Maps of Music

Southern Roots: Back Home in Memphis (1973)

Where the lyrics of Southern Roots: Back Home in Memphis take you, and where it was really made.

The album was touted as a comeback, but Lewis had already been enjoying huge success on the country charts since 1968.

Key places

Where Lewis came to record in Memphis (1973)

Recording site Ardent Studios — Lewis showed up at Trans Maximus Studios in Memphis to record this album. The point is placed at city-center level because the source names only the city. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

SugarHill Studios credit (1973)

Recording site SugarHill Recording Studios (Houston) — Discogs credits SugarHill Studios as a recording location for this release. The point uses the studio's listed coordinates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Southern Roots: Back Home in Memphis is a studio album by American musician and pianist Jerry Lee Lewis
• Released on Mercury Records in 1973
• Produced by Huey Meaux
• Sessions commenced in September 1973
• Recorded over three days
• Recording location credited at Trans Maximus Studios in Memphis
• Discogs also credits Sugar Hill Studios as a recording location

Background

• Touted as a "comeback" album for Lewis, which was misleading at best
• Lewis had enjoyed huge success on the country music charts since 1968, with 15 top 10 hits including four chart toppers
• Lewis also sold out concerts on the road during this period
• Although the title implies a return to rock and roll roots, Lewis had recently charted an album on the pop chart
• The Session...Recorded in London with Great Artists, a collaboration with British rockers, was released earlier in 1973 and reached number 37
• His single "Me and Bobby McGee" had grazed the top 40, peaking at number 40 in 1972

Recording

• Huey Meaux had just recently gotten out of prison and was a fellow Louisiana wild man
• The sessions began in a hard year for Lewis, who was jailed and fined for driving while intoxicated
• Lewis's son Jerry Lee Lewis, Jr. was killed when a car he was towing jackknifed near Hernando, Mississippi
• Lewis's fourth wife, Jaren, filed for divorce three weeks later
• Lewis was in a foul mood when he arrived at Trans Maximus Studios in Memphis to record, according to Rick Bragg's authorized biography
• The album displays a heavy soul influence
• Stax Records alumni Steve Cropper, Al Jackson, Jr. and Donald "Duck" Dunn supported Lewis, along with Carl Perkins, Tony Joe White and the Memphis Horns
• The overtly lascivious single "Meat Man" did not chart on either the pop or the country charts

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• American country and rock and roll pianist, singer, and songwriter, nicknamed "The Killer".
• Made first recordings in 1952 at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studio in New Orleans; early Sun Records recordings in 1956 in Memphis.
• 1957 hit "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" brought worldwide fame; followed by "Great Balls of Fire", "Breathless", and "High School Confidential".
• 1964 live album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg is widely regarded as one of the greatest live rock albums.
• Switched to country in 1968 with "Another Place, Another Time", which revived his career; 30 songs reached the Billboard country top 10 across his career.
• Last Man Standing (2006) was his best-selling release; Mean Old Man (2010) was another major seller.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1986) and the Country Music Hall of Fame (2022).

Members

• Solo artist; the Million Dollar Quartet session on Sun Records included Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Pittsburgh Press critic Pete Bishop called the album a right big disappointment
• Bishop complained about the backup trumpets, saxophones and singers, and wrote in a southern drawl
• Billboard country albums chart peak: number 6

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that apart from the gospel closer, the country had been consciously removed from the set
• Erlewine felt this removal seemed to be the producer's choice
• Erlewine wrote that Lewis's performances were not much different or more impassioned than what came before
• Erlewine said Lewis sounds like himself, barrelling through songs and twisting them to suit his needs

Records

• The album made the Billboard country albums chart, peaking at number 6
• The single "Meat Man" did not crack either the pop or country charts
• The album garnered Lewis a lot of publicity and good will

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Lewis appeared on the ABC series In Concert and the late-night TV series The Midnight Special after the album came out
• Colin Escott's essay for a later box set called the single Meat Man so wonderfully lewd
• Escott wrote that Lewis was the only person in country music who would even have considered cutting the song
• During one exchange, Meaux asked Lewis whether he wanted to try a take, and Lewis answered with an insult
• Carl Perkins, a fellow rock and roll icon, played on the album
• Discogs lists Trans Maximus Inc. Recording Studios and Sugar Hill Studios among the recording credits

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact