Jerry Lee Lewis, RIP

[TyBo]

Source and citation: "Jerry Lee Lewis was an SOB Right to the End" by Bill Wyman (the author, not the musician).

So by you it's immoral but it's OK as long as you're famous enough. Cool.

As has been said, that kind of thing (marrying very young, and to cousins) was not unheard of at that time in that place in that culture - Jerry Lee himself first married at 16, which would be seen as underage in most places today. And the author of the piece casually mentions that Jerry Lee's sister first married at 12, then again at 15 ... no mention of clandestine schemes to accomplish this (though I'm guessing maybe Jerry Lee himself would have had to sneak a little because of the familial living situation). Then of course, there was Elvis and Priscilla ... . That Jerry Lee thought it would be ok to take his very young wife along on his tour of England shows how at odds his native culture and mindset was to that of most other places in the English speaking world.

I don't look favorably on it myself, of course, and I don't view it as a healthy thing for girls to get married at such a young age ... could be seen as a culturally sanctioned form of abuse - legal, but wrong. There's a lot of stuff that's wrong, that was once legal. And, technically, what Lewis did wasn't actually pedophilia, which would be sex with pre-adolescents. It might be termed hebephelia, which would apply with young adolescents. But those terms also imply "strong, persistent sexual interest" in such age groups, while Jerry Lee appears to have been an equal opportunity abuser , not especially focused on any age group, other than young women generally. (Though his involvement with Myra herself would fall under "strong, persistent interest", I'd say.) Anyway, long ago, different culture. Not ok, imo, but it was what it was.

 

[TyBo]

Back to Jerry Lee and his musical world. Engaging stories from musician Kenny Vaughn, who knew Jerry Lee through being with Marty Stuart and is band. Jerry Lee was a wild guy, no doubt. With an incredible gift for music.

 

[Bass V]

He found an older woman to pretend to be his bride-to-be while securing the marriage license in Mississippi for his wedding in Louisiana. Also, he was still married to his previous wife at the time, so he was a bigamist too. He got away with it but that wasn't because it was legal.
He was a great musician but not a good person.

Source and citation: "Jerry Lee Lewis was an SOB Right to the End" by Bill Wyman (the author, not the musician).
So by you it's immoral but it's OK as long as you're famous enough. Cool.

good gravy, let's microscope your life and nitpick it to death, 10-1 we'll find something to complain about right off. he lived a long complicated life in the fastest lane available without denting that many fenders along the way, even his wives and enemies have little bad to say about him while those he knew are all praise, for the person as well as The Killer. if your complaint is child safety then buckle up cos that's now a thing of the distant past in so many terrible ways, kids are targets. but you be you. my money is on the words and actions of RnR Queens like Wanda, and Rose Maddox, who found him worthy of stealing the family's fortune to spend a wild week with.

 

[g-dude]

That is BS, I have never seen that written anywhere. Whether you agree with what he did or not or think he was a bad person, that is your opinion nothing else, he married her in Mississippi which was legal, those were different times and he had no problems here but it caused an uproar in England and just about ruined his career, it DID completely ruin his rock n roll career. The man is dead why don't you let him die in peace, he never did anything to you and it was legal when he did it, in fact it was common in the South. The man paid over and over again. Many rock stars have done this, Ted Nugent had to adopt a 17 year old in Hawaii to get out of being arrested for transporting a minor. Don Henley got arrested for have two girls, 16 and 17 in his room. This goes on and on.

Don Henley got probation after being discovered with a naked underaged prostitute who OD’d on drugs.

 

[aprod]

I heard the Girl Scouts will be selling a new cookie dedicated to him, though they'll only sell it to their close relatives.
And, it will be the first Girl Scout cookie to be sold as uncooked cookie dough.
Stay Classy, J.L.L.!

That is where he met his first wife, the Girl Scouts.

 

[aprod]

I have no opinion on whether it was immoral and don't really care either, it was 60 years ago and was commonplace in the Southern part of the United States. I'm not God, I don't judge.

But I think you need to read it again, it says nothing of him substituting an older woman for her when he married her. He married an older woman before his divorce from her was final.

