“Chantilly Lace”
Jerry Lee Lewis
Written by J.P. Richardson
Billboard
#1 (3 weeks)
April 22 – May 6, 1972
Hey, all you “it’s okay because it was legal at the time” folks and “separate the art from the artists” folks! This one’s for you!
And I mean that wholeheartedly, if you can look past this man’s past while listening to this specific record.
If you can endure through the end without thinking once about what this man did and why he did it, this one really is for you.
As for me?
A middle-aged man who raped his young cousin drooling lecherously over his keyboard about how we know what he likes is a bridge too far for me.
Everything about it makes me sick to my stomach.
I’m so glad this is his last number one single and I don’t have to write about him again.
“Chantilly Lace” gets an F.
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Not familiar with this song. I’m wholeheartedly not trying to start a argument all because I agree what he did was wrong whether legal or not but I can separate the artist from art at hand.
That being said Jerry’s musical output from 67-70 would warrant a whole lotta A’s for me personally and I could argue that he made the best country music from that period. He just was an incredible stylist and vocally I could not tell where he would take a song.
What Jerry Lee Lewis did to his cousin absolutely could and should have landed him behind bars; I don’t question that at all. That said, however, if we held every other male country artist, up to and including some of today’s biggies, to the same high moral standard, then more than a few of then would be stewing in the hoosegow too; and then the fans of those guys would be facing the same problem about separating their favorites’ lack of morality from their art.
As to “Chantilly Lace”–is it right that it spent three weeks in the C&W penthouse, and just barely missed being another Top 40 pop hit for the man? Probably not, because it sounds exactly like what it in fact is: Jerry Lee at his old-school peak of Wild, remaking The Big Bopper’s 1958 rock and roll classic for an early 1970’s audience as seemingly only he can.
Who among today’s biggies have raped and married children? What did I miss?
It’s a good thing Kevin isn’t writing about some of the early rock ‘n roll heroes like Chuck Berry, Marvin Gaye, Elvis Presley and countless others.
When dealing with the past, even the relatively recent past, it is always dangerous to apply today’s standards to the actions of the past. Laws, mores and ethical standards change – when Loretta Lynn came up it was alleged that she was 13 when she and Doolittle were married. Exactly why this was done is not clear to me but apparently Loretta was okay with it. In later years they corrected the record to say that she was married at age 15.
For what it is worth many country stations played “Think About It Darlin'” rather than “Chantilly Lace” as the A side. WHOO-AM in Orlando hardly played “Chantilly Lace” at all whereas WCMS-AM in Norfolk played both sides. Record World charted “Think About It Darlin'” at #1 – whereas Billboard and Cash Box had tag-along listings for the song.
I would give “Chantilly Lace” a “C” and “Think About It Darlin'” a “B”
You don’t actually have to defend child rape, Paul. You could just make the case that the music is significant in spite of what Lewis did to that little girl.
Which is the case I’ve been making for Lewis and the same I would make for the artists you listed, all of whom made questionable moral choices that wouldn’t fly today, but none of whom raped and married their 13 yo cousins.
I’ve already separated the art from the artist in my writing on Lewis. You’re dead set on excusing that artist raping a little girl.
If child rape is legal again tomorrow, I’ll still think it’s wrong and judge those who do it harshly. Will you?
Or will you be cool with your favorite artist taking a 13 year old child as his wife because it’s a-ok in Mississippi again?
Co-signed.
I said in the previous JLL thread what my stance is on “separating the art from the artist,” but this idea that what has been codified as law to protect the interests and uphold power structures for old white men, alone, has any bearing on what should be morally acceptable is just absurd. This was an adult man who raped and married a child; it was morally abhorrent then, it’s morally abhorrent today, and it will be morally abhorrent tomorrow if sympathetic political movements get their way related to age of consent laws.
But, by all means, listen to JLL– again, a grown man who raped and married a child– sing, “Ooh, baby, you know what I like,” while being willfully ignorant of what, exactly, that man liked and was bringing to the bear in that performance.
Context is important; however, I am not excusing anything and I don’t see where I said anything to that effect. I deeply resent the accusation that I excused child rape.
I deeply resent your defense of child rape, and that’s exactly what it is to excuse it as being normal at the time. So was marital rape, child abuse, and segregation.
Again, if those were legal tomorrow and your favorite artist was on board with any or all of them, would it be a dealbreaker for you?
It would be for me, even if it was my very favorite artist.
Country music is incredibly important to me. I’ve written about it for more than twenty years, and it was enough before that to get me to go to Nashville for college and consider a music business career.
But the safety and well-being of children, particularly those who are marginalized, has been my life’s work, as it has been Jonathan’s. We serve in different capacities, but the work is the same: leadership roles that place us in the role of protectors and mandated reporters. We know what it looks like when guys like Lewis do what they do, and they’re still doing it.
