of time to try to get him to do it, so I balled it up and put it in the trash can, like I did with other songs. One of the backup singers, Willie Harper, thought it was just a wonderful song, so he took it out of the trash can and said, 'K-Doe, why don't you calm down and listen closer to the way Allen is doing it and try to do it like that? This is a good song.' So he calmed down and didn't preach at it, but did it like it finally came out."

The Beatles

 1965 - The song 'Ticket to Ride' by the Beatles topped the charts and stayed there for a week.

Songfacts: According to A Hard Day's Write by Steve Turner, many Americans concluded the "ticket" was from British Railways, and "ride" was the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight. McCartney confessed to his biographer Barry Miles that they were partly right. Paul had a cousin who ran a bar in Ryde and he and John had visited them there. Paul later mentioned that although the song was primarily about a girl riding out of the life of the narrator, they were conscious of the potential for a double meaning.

 

1976 - The song 'Silly Love Songs' by the Wings topped the charts and stayed there for 5 weeks.

Songfacts: This was the answer to much soul searching on McCartney's part to whether he put too much stock in "Love Songs." He once commented: "The fact is, deep down, people are very sentimental. If they watch a sentimental movie at home, they cry, but in public they won't. We don't like to show our emotions; we tend to sneer at that. And in the same way, people may not admit to liking love songs, but that's what they seem to crave."

And the music goes on beating to the rhythm of the changing times...