:On December 12, 1957, Jerry married his third cousin, Myra Gale Brown. A lot of ink has been spilled about his close blood relationship with Myra, and the fact that she was only 13 and still believed in Santa Claus when the pair were married. For a man from his time and place, however, marrying at 13 and marrying one's third cousin (twice removed) were both fairly commonplace, although Lewis further complicated matters by again marrying before the divorce from his second wife was final."

That sounds like the same argument in defense of slavery.

 

[TyBo]

That sounds like the same argument in defense of slavery.

An analogy could be made to slavery - something we now clearly view as wrong, but was once legal, back when it was happening. And, both happened quite some time ago. Not an argument for either thing, but context for them.

 

[GretschWretch]

Here’s the real deal…
View attachment 4857086

And the bass is a second-generation P (54-56).

 

[GretschWretch]

Here's another pic with the Outlaws, with Richie Blackmore;

View attachment 4857378

And not a Fender to be seen. British "Beat" era all the way.

 

[Hambone70]

An analogy could be made to slavery - something we now clearly view as wrong, but was once legal, back when it was happening. And, both happened quite some time ago. Not an argument for either thing, but context for them.

Legal or not, both slavery and pedophilia have always been wrong.

 

[g-dude]

Legal or not, both slavery and pedophilia have always been wrong.

The ancient Greeks and Romans would have disagreed with you.

 

[Hambone70]

The ancient Greeks and Romans would have disagreed with you.

They probably would have disagreed. That still doesn’t make slavery or pedophilia right.

 

[5StringBlues]

Fun thread.

 

[g-dude]

They probably would have disagreed. That still doesn’t make slavery or pedophilia right.

To us.

To them, these were things that weren’t wrong. We know this.

While we would agree that human sacrifice is wrong (I’m assume you agree with this), there are many cultures that viewed it as a good thing. Because their definition of good was different.

There are cultures where alcohol is considered good, or at least not bad. There are other ones where it is considered bad. Who is right?

To be clear, I’m not a fan of moral relativism as I have my own views of right and wrong…but I don’t view my grandmother getting married at 16 the same as I would if my son were to want to get married when he turns 16.

There are tons of things that are legal elsewhere in the world that we would hate, but they consider fine. Likewise, we have things here that are viewed as socially acceptable that other cultures find appalling.

The big difference here is that if I don’t like something someone has done in their life, I am free to go about my day and not involve myself in discussions about them.

As are you.

 

[bobyoung53]

Fun thread.

Yes, it's ridiculous, bashers here with no understanding nor care for history bash a pioneer rock n roller they probably already hate because of doing something which in those days was common in the deep south. I'll ruin their thread too next time I see any of them start a Justin Bieber thread.

 

[bobyoung53]

And not a Fender to be seen. British "Beat" era all the way.

Nice Gibsons though.

 

[Michedelic]

Yes, it's ridiculous, bashers here with no understanding nor care for history bash a pioneer rock n roller they probably already hate because of doing something which in those days was common in the deep south. I'll ruin their thread too next time I see any of them start a Justin Bieber thread.

Maybe we should move on to how inbred European royalty has been.

 

[5StringBlues]

Yes, it's ridiculous, bashers here with no understanding nor care for history bash a pioneer rock n roller they probably already hate because of doing something which in those days was common in the deep south. I'll ruin their thread too next time I see any of them start a Justin Bieber thread.

Same junk happened when Taylor Hawkins died. Someone has to bring up his addictions. We all know/knew about Jerry's lifestyle/problems as well as Taylor's, but the morality police have to come in and drag all this up.




In threads about people who just died....



No respect for the dead, most likely no respect for the living.



I wasn't a fan of Jerry Lee, musically or as a person, but RIP Killer.

 

[bobyoung53]

Same junk happened when Taylor Hawkins died. Someone has to bring up his addictions. We all know/knew about Jerry's lifestyle/problems as well as Taylor's, but the morality police have to come in and drag all this up.




In threads about people who just died....



No respect for the dead, most likely no respect for the living.



I wasn't a fan of Jerry Lee, musically or as a person, but RIP Killer.

Yes, I learned a long time ago that if I don't like the topic of a thread I steer clear of it or try to and think before I post. What's that old saying, 'Let he without sin throw the first stone'?
If I didn't listen to musicians whose lifestyles I disapproved of I've have to sell off half of my collection. I appreciate artists for their talent not their personal lifestyle.

 

[Sands]

RIP. Condolences to family, friends, fans.