“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.
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”
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.