In the late 1940s and early 1950s, a fusion of rhythm and blues, jazz, gospel, and country music began to appear on the popular music scene. In 1954, Cleveland DJ Alan Freed gave it a name – rock and roll – and Bill Haley and His Comets gave it a kickstart with rock and roll’s anthem, “Rock Around the Clock.” Haley and six other artists, through their musical talents, unique styles, and wide-ranging popularity, forged this new music genre. These seven young men, universally regarded as the principal pioneers of rock and roll are all dead now, but their names are indelibly fixed in the hearts and minds of anyone born before the Korean War who had access to an AM radio. I call them The Magnificent Seven: Buddy Holly (died 1959), Elvis Presley (d. 1977), Bill Haley (d. 1981), Fats Domino (d. 2017), Chuck Berry (d. 2017), Little Richard (d. 2020), and just recently, Jerry Lee Lewis (d. October 28, 2022). Though gone, their legacy can be summed up by these lines from a 1957 song: “Rock and roll is here to stay. It will never die.”

Early rock and roll gave us some great music – and some not-so great-music (e.g., “Stranded in the Jungle,” “Purple People Eater”) – but with the passing of Jerry Lee “Killer” Lewis, I am reminded that he gave me, and I’m sure many others, my favorite rock and roll song of the ‘50s: the incomparable “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.”

Okay, all you septuagenarians and octogenarians out there, if WLSGO wasn’t your favorite tune, or at least one of your top five, then you must have never been boppin’ at the high school hop. At parties and dances, when the opening four measures rumbled off Jerry Lee Lewis’ piano, its driving rhythm literally propelled you out of your seat. You just had to get up and dance.

Back then, the conservative evangelical Christians called rock and roll, and especially Lewis’ version of it, the devil’s music, and called for censorship. My parents, good Methodists, thought it was just noise – that is, until they too learned to dance to it. They never saw the need to censor what I listened to . . . and listen I did . . . devil’s music and all.

When “Rock Around the Clock” was released, I was nine years old, and rock and roll immediately became the heartbeat of my childhood. When my older brother got his first 45 RPM record player and started his record collection, I was totally hooked. The rock and roll music of the ‘50s and ‘60s is still my favorite sub-genre within that overall genre of Rock Music, and I have these seven guys, and many others, to thank. [1]

WLSGO notwithstanding, there were other members of the Magnificent Seven that I valued higher, particularly prolific singer/songwriters Buddy Holly [2] and Chuck Berry.[3] Before Lewis made it big, Little Richard’s output of high energy, piano banging, up tempo music earned him the title “Architect of Rock and Roll.” Elvis was, well, “The King,” but after “Jailhouse Rock,” he seemed to cool down a bit. Fats Domino was second only to Elvis in record sales in the ‘50s. Fats brought the blues to rock and roll before B.B. King did with the unforgettable “Blueberry Hill.” Lewis, along with Carl Perkins, led the rockabilly crossover from country music to rock and roll.

“Shakin’” was Lewis’ best-selling hit, but it only reached No.3 on the Billboard charts in May 1957. That year, however, belonged to Elvis. Four of his releases held the No. 1 spot for 25 of the year’s 52 weeks.[4] In 1957, hard rockin’ songs were not the best sellers. Mellower artists like Pat Boone, Guy Mitchell, Perry Como, Tab Hunter and Debbie Reynolds all had No.1 hits. WLSGO did manage to reach No. 1 in the R&B charts that year.  Based upon lasting popularity and impact on the evolution of rock and roll, it’s been rated the No. 5 rock and roll song of the entire ‘50s decade, ahead of all the No. 1 hits of 1957, except for “Jailhouse Rock.”

Unfortunately, after the public learned Lewis had married his 13-year-old first cousin in 1958, his career tanked.[5] Had he led a more scandal-free life, I’m sure he would have produced more hits. And had he not recorded “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” and performed it as dynamically as he did, I believe he would not have made the list of the seven principal pioneers of rock and roll and would not have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the charter class of 1986. That’s how important his first hit was to his brief career in the center of the popular music limelight.

The Killer’s turbulent life is over, and now the last of the Magnificent Seven is gone. I loved them in the first quarter of my life and I still love them in the fourth quarter. They were all major influencers of later rock legends like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Elton John, to name a few.  I’ll always be grateful to the Magnificent Seven for the gift of rock and roll, and now that Jerry Lee Lewis has passed on, I want to thank him for giving my generation “Come on over, baby, whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on!”

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[1] Honorable mentions from the ‘50s include the Everly Brothers, Eddie Cochran, Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, Carl Perkins, Sam Cooke, Johnny Cash, The Platters, The Coasters, and The Five Satins.

[2] Within about the same time period that Lewis released his four Top 40 hits, Buddy Holly released ten, including two of my all-time favorites, “Peggy Sue,” and “That’ll Be the Day.”

[3] “Johnny B. Goode” is right behind WLSGO on my all-time ‘50s favorites list.

[4] “Too Much”—three weeks; “All Shook Up” – eight weeks; “Teddy Bear” – seven weeks; “Jailhouse Rock” – seven weeks.

[5] He re-emerged ten years later as a country music singer but never regained his former stature.