1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,667 NARRATOR: Myra Brown is only 12 years old when 2 00:00:04,667 --> 00:00:08,000 her older cousin, Jerry Lee, shakes up her life. 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:10,266 MYRA: We were all mesmerized. 4 00:00:10,266 --> 00:00:14,967 You knew something great was coming out of this. 5 00:00:15,033 --> 00:00:17,767 NARRATOR: And he rocks the rest of the world. 6 00:00:17,767 --> 00:00:20,667 ♪ Goodness gracious great balls of fire ♪ 7 00:00:20,734 --> 00:00:23,100 NARRATOR: It's the birth of rock and roll 8 00:00:23,100 --> 00:00:25,867 and the beginning of a roller coaster for Myra. 9 00:00:25,867 --> 00:00:27,367 MYRA: Jerry would kiss me. 10 00:00:27,367 --> 00:00:30,667 I mean it was nice, but I was confused. 11 00:00:31,567 --> 00:00:33,367 LINDA: I think Jerry Lee was a predator, 12 00:00:33,433 --> 00:00:36,767 and Myra was an easy mark for him. 13 00:00:36,767 --> 00:00:39,567 MYRA: Jerry was so possessive of me. 14 00:00:39,634 --> 00:00:43,166 He did not want me to look another man in the eye. 15 00:00:43,166 --> 00:00:44,467 ABIGAIL: He had a terrible temper, 16 00:00:44,533 --> 00:00:47,266 and then you combine it with amphetamines and booze -- 17 00:00:47,266 --> 00:00:50,066 it's like pouring lighter fuel on a fire. 18 00:00:50,066 --> 00:00:52,467 MYRA: When the good times came back for Jerry's career, 19 00:00:52,467 --> 00:00:54,867 things went to hell quickly. 20 00:00:54,867 --> 00:00:56,967 [distant shouting] 21 00:00:57,033 --> 00:00:59,000 [distant sobbing] 22 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:04,266 [theme music playing] 23 00:01:17,367 --> 00:01:20,367 MYRA: My family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, 24 00:01:20,367 --> 00:01:22,467 when I was five years old, 25 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:25,367 and I cried all the way there, 26 00:01:25,367 --> 00:01:27,533 because I wanted to stay with my mamaw. 27 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:31,667 NARRATOR: It's 1949, and Myra Brown is saying 28 00:01:31,667 --> 00:01:35,767 goodbye to her extended family in rural Louisiana. 29 00:01:35,767 --> 00:01:39,333 My daddy got a job as a lineman in Memphis. 30 00:01:47,567 --> 00:01:50,266 Memphis, they say, is this sort of 31 00:01:50,266 --> 00:01:54,467 gateway into the deep South. 32 00:01:54,467 --> 00:01:57,867 It really became this meeting point 33 00:01:57,934 --> 00:02:01,066 between white and black music, 34 00:02:01,133 --> 00:02:05,567 between country and early sort of rockabilly hillbilly music 35 00:02:05,634 --> 00:02:08,834 and African-American music, gospel, and R&B. 36 00:02:10,567 --> 00:02:13,767 And the focal point for Memphis music at 37 00:02:13,834 --> 00:02:16,266 that time is Sam Phillips and Sun Records. 38 00:02:17,266 --> 00:02:20,367 NARRATOR: Myra's dad, JW, is a bass player, 39 00:02:20,367 --> 00:02:21,867 and he's quick to discover that 40 00:02:21,867 --> 00:02:25,767 Memphis is an epicenter for a new kind of music, 41 00:02:25,767 --> 00:02:27,166 rock and roll. 42 00:02:33,467 --> 00:02:35,767 Sam Phillips brought together 43 00:02:35,834 --> 00:02:38,100 many of the musicians from the South 44 00:02:38,100 --> 00:02:41,266 to create this new sound. 45 00:02:41,333 --> 00:02:43,467 He is the one who discovered 46 00:02:43,533 --> 00:02:47,367 Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash 47 00:02:47,367 --> 00:02:48,467 Sun Records -- 48 00:02:48,533 --> 00:02:51,033 it's the birthplace of rock and roll. 49 00:02:56,300 --> 00:03:00,066 NARRATOR: When JW suffers a serious electrical accident at work, 50 00:03:00,066 --> 00:03:01,967 he gets a large settlement. 51 00:03:01,967 --> 00:03:04,567 It's the catalyst for a career change. 52 00:03:04,634 --> 00:03:06,867 MYRA: My daddy said, "I'm gonna go 53 00:03:06,867 --> 00:03:10,567 "to Louisiana and find my cousin Jerry 54 00:03:10,634 --> 00:03:12,367 "and see if he'll come to Memphis, 55 00:03:12,367 --> 00:03:13,767 and we'll put together a band." 56 00:03:13,767 --> 00:03:17,100 He said, "I've heard how great he is on the piano, 57 00:03:17,100 --> 00:03:19,867 how talented he is." 58 00:03:19,934 --> 00:03:21,567 NARRATOR: Only 21 years old, 59 00:03:21,634 --> 00:03:24,867 Jerry Lee Lewis has already been married twice, 60 00:03:24,934 --> 00:03:27,166 the first time when he was 16. 61 00:03:27,233 --> 00:03:30,066 In the South, people got married young, 62 00:03:30,066 --> 00:03:32,000 they started having kids really young, 63 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:33,767 and then they had a lot of them. 64 00:03:33,834 --> 00:03:37,467 That's the story of the Lewis family. 65 00:03:37,533 --> 00:03:40,166 NARRATOR: Jerry Lee now lives with his second wife, 66 00:03:40,233 --> 00:03:42,467 Jane, in Faraday, Louisiana. 67 00:03:46,667 --> 00:03:49,266 Daddy found Jerry working at 68 00:03:49,266 --> 00:03:52,367 a little dive called the Wagon Wheel. 69 00:03:52,367 --> 00:03:54,867 Daddy went over and introduced himself and said, 70 00:03:54,934 --> 00:03:58,867 "I would like for you to stay at my house as my guest. 71 00:03:58,867 --> 00:04:01,166 "I'll take you to Sun Records, 72 00:04:01,233 --> 00:04:02,767 "introduce you to Sam Phillips, 73 00:04:02,767 --> 00:04:04,767 and let's see about getting a contract." 74 00:04:04,834 --> 00:04:08,100 [phone ringing] 75 00:04:08,100 --> 00:04:12,266 The phone rings, and I'm this 12-year-old kid. 76 00:04:12,333 --> 00:04:15,266 The man says, "Can I speak to JW? 77 00:04:15,333 --> 00:04:18,367 I need to get directions to your house." 78 00:04:18,433 --> 00:04:22,266 Jerry came in, and he was wearing a red plaid shirt. 79 00:04:22,266 --> 00:04:24,867 He had a haircut that was way 80 00:04:24,867 --> 00:04:27,767 too short, because his ears stuck out, 81 00:04:27,767 --> 00:04:30,367 and he just looked like nothing special. 82 00:04:30,367 --> 00:04:31,467 [piano playing] 83 00:04:31,533 --> 00:04:34,767 But then he started playing the piano 84 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,266 and immediately got my attention. 85 00:04:38,333 --> 00:04:40,867 It was like we were all mesmerized, because 86 00:04:40,867 --> 00:04:43,634 he was just so good on the piano. 87 00:04:44,667 --> 00:04:48,266 My opinion changed drastically of him. 88 00:04:48,266 --> 00:04:50,867 His haircut didn't matter anymore. 89 00:04:50,867 --> 00:04:53,100 I was three years old when he moved into our house, 90 00:04:53,100 --> 00:04:55,066 and they practiced in the living room 91 00:04:55,066 --> 00:04:58,266 for a while, and his hands were so fast. 92 00:04:58,266 --> 00:05:01,567 It was just like they were in double motion. 93 00:05:01,567 --> 00:05:03,266 It was like he had four hands. 94 00:05:03,333 --> 00:05:05,266 It was just hard to believe that he could play it 95 00:05:05,266 --> 00:05:06,367 like that. 96 00:05:06,367 --> 00:05:09,367 The man was a great musician. 97 00:05:09,367 --> 00:05:11,166 MYRA: Then daddy took Jerry to 98 00:05:11,166 --> 00:05:13,767 Sun Records and had him audition, 99 00:05:13,767 --> 00:05:16,867 and that's how it all began. 100 00:05:18,166 --> 00:05:22,533 His first record was "End of the Road" and "Crazy Arms." 101 00:05:25,266 --> 00:05:29,467 One day in the studio, my daddy said to him, 102 00:05:29,467 --> 00:05:32,867 "Jerry, play that shakin' song," 103 00:05:32,867 --> 00:05:36,567 because when they were traveling and doing shows, 104 00:05:36,567 --> 00:05:40,467 Jerry would do that song, and the audience would just react 105 00:05:40,467 --> 00:05:44,266 like crazy, and that was "Whole Lotta Shakin'." 106 00:05:44,333 --> 00:05:48,367 And the first time Sam heard it, it was like, this is... 107 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:51,767 it, you know? 108 00:05:51,767 --> 00:05:55,567 NARRATOR: Myra has just turned 13 when her dad and Jerry fly to 109 00:05:55,567 --> 00:05:58,767 New York with their band to make their debut on live 110 00:05:58,767 --> 00:06:00,066 national television. 111 00:06:00,066 --> 00:06:02,867 Mom and I were at home watching television, 112 00:06:02,867 --> 00:06:08,266 and you knew something great was coming out of this. 113 00:06:08,266 --> 00:06:11,367 ["Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" plays] 114 00:06:11,367 --> 00:06:13,667 [crowd cheering] 115 00:06:13,734 --> 00:06:17,567 ♪ Come on over baby Whole lotta shakin' goin' on ♪ 116 00:06:17,634 --> 00:06:21,166 MYRA: And I guess seeing him on Steve Allen's show, 117 00:06:21,166 --> 00:06:26,066 he rose in my mind, you know, to a higher level. 118 00:06:27,166 --> 00:06:30,767 ALAN: It is safe to say that the overwhelming majority of 119 00:06:30,834 --> 00:06:33,266 the network TV viewing audience 120 00:06:33,266 --> 00:06:36,567 would never have seen anything like Jerry Lee Lewis 121 00:06:36,567 --> 00:06:38,166 before in their lives. 122 00:06:38,166 --> 00:06:41,166 ♪ Ah, shake baby ♪ 123 00:06:41,233 --> 00:06:44,166 ♪ You can shake one time for me ♪ 124 00:06:44,166 --> 00:06:46,467 ALAN: For a young girl growing up in the South, 125 00:06:46,467 --> 00:06:50,000 just the notion that you would know somebody who would be on 126 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,467 television was almost beyond imagination. 127 00:06:53,467 --> 00:06:55,767 MYRA: I was 13 years old. 128 00:06:55,767 --> 00:06:59,667 He became a little God in my mind and in a lot of 129 00:06:59,734 --> 00:07:01,867 people's mind at that time. 130 00:07:01,934 --> 00:07:03,867 When Whole Lotta Shakin' hit, 131 00:07:03,867 --> 00:07:07,567 they went up to $10,000 a show, and this is in the fifties. 132 00:07:07,634 --> 00:07:08,834 That's a lot of money. 133 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,867 Clearly, Steve Allen got a kick out of him. 134 00:07:13,867 --> 00:07:17,767 Very soon after, he booked him to come back on. 135 00:07:17,767 --> 00:07:21,467 Mr. Commotion himself, Jerry Lee Lewis, here he is! 136 00:07:21,467 --> 00:07:25,000 So to get a second bite at that apple, national television, 137 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:26,367 that was a big deal. 138 00:07:26,367 --> 00:07:29,567 ♪ Goodness gracious great balls of fire ♪ 139 00:07:29,634 --> 00:07:31,667 [playing piano] 140 00:07:31,667 --> 00:07:33,767 NARRATOR: As Jerry's fame skyrockets, 141 00:07:33,834 --> 00:07:36,166 his marriage falls apart. 142 00:07:36,166 --> 00:07:37,767 MYRA: He knew what time school let out, 143 00:07:37,767 --> 00:07:39,567 and he would go up there. 144 00:07:39,567 --> 00:07:42,767 He'd say, "Hey, you wanna go get some ice cream?" 145 00:07:42,834 --> 00:07:45,533 And I -- he always knew I wanted to go get ice cream. 146 00:07:48,700 --> 00:07:50,967 Jerry and I, we would go to 147 00:07:51,033 --> 00:07:54,233 a movie after dinner or something like that. 148 00:07:55,367 --> 00:07:58,467 I thought he was being nice to a kid. 149 00:07:58,467 --> 00:07:59,967 I thought it was... 150 00:08:01,667 --> 00:08:03,433 [sighs] that kind of thing, 151 00:08:05,467 --> 00:08:09,033 you know, like pat the kid on top of the head or something. 152 00:08:10,367 --> 00:08:14,100 I was idolizing Jerry 153 00:08:14,100 --> 00:08:17,467 and looking up to him and thinking he's this great 154 00:08:17,467 --> 00:08:18,767 big star. 155 00:08:18,767 --> 00:08:22,634 What I didn't know was that he was falling in love with me. 156 00:08:24,467 --> 00:08:27,967 LINDA: Myra's parents had no idea 157 00:08:28,033 --> 00:08:33,000 that Jerry Lee was wooing their daughter. 158 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:34,667 They knew the two had fun together, 159 00:08:34,667 --> 00:08:36,166 they knew they were friends, 160 00:08:36,166 --> 00:08:39,567 but it truly didn't occur to them 161 00:08:39,634 --> 00:08:43,767 that this older man would 162 00:08:43,767 --> 00:08:47,467 try to have a relationship with their child. 163 00:08:49,667 --> 00:08:51,166 MYRA: You know, after supper or something, 164 00:08:51,233 --> 00:08:54,767 we'd drive up to the A&W or whatever it is, 165 00:08:54,767 --> 00:08:57,533 and Jerry would kiss me. 166 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:01,266 At first, I, you know, I didn't know what to think 167 00:09:01,333 --> 00:09:04,767 about that -- I mean, it was nice, but I was confused. 168 00:09:04,767 --> 00:09:07,166 I was like... 169 00:09:07,233 --> 00:09:09,433 I'm 13 years old. 170 00:09:11,300 --> 00:09:13,867 So it really messes with your mind. 171 00:09:13,867 --> 00:09:16,767 You don't understand what's going on, 172 00:09:16,767 --> 00:09:20,166 but you don't want it to stop either, because it's -- 173 00:09:20,166 --> 00:09:22,867 it was -- it was -- you liked it. 174 00:09:22,867 --> 00:09:27,567 But that's how our relationship was. 175 00:09:31,100 --> 00:09:35,567 LINDA: Jerry never asked Myra to get married per se. 176 00:09:35,567 --> 00:09:38,567 He got the marriage license by taking this older friend -- 177 00:09:38,634 --> 00:09:41,667 I think she was in her twenties, as well -- 178 00:09:41,734 --> 00:09:45,367 to the courthouse and having her sign 179 00:09:45,367 --> 00:09:48,967 Myra's name to the license. 180 00:09:49,033 --> 00:09:50,066 Nobody questioned it. 181 00:09:50,066 --> 00:09:53,767 Apparently they didn't ask for ID back in those days. 182 00:09:53,767 --> 00:09:55,767 MYRA: And Jerry came back home. 183 00:09:55,767 --> 00:09:57,767 He said, "Come outside, I wanna show you something." 184 00:09:57,767 --> 00:09:59,867 So he pulled this paper out, 185 00:09:59,867 --> 00:10:03,266 and I looked at it, and it said marriage license, 186 00:10:03,266 --> 00:10:06,867 and I looked at it, and I said, 187 00:10:06,867 --> 00:10:09,066 "You mean we're married?" 188 00:10:09,133 --> 00:10:12,100 And he said, "No, no, no, no, no, we're not married. 189 00:10:12,100 --> 00:10:13,567 We're gonna get married." 190 00:10:13,567 --> 00:10:16,066 And I said, "What?" 191 00:10:16,066 --> 00:10:17,767 And he caught me by my arm, 192 00:10:17,767 --> 00:10:19,867 and he turned me around, and he said, "Myra, 193 00:10:19,934 --> 00:10:22,233 "I love you, 194 00:10:23,767 --> 00:10:25,266 and I want to marry you." 195 00:10:27,166 --> 00:10:29,467 And... 196 00:10:29,533 --> 00:10:31,367 I think I just 197 00:10:31,367 --> 00:10:34,367 melted, you know, I think it just -- 198 00:10:34,367 --> 00:10:37,433 and I told him, and I said, "I love you, too." 199 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:42,567 I said, "But I'm -- I'm still too young. 200 00:10:42,567 --> 00:10:43,867 This is crazy." 201 00:10:45,667 --> 00:10:48,266 LINDA: I think Jerry Lee was a predator. 