The defense of Jerry Lee Lewis on this is not a gray area. As Jonathan said, what he did was morally abhorrent. The mere news of it ended his career for a long stretch. It’s not like people waved it away as a-ok at the time.
So spare me the historical revisionism. People knew it was wrong then and stopped buying his records. You’re here explaining it away on a Sunday morning almost seventy years later, minimizing the actions of a child rapist who is already dead and doesn’t need a character witness.
That would be enough to jolt me into a moment of reflection, because you’ve been a member of this community for two decades – even written for us at one point – and our two editors WHO WORK WITH CHILDREN are calling you out on this one.
You’ve conceded exceedingly few points over the last twenty years, but this is the only truly ugly hill you’ve chosen to die on. With my CU hat on, I’m disappointed. With my father/grandfather/lifelong educator hat on, I’m horrified.
I certainly don’t want to get involved in an argument, but I can say I truly enjoy Kevin’s writing and also Paul’s commentary. I think two things can be true at the same time. I have no use for Jerry Lee and I can’t think of anyway I could defend him. At the same time context and timeframes, societal norms matter. Loretta is a good example. She would be on my personal Mount Rushmore of country singers, but it is true that she was ok with the tall-tale about her getting married at 13 and the movie portraying her husband to force her to have sex the first time. It could have been that she was just telling an honest story but it turns out she wasn’t. She knew she was 15 but still found it ok to go with the other story. My guess is that she felt it would sell the story more.
Two other examples of how we all excuse thing we should not. And yes, we can all improve (including me).
Example one: Michael Jackson. Many people excuse his behavior by saying he was a child in a man’s body. Nothing could be further from the truth. While the child rape was never proved it is pretty clear he engaged in inappropriate behavior that would not be tolerated by anyone other than a “star”. He was an adult making adult decisions.
Example Two: Charlie Daniels – As a gay man I am deeply offended by this man. He stated many derogatory things about gay men up through his later years showing he never evolved. Many of my gay friends disagree with me based on his charity work and his generation. I disagreed.
What is my point? I think judging people by the past is complicated. I feel I am correct regarding my feelings for people like Charlie Daniels, Jerry Lee, & Michael Jackson, but I have to always be open to other views. Maybe I am wrong but it’s how I personally feel. I appreciate the platform to provide my thoughts.
I can’t listen to Michael Jackson because of the accusations. I cut people some slack on that one because as you said, nothing was ever proven, but I saw enough of that documentary and have worked with kids long enough to believe that they were telling the truth. Put aside the fame and fortune and the details match up with typical abuse cases.
I do miss listening to Michael Jackson. I’ll never miss listening to Jerry Lee Lewis. But the principle is the same. I can’t enjoy either of them because of what they did to kids.
Typically I do separate the art from artist, and most of the time it doesn’t impact my listening experience when it comes to Jerry Lee. However, I’ve never liked this song no matter who performs it, and I do find it problematic to my personal ears. Lewis was much more palatable singing about heartache and misery, though I do like a lot of his early rock and roll material.
I’ve never liked this song no matter who performs it
Yep, that’s pretty much how I feel. But Jerry Lee did have some other recordings over the years that were excellent. My favorite has always been ”She Even Work Me Up To Say Goodbye” from 1969.
”She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye,” even…
…kinda liked your first take better. intriguing stuff, pistolero.
To be fair, Tom, Loretta being married at 15 doesn’t sit much better with me than 13. Obviously, 13 is worse, but 15 is still solidly a child who isn’t ready to make such decisions as being married or having relations with an older man. We know Loretta’s husband was abusive and no mattter how trauma bonded she was with him, I still see their “love” story as a very sad one.
I actually agree with you. It’s all a bit insane.
Going to just judge the song. “D” at best. All the country legends loved him, so I am assuming that’s how he was able to get country radio airplay back in the day. Either way, just not good for the genre.
They played him because he was a fabulous (or “killer”) country singer: “Another Place, Another Time,” “What’s Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser…),” “Middle Aged Crazy, etc. Nobody did honkytonk better.
I guess it’s a matter of personal taste. I find him nowhere close to Haggard, Jones, Hank etc. I will admit that those icons agreed with you as I have seen in many interviews. I just personally never saw it and still don’t.
…not to excuse anything, but you guys remember, whom you made your president, don’t you? without the introduction of the big bopper this song is still cool but like a cone with ice-cream withouth the cone.
You’ve been reading and commenting here long enough to know full well that your “you guys” in no way actually includes any of the writers here, Tom.
My least favorite Jerry Lewis hit. Until reading the comments section here, I always thought it was an earlier hit from his later rock and roll days. I didn’t know it was a cover of a Big Bopper hit.
Jerry Lee Lewis, however, still sounds like Jerry Lee Lewis.
When contextualizing artists and their art, I try to be mindful of both sins and stones.