On this day, November 11, 1957, Sun Records released "Great Balls of Fire."

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Great Balls of Fire


Single by Jerry Lee Lewis

B-side: "You Win Again"
Released: November 11, 1957
Recorded: October 8, 1957
Studio: Sun Studio (Memphis, Tennessee)
Genre: Rock and rollrockabilly
Length: 1:52
Label: Sun 281
Songwriter(s): Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer {Jack Hammer?}
Producer(s): Sam Phillips

"Great Balls of Fire" is a 1957 popular song recorded by American rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun Records and featured in the 1957 movie Jamboree. It was written by Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer. The Jerry Lee Lewis 1957 recording was ranked as the 96th greatest song ever by Rolling Stone. The song is in AABA form. The song sold one million copies in its first 10 days of release in the United States making it one of the best-selling singles in the United States at that time.

Song information

The song is best known for Jerry Lee Lewis's original recording, which was recorded in the Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on October 8, 1957, using three personnel: Lewis (piano/vocals), Sidney Stokes (bass), and a session drummer, Larry Linn, instead of the usual Sun backups Jimmy Van Eaton (drums) and Roland Janes (guitar). Lewis was quoted in the book JLL: His Own Story by Rick Bragg, (pg 133), as saying "I knew Sidney Stokes but I didn't know him that well either, and I don't know what happened to them people. That's the last time I ever seen 'em. That's strange isn't it?" It was released as a 45rpm single on Sun 281 in November 1957. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard pop charts, No. 3 on the R&B charts, and No. 1 on the country charts. It also reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, and appeared on the New Zealand Singles Chart and the Dutch Top 40.

The song was featured in a performance by Jerry Lee Lewis and his band in the 1957 Warner Brothers rock and roll film Jamboree, which also featured Carl Perkins, Fats Domino, Buddy Knox, and Dick Clark. The recording was released in the UK on London Records.

The tune opens up side 2 of Lewis's 1964 album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg.

{snip}

Everybody knows how that goes. Tell me more about that song on the B-side.

That's a Hank Williams tune from 1952.

You Win Again (Hank Williams song)

"You Win Again" is a 1952 song by Hank Williams. In style, the song is a blues ballad and deals with the singer's despair with his partner. The song has been widely covered, including versions by Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, the Grateful Dead, Charley Pride, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones.

{snip}

Cover versions

• Pop singer Tommy Edwards released the song for MGM on the same day as Williams and it rose to #13 on the pop charts in the fall of 1952.
• Williams' friend and rival Lefty Frizzell covered the song for Columbia.
• Late in 1957, Jerry Lee Lewis released the song as the B-side to "Great Balls of Fire". His version of the song peaked at number four on the country chart.

{snip}

The caption to the video says the song is from 1956. Someone else is going to have to figure that out.

Jerry Lee Lewis - You Win Again (1956)Svcd

Breathlessss
1.17K subscribers

39,111 views Dec 15, 2008

Mon Oct 28, 2024: On this day, October 28, 2022, Jerry Lee Lewis died.

Sat Nov 11, 2023: On this day, November 11, 1957, Sun Records released "Great Balls of Fire."

Hat tip, Floyd R. Turbo in a post a few years back

Fri Nov 11, 2022: On this day, November 11, 1957, Sun Records released "Great Balls of Fire."