202 00:10:48,266 --> 00:10:51,867 He wanted somebody he could mold into whoever he wanted. 203 00:10:51,867 --> 00:10:55,467 Myra was a good, dutiful girl, 204 00:10:55,467 --> 00:10:58,533 and so she was an easy mark for him. 205 00:11:03,100 --> 00:11:07,166 NARRATOR: December 12th, 1957, marks a crazy new chapter 206 00:11:07,233 --> 00:11:10,066 in 13-year-old Myra Brown's life. 207 00:11:10,133 --> 00:11:11,467 We were having supper. 208 00:11:11,467 --> 00:11:14,367 Jerry said, "Myra, you wanna go to a movie?" 209 00:11:14,367 --> 00:11:16,367 And I said, "Yeah, sure." 210 00:11:16,433 --> 00:11:19,667 When we got in the car, and Jerry headed toward Mississippi, 211 00:11:19,667 --> 00:11:22,467 and I'm going, 212 00:11:22,533 --> 00:11:25,567 "Is there a movie theater out this way?" 213 00:11:25,634 --> 00:11:28,667 And he said, "No, we're going to get married." 214 00:11:28,667 --> 00:11:32,367 He had found this pastor or whoever 215 00:11:32,367 --> 00:11:34,166 it was that was gonna marry us. 216 00:11:34,166 --> 00:11:38,166 And I think I was in a coma. 217 00:11:38,166 --> 00:11:41,767 I think I was -- my eyes were like -- like this. 218 00:11:41,767 --> 00:11:45,066 And I got out of the car. 219 00:11:45,133 --> 00:11:47,767 I had on the red dress 220 00:11:47,767 --> 00:11:52,166 that I wore to school that day, and, um... 221 00:11:52,233 --> 00:11:55,867 we walked in this little chapel. 222 00:11:55,867 --> 00:11:57,867 I don't remember getting married, 223 00:11:57,934 --> 00:11:59,667 but I know it happened. 224 00:11:59,667 --> 00:12:03,567 And then these two little old ladies started throwing 225 00:12:03,567 --> 00:12:05,567 rice at us and all this kind of stuff. 226 00:12:05,567 --> 00:12:09,467 And I'm still like a deer caught in headlights. 227 00:12:09,467 --> 00:12:12,066 Now, we've gone down there and gotten married 228 00:12:12,133 --> 00:12:13,767 and turned around and came right back, 229 00:12:13,834 --> 00:12:16,333 and we were probably gone less than an hour. 230 00:12:18,266 --> 00:12:20,867 The next morning, I got up, and I pulled my marriage 231 00:12:20,934 --> 00:12:25,834 license out, and I left them laying out on the nightstand. 232 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:28,634 And, um... 233 00:12:30,266 --> 00:12:32,166 my mother's maid found 'em. 234 00:12:33,667 --> 00:12:35,667 And she handed 235 00:12:35,667 --> 00:12:38,867 my daddy the marriage license. 236 00:12:39,967 --> 00:12:42,333 And, of course, he took one look at it, 237 00:12:43,567 --> 00:12:45,867 and my daddy went and got his gun, 238 00:12:47,066 --> 00:12:49,266 and he said, 239 00:12:49,266 --> 00:12:51,967 "I'm gonna go kill that son of a bitch." 240 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:55,266 He got in the car and took off, 241 00:12:55,266 --> 00:12:58,667 and Jerry was up at Sun Records at that time. 242 00:12:58,667 --> 00:13:00,567 Mama called Sam Phillips and said, 243 00:13:00,567 --> 00:13:02,734 "J's on the way, and he's got a gun. 244 00:13:04,066 --> 00:13:06,166 Is Jerry still there?" 245 00:13:06,166 --> 00:13:10,166 And Sam turned around, and he looked at Jerry, and he said, 246 00:13:10,166 --> 00:13:13,867 "Get in your car, and get out of Memphis." 247 00:13:13,867 --> 00:13:15,934 So Jerry took off. 248 00:13:17,166 --> 00:13:19,867 Daddy drives up, barrels through the front door, 249 00:13:19,934 --> 00:13:22,934 and says, "Where is that son of a bitch?" 250 00:13:23,767 --> 00:13:27,767 And Sam sits daddy down and tells him, "We can't 251 00:13:27,767 --> 00:13:31,367 "interfere in this life decision that's been made 252 00:13:31,367 --> 00:13:32,667 without you." 253 00:13:32,734 --> 00:13:36,000 And he said, "It looks to me like they love each other, 254 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:38,066 "and if we charge him, he's going to prison 255 00:13:38,133 --> 00:13:39,166 for a long time." 256 00:13:41,066 --> 00:13:42,533 MYRA: Daddy calms down, 257 00:13:44,467 --> 00:13:48,233 and he goes back home, and he tells mom, 258 00:13:49,667 --> 00:13:52,867 "We really don't have any choices, 259 00:13:52,867 --> 00:13:54,967 "because it's done, 260 00:13:55,033 --> 00:13:59,266 "and we're gonna have to hope for the best 261 00:13:59,266 --> 00:14:01,834 and learn to live with it." 262 00:14:05,900 --> 00:14:07,767 NARRATOR: It's against the law for married women 263 00:14:07,834 --> 00:14:09,567 to go to school in Tennessee. 264 00:14:09,634 --> 00:14:13,867 So 13-year-old Myra joins Jerry out on tour. 265 00:14:13,934 --> 00:14:15,567 MYRA: I didn't have a suitcase. 266 00:14:15,567 --> 00:14:20,967 The only thing I had was this round doll case 267 00:14:21,033 --> 00:14:24,100 that I had gotten at a Christmas or two before. 268 00:14:24,100 --> 00:14:27,066 And it was like a hat box, shaped like a hat box, 269 00:14:27,133 --> 00:14:29,567 and that's what I put my stuff in. 270 00:14:31,500 --> 00:14:33,867 NARRATOR: The next time JW sees Jerry 271 00:14:33,867 --> 00:14:36,567 is on stage at a gig in New York. 272 00:14:36,567 --> 00:14:39,433 Jerry goes over to daddy, and he says, 273 00:14:40,467 --> 00:14:42,467 "I love Myra. I'll take care of her." 274 00:14:42,467 --> 00:14:45,667 [piano playing] 275 00:14:45,734 --> 00:14:47,634 The music starts playing, 276 00:14:49,266 --> 00:14:52,934 and it's accepted, it's forgotten. 277 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:00,266 We went out and bought a little house. 278 00:15:00,333 --> 00:15:02,367 Actually, we bought the first house that had 279 00:15:02,367 --> 00:15:06,533 a for sale sign on it, because we needed a house right away. 280 00:15:08,066 --> 00:15:12,066 I learned how to cook, and I learned how to vacuum. 281 00:15:12,066 --> 00:15:14,667 I had to become the adult. 282 00:15:14,667 --> 00:15:16,367 Jerry did two things. 283 00:15:16,367 --> 00:15:19,867 He played music, and he loved me. 284 00:15:21,266 --> 00:15:23,166 He came home, he brought all 285 00:15:23,166 --> 00:15:25,166 the money to me, dumped it in my lap. 286 00:15:26,500 --> 00:15:30,567 It was a cash business, and Myra was in charge 287 00:15:30,634 --> 00:15:32,867 of taking the bags full of cash 288 00:15:32,867 --> 00:15:35,967 from his live performances to the bank. 289 00:15:36,033 --> 00:15:37,767 You really are talking about shopping 290 00:15:37,767 --> 00:15:40,000 bags with dollar bills in them. 291 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:43,767 The notion that she was a central piece of keeping 292 00:15:43,767 --> 00:15:45,467 the Jerry Lee Lewis business going 293 00:15:45,467 --> 00:15:50,634 as a young teenager, as a girl, is pretty wild. 294 00:15:54,867 --> 00:15:58,266 NARRATOR: The first few months of 1958 tick by, 295 00:15:58,266 --> 00:16:01,000 and Jerry's star continues to rise. 296 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,767 MYRA: It was a time that had never happened before, 297 00:16:03,767 --> 00:16:06,166 never will happen again. 298 00:16:06,166 --> 00:16:11,000 And the reaction of the public and the audience that made me 299 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:12,266 kind of gasp, like, 300 00:16:12,266 --> 00:16:16,066 look at how these people are just going berserk about him. 301 00:16:16,133 --> 00:16:19,467 There for a while, he was the top dog, 302 00:16:19,467 --> 00:16:22,266 'cause they had the top songs in the world. 303 00:16:22,266 --> 00:16:24,266 Out of all of these figures, 304 00:16:24,266 --> 00:16:25,867 these kings of rock and roll, 305 00:16:25,867 --> 00:16:27,867 Elvis was a brilliant performer. 306 00:16:27,867 --> 00:16:28,767 He was cute. 307 00:16:28,767 --> 00:16:30,767 He had this sort of angel face, 308 00:16:30,767 --> 00:16:35,967 but Jerry Lee Lewis could play the piano better than anyone 309 00:16:36,033 --> 00:16:39,166 that was a part of this whole Sun Records crew. 310 00:16:40,100 --> 00:16:44,367 And Jerry Lee Lewis was fun, and fun was 311 00:16:44,367 --> 00:16:46,634 a huge part of the birth of rock and roll. 312 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:52,867 MAN: Private Elvis Presley makes this a VIP event, 313 00:16:52,867 --> 00:16:55,667 but the rock and roll star, wearing medals for carbine, 314 00:16:55,667 --> 00:16:57,767 pistol, and tank gunnery marksmanship 315 00:16:57,767 --> 00:16:59,467 is modest as can be. 316 00:16:59,467 --> 00:17:01,667 NARRATOR: When Elvis is drafted into the Army, 317 00:17:01,667 --> 00:17:05,867 Jerry Lee is poised to become the new king of rock and roll. 318 00:17:05,867 --> 00:17:10,867 And then they booked a big tour for Jerry 319 00:17:10,867 --> 00:17:15,066 in Europe in May of '58. 320 00:17:15,066 --> 00:17:16,967 ALAN: Elvis never went to England. 321 00:17:16,967 --> 00:17:19,367 Elvis never performed off of United States soil. 322 00:17:19,433 --> 00:17:22,967 So for one of those first generation rock and rollers to 323 00:17:22,967 --> 00:17:26,867 make that trip and go over to England was a big deal. 324 00:17:26,867 --> 00:17:29,467 NARRATOR: The tour will be a surefire success 325 00:17:29,533 --> 00:17:31,367 if Jerry will heed the advice of 326 00:17:31,367 --> 00:17:34,567 Sam Phillips and not do one thing. 327 00:17:34,567 --> 00:17:37,567 Don't bring Myra on tour with you, don't bring her to London, 328 00:17:37,567 --> 00:17:40,467 and he ignored all of that good advice. 329 00:17:40,467 --> 00:17:44,100 His ego, I think, stood in the way. 330 00:17:44,100 --> 00:17:46,433 He just thought he was untouchable. 331 00:17:48,767 --> 00:17:54,000 I didn't even know that Jerry had been warned, 332 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:55,667 and he said to them, 333 00:17:55,667 --> 00:17:58,166 "Either she goes or I don't." 334 00:17:58,166 --> 00:18:01,767 And I think Jerry intimidated him and said, 335 00:18:01,767 --> 00:18:04,767 "Don't you talk to her. Leave my wife alone." 336 00:18:04,767 --> 00:18:07,367 NARRATOR: Myra, her brother, Rusty, and their mom, 337 00:18:07,433 --> 00:18:09,967 Lois, accompany the band to England. 338 00:18:09,967 --> 00:18:11,667 RUSTY: When we got there, 339 00:18:11,667 --> 00:18:13,567 you know, they were standing at the airport, 340 00:18:13,567 --> 00:18:15,567 and, you know, people just wanted to see everybody, 341 00:18:15,567 --> 00:18:17,567 you know, because we were the biggest celebrities 342 00:18:17,567 --> 00:18:20,066 there was at that time. 343 00:18:20,066 --> 00:18:21,467 The press was gonna come on 344 00:18:21,467 --> 00:18:24,266 the plane and see Jerry and interview him. 345 00:18:24,266 --> 00:18:28,467 So I got off, and I'm walking around in the airport, and a man 346 00:18:28,533 --> 00:18:29,867 comes up to me, and he says, 347 00:18:29,867 --> 00:18:31,066 "Who are you miss? 348 00:18:31,133 --> 00:18:33,467 You got off that plane, didn't you?" 349 00:18:33,467 --> 00:18:35,433 And I said, "I'm not anybody." 350 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:38,667 He said, "Well, who are you?" 351 00:18:38,667 --> 00:18:40,667 And I said, "I'm Jerry's wife." 352 00:18:42,367 --> 00:18:46,266 And the, the guy asked me how old I was, and I said, "I'm 15." 353 00:18:46,333 --> 00:18:47,934 I figured I could lie a little bit. 354 00:18:48,867 --> 00:18:51,166 His face lit up like a Christmas tree, 355 00:18:51,233 --> 00:18:53,333 and he took off. 356 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:59,166 I had no idea I was talking to a reporter. 357 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:05,467 And I'm clueless 358 00:19:05,467 --> 00:19:07,433 that there could be a problem. 359 00:19:09,567 --> 00:19:13,467 I wish that somebody would have said if 360 00:19:13,467 --> 00:19:16,166 people find out Jerry's married to a kid... 361 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:21,533 it ain't gonna be pretty. 362 00:19:23,100 --> 00:19:26,166 Myra -- you're -- you're a bomb. 363 00:19:34,066 --> 00:19:35,934 NARRATOR: It's May 1958, 364 00:19:35,934 --> 00:19:39,000 and the news of 13-year-old Myra Lewis's marriage 365 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:42,333 to Jerry Lee is about to erupt in the British press. 366 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:47,967 Initially, Jerry's British fans give him a warm reception. 367 00:19:47,967 --> 00:19:52,567 MYRA: They were at the airport, they were out in the streets, 368 00:19:52,567 --> 00:19:54,166 they were in the lobby. 369 00:19:56,500 --> 00:19:59,467 People loved Jerry so much, 370 00:19:59,467 --> 00:20:00,734 they were hanging out of 371 00:20:00,734 --> 00:20:04,667 the hotel windows all around our hotel. 372 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:08,834 NARRATOR: But the tone abruptly changes the following day. 373 00:20:08,900 --> 00:20:12,266 ABIGAIL: The reporter followed up, figured out Myra was 13, 374 00:20:12,266 --> 00:20:15,667 figured out she was his cousin, and that Jerry Lee Lewis wasn't 375 00:20:15,667 --> 00:20:19,266 actually even divorced from his second wife. 376 00:20:19,333 --> 00:20:22,767 Yeah, this was a bombshell. 377 00:20:22,767 --> 00:20:24,567 MYRA: The next morning, 378 00:20:24,567 --> 00:20:28,000 the news media said, "Jerry Lee Lewis 379 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:30,734 is here with his child bride Myra." 380 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:33,066 He's a pedophile. He's a bigamist. 381 00:20:33,133 --> 00:20:34,834 He's a liar and a fraud. 382 00:20:34,834 --> 00:20:38,066 There's a call to boycott the shows, and very quickly, 383 00:20:38,133 --> 00:20:42,266 Jerry Lee finds himself playing to half-empty theaters 384 00:20:42,266 --> 00:20:44,567 where people are heckling and booing him. 385 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:50,000 And they went after Jerry Lee, they went after Myra, and she 386 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:52,667 was in the car with her mother and her little brother, 387 00:20:52,667 --> 00:20:55,567 the paparazzi surrounded the car, 388 00:20:55,634 --> 00:20:57,734 and they were shaking it so violently, 389 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:00,467 they thought the car was gonna be turned over. 390 00:21:00,467 --> 00:21:02,767 RUSTY: And Scotland Yard came to the hotel 391 00:21:02,767 --> 00:21:05,734 and told us, "We can't guarantee your safety." 392 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:09,367 ABIGAIL: They end up coming back to America, where they hoped 393 00:21:09,367 --> 00:21:12,467 it would blow over, but nothing blew over. 394 00:21:12,533 --> 00:21:14,367 Why did you leave? 395 00:21:14,433 --> 00:21:17,367 Well, uh, I don't answer those questions, sir. 396 00:21:17,367 --> 00:21:19,734 My manager might knock my head off or something. 