Jerry Lee Lewis on Tour

Coinciding nicely with Allan Arkush’s High School Confidential commentary is the publication of a new book by Rick Bragg, Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story.

And a wild story it is. Here’s a small sample from a recent Salon story:

“That first tour was me, Johnny, and Carl, and Sonny James, Marvin Rainwater, Wanda Jackson. We put eighty, ninety thousand miles on that Buick, across Canada, across everywhere . . . throwing cherry bombs the whole way.” Sometimes he missed high and the cherry bombs exploded against windshields or on the hoods, and Johnny and Carl would curse him mightily, curse unheard, but one time he misjudged and the cherry bomb bounced off a window frame and into J. W.’s lap, and J. W.’s screams echoed inside the Buick for a good long while, longer than was seemly for a man. They could have used a chaperone, all of them, or a warden. The lead car was jammed with drum kits, guitar cases, and sharp-cut jackets and two-tone shoes. The only other provisions they packed were whiskey, cherry bombs, and comic books.”

You can read the rest of the excerpt here and if you’re so inclined, you can order the book here.

But before you do any of that, be sure to check out Allan’s take on High School Confidential right here!