Movie Music Monday – Great Balls of Fire

It was on this day in 1989 that Dennis Quaid hit the big screen as Jerry Lew Lewis in Great Balls of Fire.

The film covers the early career of Lewis, from his rise to rock-and-roll stardom to his controversial marriage to his 13-year-old cousin. That marriage led to his downfall. Until the scandal of the marriage depreciated his image, many had thought Lewis would take over Elvis Presley  as the “King of Rock and Roll” in the 1950s.

The story was co-written by Myra Gale Lewis (her autobiography Great Balls of Fire!), the former wife of Jerry Lee Lewis, with Murray Silver. Despite this, co-writer Silver was upset by the lack of accuracy in the film, claiming it was “phoney”.

Lewis openly stated that he hated the film and the book it was based on. He did, however, praise Quaid’s portrayal of him in the film, saying “he really pulled it off”. Quaid even learned to play “Lewis-style” piano for the role.

For the soundtrack, Lewis re-recorded some of his music from the 1950s. The songs included “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “That Lucky Old Sun,” “High School Confidential,” “Breathless,” and the title track.

Overall, the re-recordings aren’t bad. Jerry Lee’s voice still sounds great and the sound is pretty close to that of the originals.  Many of them are longer and contain extra solos, which is actually neat to hear.

I could pick a few from this soundtrack, but I’ve gotta go with the title track.  Here are the versions from the film, the soundtrack and the original hit.