397 00:21:20,767 --> 00:21:23,266 That one event 398 00:21:23,266 --> 00:21:24,934 turned our life upside down 399 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,667 and changed the direction of everything. 400 00:21:27,667 --> 00:21:29,667 Nobody wanted to be a part of this. 401 00:21:29,667 --> 00:21:31,567 Were you there, Mrs. Lewis? 402 00:21:31,567 --> 00:21:33,734 I was there, but I wasn't at the show. 403 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:35,066 Oh, you weren't at the show. 404 00:21:35,066 --> 00:21:37,100 Did you notice anything like that, 405 00:21:37,100 --> 00:21:38,567 that sort of reception? 406 00:21:38,567 --> 00:21:41,166 No, it was a very good reception, I thought. 407 00:21:41,233 --> 00:21:43,667 He went from making thousands of dollars 408 00:21:43,667 --> 00:21:47,100 a night down to making a few hundred dollars a night. 409 00:21:47,100 --> 00:21:50,367 I felt guilty because of it. 410 00:21:50,433 --> 00:21:55,233 I didn't make it happen, but I didn't stop it from happening. 411 00:21:56,767 --> 00:21:58,333 And I could have, 412 00:21:59,934 --> 00:22:03,266 because I was the one who let the cat out of the bag. 413 00:22:06,467 --> 00:22:09,567 After they came back, and after his divorce was finalized, 414 00:22:09,567 --> 00:22:12,867 he remarried Myra so that there was no question 415 00:22:12,867 --> 00:22:15,667 that this was a marriage in good standing, 416 00:22:15,734 --> 00:22:17,066 but the damage was done. 417 00:22:19,300 --> 00:22:22,467 MYRA: It destroyed a man's career, 418 00:22:23,567 --> 00:22:27,367 but it didn't destroy our marriage. 419 00:22:27,367 --> 00:22:29,467 If anything, it made us stronger, 420 00:22:29,533 --> 00:22:31,033 because we were attacked. 421 00:22:31,867 --> 00:22:34,467 We don't care what the world says or does. 422 00:22:34,467 --> 00:22:35,667 We just love each other. 423 00:22:38,667 --> 00:22:41,000 NARRATOR: Soon, Myra is overjoyed 424 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:42,734 to learn that she's pregnant. 425 00:22:42,734 --> 00:22:46,000 MYRA: I always loved children. 426 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,367 What I had wanted all my life 427 00:22:49,433 --> 00:22:52,133 was a house, a home, and a baby. 428 00:22:58,266 --> 00:23:00,667 NARRATOR: But a few months into her pregnancy, 429 00:23:00,734 --> 00:23:03,667 Myra is forced to leave her home. 430 00:23:03,667 --> 00:23:07,934 Jerry wasn't having the income that he had, and he was the sole 431 00:23:07,934 --> 00:23:09,467 supporter of his mother, 432 00:23:09,467 --> 00:23:13,266 father, and two sisters, so... 433 00:23:13,266 --> 00:23:15,834 my house got shut down, not theirs. 434 00:23:15,834 --> 00:23:17,433 And I had to go live with them 435 00:23:18,367 --> 00:23:20,634 in Ferriday, Louisiana. 436 00:23:22,266 --> 00:23:25,467 It was not comfortable, because they resented 437 00:23:25,467 --> 00:23:27,467 the fact that Jerry married me. 438 00:23:27,467 --> 00:23:29,934 It was not a fun situation to 439 00:23:29,934 --> 00:23:31,533 live in the house with those people. 440 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:38,000 One day, Jerry walked into the room, 441 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:40,467 and he reached down, and he picked up 442 00:23:40,467 --> 00:23:43,533 my typewriter, and he held it above his head 443 00:23:44,500 --> 00:23:47,467 like he was gonna slam it down on me, 444 00:23:47,467 --> 00:23:50,266 and I looked up at him, and it's like... 445 00:23:50,333 --> 00:23:51,533 what happened? 446 00:23:52,767 --> 00:23:54,934 And he threw it on the floor, 447 00:23:54,934 --> 00:23:56,166 [grunting noise] 448 00:23:56,233 --> 00:23:58,166 and he said, one of his sisters, 449 00:23:58,166 --> 00:24:03,066 Linda Gale, told me that she was with you the other day, 450 00:24:03,133 --> 00:24:05,667 and y'all were driving down the road, and you were smoking 451 00:24:05,667 --> 00:24:07,934 a cigarette and flirting with a sailor. 452 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:11,266 Neither one was true. 453 00:24:11,266 --> 00:24:13,066 The only reason she would tell him 454 00:24:13,133 --> 00:24:15,166 that was to make him mad at me. 455 00:24:18,300 --> 00:24:20,367 [distant baby fussing] 456 00:24:20,433 --> 00:24:22,767 NARRATOR: But all is forgiven when Myra gives birth 457 00:24:22,767 --> 00:24:27,166 to a baby boy on February 27th, 1959. 458 00:24:30,667 --> 00:24:35,000 LINDA: Myra had Stevie when she was 14 years old, 459 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:39,367 and she was thrilled. 460 00:24:39,367 --> 00:24:42,100 She knew she was pretty young to be having one, 461 00:24:42,100 --> 00:24:44,367 but still, it was what she always wanted. 462 00:24:44,367 --> 00:24:45,667 MYRA: Oh, he was precious. 463 00:24:45,667 --> 00:24:46,834 He was a sweet baby. 464 00:24:46,900 --> 00:24:49,367 He was a smart baby. 465 00:24:49,367 --> 00:24:53,166 Jerry wanted to name him after Steve Allen 466 00:24:54,100 --> 00:24:58,367 for giving him his first break on nationwide television. 467 00:24:58,433 --> 00:25:01,367 NARRATOR: Myra is over the moon when they move back to Memphis 468 00:25:01,367 --> 00:25:05,467 and her mom, dad, and brother get to meet her baby boy. 469 00:25:05,467 --> 00:25:07,834 It was great, because it was like I had a little brother, 470 00:25:07,900 --> 00:25:10,166 you know, because I was with him all the time, 471 00:25:10,166 --> 00:25:11,834 and, you know, and she was a great mama. 472 00:25:17,500 --> 00:25:20,467 NARRATOR: In 1960, the Lewises learn that Elvis has 473 00:25:20,533 --> 00:25:23,867 returned to Memphis from his stint in the Army, 474 00:25:23,867 --> 00:25:25,667 and just like Jerry, Elvis has 475 00:25:25,734 --> 00:25:28,000 fallen in love with a teenage girl. 476 00:25:29,100 --> 00:25:30,934 Presley was in love with Priscilla when 477 00:25:30,934 --> 00:25:32,767 he was 24 and she was 14. 478 00:25:32,767 --> 00:25:37,100 Luckily for him, he had Jerry Lee Lewis's example. 479 00:25:37,100 --> 00:25:40,834 ALAN: Clearly Elvis's team learned from the disaster 480 00:25:40,834 --> 00:25:44,166 of Jerry Lee and Myra and entered into 481 00:25:44,233 --> 00:25:47,567 the relationship with Priscilla in a very different way, 482 00:25:47,567 --> 00:25:50,467 waited much longer on the marriage. 483 00:25:51,467 --> 00:25:54,767 Priscilla Presley was beautiful and glamorous 484 00:25:54,767 --> 00:25:57,100 and did her hair and her makeup 485 00:25:57,100 --> 00:26:01,166 and was in the public eye. 486 00:26:01,166 --> 00:26:02,834 Jerry Lee didn't want Myra 487 00:26:02,900 --> 00:26:05,367 to be anything like Priscilla Presley. 488 00:26:05,367 --> 00:26:07,567 Myra was only to belong to him. 489 00:26:07,567 --> 00:26:12,734 He didn't want other men to be attracted to Myra in any way. 490 00:26:12,734 --> 00:26:17,066 Jerry Lee wanted Myra to be invisible. 491 00:26:17,133 --> 00:26:19,367 I couldn't wear shorts. 492 00:26:19,433 --> 00:26:21,767 We had a swimming pool, and he didn't want 493 00:26:21,767 --> 00:26:24,433 me going swimming when there was other men out there. 494 00:26:26,166 --> 00:26:29,000 It was so uncalled for. 495 00:26:32,467 --> 00:26:35,567 NARRATOR: Only 17 years old, Myra submits to Jerry's 496 00:26:35,634 --> 00:26:38,533 demands and embraces her role as wife and mother. 497 00:26:39,934 --> 00:26:42,367 But nothing prepares her for what happens 498 00:26:42,367 --> 00:26:45,667 on Easter Sunday, 1962. 499 00:26:45,734 --> 00:26:50,667 LINDA: Myra was at home with her three-year-old son, Stevie, 500 00:26:50,667 --> 00:26:52,734 her father-in-law, Elmo, 501 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:57,967 and Jerry's uncle, George, and she was going to cook dinner 502 00:26:57,967 --> 00:27:00,967 and she was asking Elmo what he wanted, 503 00:27:00,967 --> 00:27:02,467 and he was listing some things and said, "Well, 504 00:27:02,533 --> 00:27:03,967 we better go inside and make a list." 505 00:27:03,967 --> 00:27:07,066 So she asked Uncle George, "Would you watch Stevie?" 506 00:27:07,066 --> 00:27:08,266 And he said, "Sure." 507 00:27:08,266 --> 00:27:11,066 And so she and Elmo went inside, 508 00:27:11,066 --> 00:27:13,867 and she wrote a grocery list. 509 00:27:13,867 --> 00:27:16,166 They went back outside. 510 00:27:16,166 --> 00:27:19,166 And Uncle George was there, and Stevie wasn't. 511 00:27:19,233 --> 00:27:21,533 And I said, "Uncle George, where'd Stevie go?" 512 00:27:22,667 --> 00:27:25,266 He said, "He went in the house with you. 513 00:27:25,266 --> 00:27:27,066 Well, didn't he go in the house with you?" 514 00:27:28,166 --> 00:27:30,066 Ran in the house to look for him. 515 00:27:31,266 --> 00:27:32,533 I came back out. 516 00:27:35,166 --> 00:27:36,734 There was this... 517 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:38,900 he'd been played with a hose, 518 00:27:40,066 --> 00:27:44,166 and, uh, he'd been pulling it, and... 519 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:47,834 I followed the hose around the house, 520 00:27:49,266 --> 00:27:52,433 and I looked, and the hose was in the swimming pool, 521 00:27:53,767 --> 00:27:54,934 and the water was rippling, 522 00:27:57,567 --> 00:27:58,934 and I started screaming. 523 00:27:58,934 --> 00:28:00,433 [distant scream] 524 00:28:02,867 --> 00:28:05,467 NARRATOR: Myra Lewis is 17 years old when 525 00:28:05,467 --> 00:28:09,467 her three-year-old son drowns in a tragic accident. 526 00:28:09,467 --> 00:28:14,367 Myra remembers almost nothing between the incident at 527 00:28:14,367 --> 00:28:17,767 the pool and the funeral. 528 00:28:17,767 --> 00:28:20,734 What she remembers is Jerry Lee 529 00:28:20,734 --> 00:28:25,066 picking her up off of Stevie's grave. 530 00:28:25,066 --> 00:28:28,834 She was lying on his grave and wouldn't leave, 531 00:28:28,834 --> 00:28:31,133 because she wouldn't leave her child alone. 532 00:28:33,667 --> 00:28:34,967 MYRA: I, uh... 533 00:28:34,967 --> 00:28:38,166 was so heartbroken over losing Stevie. 534 00:28:39,066 --> 00:28:41,166 I mean, it was the most God's awful thing 535 00:28:41,233 --> 00:28:44,266 could happen to any human on this earth. 536 00:28:44,266 --> 00:28:46,266 There were times when she didn't want to go on, 537 00:28:46,266 --> 00:28:49,734 she didn't know if she could live without her baby, without 538 00:28:49,734 --> 00:28:53,066 her child, and then she got pregnant again, 539 00:28:53,934 --> 00:28:57,367 and it was with the birth of Phoebe 540 00:28:57,433 --> 00:29:00,667 that she realized she had to stay alive. 541 00:29:03,033 --> 00:29:07,367 She just unbroke my heart. 542 00:29:07,367 --> 00:29:11,100 You know, she made me proud and happy to have 543 00:29:11,100 --> 00:29:14,634 a child again in my arms that I could hold and kiss 544 00:29:15,734 --> 00:29:19,367 and gave me back something that I had lost. 545 00:29:19,433 --> 00:29:21,367 It was a -- 546 00:29:21,433 --> 00:29:23,367 a welcoming, 547 00:29:23,367 --> 00:29:25,166 wonderful thing that happened. 548 00:29:28,867 --> 00:29:32,100 NARRATOR: In 1964, the Beatles conquer America 549 00:29:32,100 --> 00:29:34,934 and transform the sound of rock and roll. 550 00:29:36,066 --> 00:29:39,266 By this time, unable to repeat his success on the charts, 551 00:29:39,266 --> 00:29:42,066 Jerry Lee has left Sun Records. 552 00:29:44,100 --> 00:29:47,433 At home, he becomes increasingly controlling. 553 00:29:48,300 --> 00:29:50,567 LINDA: No matter what she did to try to please him, 554 00:29:50,634 --> 00:29:51,934 it was never enough. 555 00:29:51,934 --> 00:29:53,367 Nothing was ever good enough. 556 00:29:53,367 --> 00:29:56,333 It ripped my self-esteem away from me. 557 00:29:58,567 --> 00:30:00,834 One night, Jerry was coming home, 558 00:30:00,834 --> 00:30:03,667 but I didn't know he was coming home that night. 559 00:30:03,667 --> 00:30:05,100 He said, "I'm hungry. 560 00:30:05,100 --> 00:30:06,367 You got to fix me something to eat." 561 00:30:06,367 --> 00:30:09,166 Okay -- well, a neighbor had made some 562 00:30:09,166 --> 00:30:11,166 spaghetti sauce for me, 563 00:30:11,166 --> 00:30:13,367 and I walked by him, and he said, 564 00:30:13,433 --> 00:30:15,667 "This don't taste like your spaghetti." 565 00:30:16,767 --> 00:30:19,667 And I said, "Bonnie made it and gave it to me," 566 00:30:19,667 --> 00:30:21,834 and he said, "What?" 567 00:30:21,834 --> 00:30:24,934 And he picked his tray up and threw it at me. 568 00:30:27,367 --> 00:30:29,834 NARRATOR: Jerry's bad behavior continues, 569 00:30:29,900 --> 00:30:33,000 even when he starts making a comeback in a new genre in 570 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:34,867 the 1960s. 571 00:30:34,867 --> 00:30:38,367 ♪ Who's gonna play this old piano ♪ 572 00:30:38,367 --> 00:30:41,433 ♪ After I'm not here ♪ 573 00:30:42,767 --> 00:30:45,567 ALAN: He never returns as a rock and roll star, 574 00:30:45,567 --> 00:30:50,367 but eventually moves into a much more straight ahead 575 00:30:50,367 --> 00:30:52,266 country style. 576 00:30:53,367 --> 00:30:56,467 ABIGAIL: When country music kind of became outlaw country 577 00:30:56,467 --> 00:31:00,667 and was more sort of open to rebellious figures, 578 00:31:00,667 --> 00:31:03,266 they welcomed Jerry Lee Lewis. 579 00:31:03,333 --> 00:31:06,166 I started playing with him a lot and then went full time 580 00:31:06,233 --> 00:31:08,834 with him later on, you know, after I got out of high school. 581 00:31:10,100 --> 00:31:12,934 NARRATOR: When "Another Place, Another Time" shoots up 582 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:15,100 the country charts in 1968, 583 00:31:15,100 --> 00:31:17,734 Jerry's career is on the ascent. 584 00:31:17,734 --> 00:31:20,867 Jerry went from a little bit of success to more success 585 00:31:20,867 --> 00:31:22,367 to really being 586 00:31:22,367 --> 00:31:24,367 one of the most successful recording artists in 587 00:31:24,433 --> 00:31:25,867 the country music community 588 00:31:25,867 --> 00:31:28,233 by sort of the end of the sixties. 589 00:31:29,367 --> 00:31:32,100 NARRATOR: Jerry's second chance at fame is not enough 590 00:31:32,100 --> 00:31:34,166 to right his failing marriage. 591 00:31:34,233 --> 00:31:37,934 MYRA: When the good times came back for Jerry's career, 592 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,333 things went to hell quickly. 593 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:45,066 Jerry would turn into Jekyll and Hyde. 594 00:31:46,367 --> 00:31:49,867 Mid-afternoon, when Jerry was gone and gonna play a show 595 00:31:49,867 --> 00:31:52,066 that night, I talked to him, 596 00:31:52,066 --> 00:31:54,467 and he'd say things like, "Hey, babe, what you doing?" 597 00:31:54,467 --> 00:31:56,767 Da da da da da. We'd just chit chat. 598 00:31:56,767 --> 00:32:00,667 You know, normal -- after the show, 599 00:32:00,667 --> 00:32:02,367 I could get a phone call from him. 600 00:32:03,266 --> 00:32:05,467 Who the hell do you think you are telling 601 00:32:05,467 --> 00:32:09,333 me that I shouldn't drink liquor or something like this? 602 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:14,000 The next morning, Jerry would wake up and call me and say, 603 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:15,333 "Hey, babe, what you doing?" 604 00:32:16,834 --> 00:32:18,634 Jekyll and Hyde. 605 00:32:19,834 --> 00:32:23,266 Jerry Lee, while he was on the road began taking drugs, 606 00:32:23,266 --> 00:32:27,166 and Myra noticed a drastic difference in him. 607 00:32:27,166 --> 00:32:31,467 He would just be totally out of control, accusing her of 608 00:32:31,467 --> 00:32:33,467 cheating on him while he was out of town, 609 00:32:33,533 --> 00:32:35,266 which was totally not Myra. 610 00:32:35,333 --> 00:32:37,166 He had no evidence whatsoever. 611 00:32:37,166 --> 00:32:39,634 He was just high on drugs. 612 00:32:41,567 --> 00:32:42,834 ABIGAIL: I would imagine Myra 613 00:32:42,834 --> 00:32:46,767 feeling completely overwhelmed and confused. 614 00:32:46,767 --> 00:32:49,266 These were prescription pills, you know, 615 00:32:49,333 --> 00:32:51,934 they were sort of like performance enhancers. 616 00:32:51,934 --> 00:32:53,767 They were marketed from doctors. 617 00:32:53,767 --> 00:32:56,166 There wasn't the knowledge that we have today. 618 00:32:56,166 --> 00:32:59,467 He became a raw nerve, yelling, screaming. 619 00:32:59,467 --> 00:33:00,467 I mean, Jerry Lee Lewis had 620 00:33:00,467 --> 00:33:03,266 a terrible temper and a lot of conflict. 621 00:33:03,266 --> 00:33:05,000 But you take all of that, and then 622 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:08,367 you combine it with amphetamines and booze 623 00:33:08,367 --> 00:33:10,734 and sleeplessness, 624 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:13,667 it's like pouring lighter fuel on a fire. 625 00:33:15,300 --> 00:33:18,567 Yeah, he slapped me. Yeah, he did. 626 00:33:18,634 --> 00:33:19,934 That's what he would do to people. 627 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:21,767 He'd slap him in the face. 628 00:33:21,767 --> 00:33:23,467 But when he slapped me, I would end up 629 00:33:23,467 --> 00:33:26,433 on the floor because the force was too harsh. 630 00:33:28,266 --> 00:33:29,667 [phone ringing] 631 00:33:29,667 --> 00:33:32,266 NARRATOR: Then, 12 years into her marriage, 632 00:33:32,266 --> 00:33:35,567 Myra gets a phone call that will ultimately destroy 633 00:33:35,634 --> 00:33:36,734 the relationship. 634 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:42,266 Jerry Lee has been living a double life. 635 00:33:42,266 --> 00:33:44,467 MYRA: I just fell apart. 636 00:33:44,467 --> 00:33:45,767 I just... 637 00:33:45,767 --> 00:33:47,533 I couldn't take another day of it. 638 00:33:48,867 --> 00:33:51,100 [distant sobbing] 639 00:33:53,867 --> 00:33:57,166 NARRATOR: In 1970, Myra Lewis gets a phone call 640 00:33:57,166 --> 00:34:00,066 that shatters her belief in Jerry Lee. 641 00:34:00,934 --> 00:34:03,533 MYRA: The anonymous phone call was that 642 00:34:05,166 --> 00:34:09,567 Jerry had been seeing other women and just picking up 643 00:34:09,634 --> 00:34:10,767 women on the road, 644 00:34:10,834 --> 00:34:13,834 and it was something that had been ongoing for many years. 645 00:34:15,767 --> 00:34:19,033 In fact, he had started cheating on her 646 00:34:19,033 --> 00:34:21,266 only 11 months after they first got married. 647 00:34:21,266 --> 00:34:23,100 [church bells ringing] 648 00:34:23,100 --> 00:34:24,834 NARRATOR: Myra is devastated. 649 00:34:24,900 --> 00:34:28,166 She runs down to her local church to seek solace. 650 00:34:29,133 --> 00:34:33,333 MYRA: I knelt down at the altar, and I was crying so hard 651 00:34:34,567 --> 00:34:38,100 that I was not even able to say a word, 652 00:34:38,100 --> 00:34:44,100 but that was the moment of knowing, without a doubt, 653 00:34:44,100 --> 00:34:46,266 that this was not the man I was gonna 654 00:34:46,266 --> 00:34:48,467 spend my life with. 655 00:34:48,533 --> 00:34:51,834 This was not what I bargained for. 656 00:34:52,834 --> 00:34:54,467 I think maybe in my heart, 657 00:34:54,467 --> 00:34:58,133 I knew that it wasn't reasonable that a man goes out 658 00:34:58,133 --> 00:35:00,266 and plays music and drinks and takes drugs 659 00:35:00,266 --> 00:35:02,834 and there's women throwing themselves at him. 660 00:35:02,834 --> 00:35:04,934 It's not reasonable to think he's not 661 00:35:04,934 --> 00:35:07,233 gonna take advantage of that. 662 00:35:08,367 --> 00:35:11,033 But I could, 663 00:35:11,033 --> 00:35:12,667 because he told me he didn't, 664 00:35:12,734 --> 00:35:15,100 and when I realized that 665 00:35:17,767 --> 00:35:22,934 it was a lie, and it had been a lie for a very long time, 666 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:24,934 I knew there was no going back. 667 00:35:27,500 --> 00:35:29,667 NARRATOR: Jerry is out of town. 668 00:35:29,667 --> 00:35:31,367 By the time he gets home, 669 00:35:31,367 --> 00:35:34,266 Myra and Phoebe have moved in with JW and Lois. 670 00:35:34,266 --> 00:35:36,567 [phone ringing] 671 00:35:36,634 --> 00:35:39,000 MYRA: Jerry was continuously calling me, 672 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:41,667 wanting me to come back to him and all this kind of stuff. 673 00:35:41,667 --> 00:35:45,667 And I went over to the house to get something, 674 00:35:46,667 --> 00:35:48,834 and I went in, and I was in the den, 675 00:35:48,834 --> 00:35:53,734 and I heard somebody going, "Get her out the window." 676 00:35:53,734 --> 00:35:59,467 Jerry was in our bedroom with a girl in his bed, and I walked 677 00:35:59,533 --> 00:36:00,934 in there and said, 678 00:36:00,934 --> 00:36:02,867 "Oh, yeah, you miss me and you love me 679 00:36:02,867 --> 00:36:04,266 "and you want me back, right? 680 00:36:04,333 --> 00:36:05,867 "And this is what you're doing, 681 00:36:05,867 --> 00:36:07,834 laying in my bed with another woman?" 682 00:36:07,834 --> 00:36:11,100 So, I mean, I'd been gone two or three days. 683 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:16,133 LINDA: He begged her to come back, but... 684 00:36:16,133 --> 00:36:17,800 she wasn't falling for it. 685 00:36:19,567 --> 00:36:22,033 RUSTY: And that's when she got that apartment, 686 00:36:22,033 --> 00:36:24,100 and I went over and stayed while she was 687 00:36:24,100 --> 00:36:26,266 staying there and they was getting their divorce. 688 00:36:26,266 --> 00:36:28,767 Um, I was asleep, and I heard glass break, 689 00:36:28,767 --> 00:36:29,834 [distant glass shattering] 690 00:36:29,834 --> 00:36:31,567 and I ran down the stairs, 691 00:36:31,634 --> 00:36:32,834 [glass shattering] 692 00:36:32,834 --> 00:36:34,467 and it was Jerry. 693 00:36:34,467 --> 00:36:36,433 He was trying to come through the window. 694 00:36:37,734 --> 00:36:40,834 Jerry saw me, and I said, "What do you think you're doing?" 695 00:36:40,834 --> 00:36:42,367 He said, "I just need to talk to Myra." 696 00:36:42,367 --> 00:36:44,800 I said, "You don't talk to her coming through the window." 697 00:36:48,033 --> 00:36:51,367 I was married at 13, divorced at 26. 698 00:36:51,367 --> 00:36:53,934 Half of my life was spent with Jerry. 699 00:36:55,367 --> 00:36:58,934 LINDA: The leaving, of course, was hard. 700 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,467 She had no education. 701 00:37:01,533 --> 00:37:03,266 She wasn't gonna have any money, 702 00:37:03,266 --> 00:37:06,100 because Jerry Lee didn't manage money well, 703 00:37:06,100 --> 00:37:09,667 and whatever they had, it was spent whenever he made it. 704 00:37:09,667 --> 00:37:11,367 She did get some child support 705 00:37:11,433 --> 00:37:13,734 as long as she would go beg for it. 706 00:37:13,734 --> 00:37:16,934 Jerry did see Phoebe on a regular basis. 707 00:37:16,934 --> 00:37:20,567 Myra always felt absolutely certain that keeping that 708 00:37:20,567 --> 00:37:22,166 relationship between 709 00:37:22,166 --> 00:37:25,133 the father and daughter was an important thing to do. 710 00:37:28,767 --> 00:37:32,567 NARRATOR: Myra relocates to Atlanta, Georgia, 711 00:37:32,567 --> 00:37:34,734 but as she starts to rebuild her life, 712 00:37:34,734 --> 00:37:37,233 Jerry's starts to unravel. 713 00:37:38,166 --> 00:37:40,567 He is arrested for driving under the influence 714 00:37:40,567 --> 00:37:41,834 several times. 715 00:37:41,834 --> 00:37:43,867 I was taking a lot of pills at the time, you know. 716 00:37:43,867 --> 00:37:47,166 Nobody had mentioned it to me. 717 00:37:47,166 --> 00:37:50,467 I didn't know that I was in that bad a shape. 718 00:37:50,533 --> 00:37:53,033 NARRATOR: Jerry has numerous weapons violations 719 00:37:53,033 --> 00:37:56,433 and accidentally shoots his bass player while drunk. 720 00:37:59,767 --> 00:38:03,133 Just a couple of months after shooting his bass player, 721 00:38:04,367 --> 00:38:08,667 Jerry Lee shows up drunk and belligerent at Graceland, 722 00:38:08,734 --> 00:38:11,266 smashes his -- his car into the front gates. 723 00:38:12,367 --> 00:38:16,133 He is yelling for Elvis to come down and pulls out his gun 724 00:38:16,133 --> 00:38:19,266 and starts firing that and then is hauled in 725 00:38:19,333 --> 00:38:21,567 and arrested for that. 726 00:38:21,567 --> 00:38:24,333 That was the next example of chaos. 727 00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:27,266 MYRA: That was kind of around the same time 728 00:38:27,333 --> 00:38:29,734 when I decided to go into real estate. 729 00:38:29,734 --> 00:38:33,233 I'm here by myself. I've got a child to raise. 730 00:38:34,767 --> 00:38:37,000 What do I want to do? 731 00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:40,166 LINDA: She went back to school, got her GED, 732 00:38:40,166 --> 00:38:42,266 she then got her real estate license, 733 00:38:42,266 --> 00:38:44,567 and eventually her broker's license. 734 00:38:44,567 --> 00:38:47,467 Myra was very successful in real estate in 735 00:38:47,467 --> 00:38:49,133 Atlanta, Georgia. 736 00:38:49,133 --> 00:38:51,367 MYRA: I was in the President's Club every year. 737 00:38:51,433 --> 00:38:53,066 I was a million-dollar producer, 738 00:38:53,066 --> 00:38:56,200 and I loved every second of it. 739 00:38:57,166 --> 00:38:59,100 LINDA: She worked for Richard Williams. 740 00:38:59,100 --> 00:39:00,867 She was an agent in his firm. 741 00:39:00,867 --> 00:39:05,934 He was a divorced man, and she admired him immensely. 742 00:39:05,934 --> 00:39:09,867 And after four years, one day, he asked her to lunch, 743 00:39:09,867 --> 00:39:14,767 and the sparks flew apparently, because they ended up 744 00:39:14,767 --> 00:39:16,467 getting married. 745 00:39:16,467 --> 00:39:19,133 MYRA: Richard Williams and I were married 746 00:39:19,133 --> 00:39:21,734 on June 1984. 747 00:39:23,500 --> 00:39:24,834 He's a gentleman. 748 00:39:25,734 --> 00:39:29,567 He's kind, he'll do anything in the world for me. 749 00:39:29,567 --> 00:39:31,433 He vacuums. 750 00:39:32,867 --> 00:39:34,834 I have somebody I can take care of 751 00:39:34,834 --> 00:39:37,467 and somebody that I know is gonna take care of me. 752 00:39:37,467 --> 00:39:40,734 And it took a long time to get to it all. 753 00:39:40,734 --> 00:39:45,133 But it -- it's been -- it's been what I want. 754 00:39:48,166 --> 00:39:50,367 NARRATOR: After Myra's marriage to Richard, 755 00:39:50,367 --> 00:39:54,467 most news of Jerry continues to be troubling. 756 00:39:54,467 --> 00:39:56,467 ALAN: There are a series of marriages, 757 00:39:56,533 --> 00:40:00,467 many of which just end in terrible and tragic 758 00:40:00,533 --> 00:40:02,667 or suspect circumstances. 759 00:40:02,734 --> 00:40:06,567 One wife dies under very sketchy circumstances 760 00:40:06,634 --> 00:40:09,367 that, as reporters investigate, 761 00:40:09,367 --> 00:40:14,467 points toward his guilt and culpability in her death. 762 00:40:14,467 --> 00:40:17,166 And none of this is ever in any 763 00:40:17,166 --> 00:40:19,834 serious way investigated or explored 764 00:40:19,900 --> 00:40:21,266 by the authorities. 765 00:40:21,266 --> 00:40:23,567 Really and sincerely, I would like to say one more time, 766 00:40:23,634 --> 00:40:26,834 what a great honor it is to be back in London, England! 767 00:40:26,834 --> 00:40:29,734 I feel like this is home to me, you know. 768 00:40:29,734 --> 00:40:30,834 Oh, this is where I first came over 769 00:40:30,834 --> 00:40:32,967 and I brought my little 13-year-old cousin with me. 770 00:40:32,967 --> 00:40:35,533 Remember that? [laughs] 771 00:40:37,767 --> 00:40:39,767 ABIGAIL: He was widely celebrated. 772 00:40:39,767 --> 00:40:41,934 He was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 773 00:40:41,934 --> 00:40:43,367 in the first class. 774 00:40:43,433 --> 00:40:45,734 Jerry Lee also was very distinct within 775 00:40:45,734 --> 00:40:47,734 that first generation of rock and roll. 776 00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:50,834 First of all, he stayed alive longer than the rest of them. 777 00:40:50,900 --> 00:40:55,467 But Jerry Lee Lewis was also in a class of his own 778 00:40:56,867 --> 00:40:59,634 when it came to bad behavior. 779 00:41:01,367 --> 00:41:05,900 But then what's behind that is this remarkable woman 780 00:41:07,500 --> 00:41:11,567 who took something from that, who took something beyond just 781 00:41:11,634 --> 00:41:15,166 being scarred by it and, you know, 782 00:41:15,166 --> 00:41:17,934 was able to turn her life into something else. 783 00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:23,934 I mean, there's been so many blessings 784 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:26,934 and so many good things and so much 785 00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:30,367 good, good, good spread through our life that... 786 00:41:30,367 --> 00:41:33,033 [sighs] 787 00:41:33,033 --> 00:41:35,266 you got to focus on that. 788 00:41:35,266 --> 00:41:38,066 I'm happy with myself right now. 789 00:41:38,066 --> 00:41:40,934 I'm happy with what I've got. 790 00:41:40,934 --> 00:41:45,467 I've learned some tremendous lessons about life, 791 00:41:48,967 --> 00:41:52,066 and if I had to do it all over again, 792 00:41:55,100 --> 00:41:57,166 I'd probably do it all over again.