Maps of Music

The Return of Rock (1965)

Where the lyrics of The Return of Rock take you, and where it was really made.

A critic said the cover nearly sank this rock record before the needle even dropped.

Place unknown

Do you know where this album was recorded, or where its cover was shot? Tell us and we will add it to the map.

The Return of Rock: fourth studio album by American musician and pianist Jerry Lee Lewis
Released on the Smash label in 1965, on June 4, 1965
Two sides with six tracks each, 12 songs in total
Includes three Chuck Berry songs: Maybellene, Roll Over Beethoven, Johnny B. Goode
Only single: Baby, Hold Me Close, with I Believe in You on the B-side
Baby, Hold Me Close was composed by Lewis and Bob Tubert
Lewis and producer Shelby Singleton worked together on a new rock and roll album

Lewis's chart success had dropped since his 1958 marriage to Myra, his 13-year-old cousin
He became an outsider in the music industry but kept his fans in Europe
His 1964 album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg is regarded by critics as a major record in rock and roll history
He had been touring continuously since the scandal, and his ability to play fierce rock and roll stayed intact despite falling sales
The album was made as an effort to regain his past success

Side A includes I Believe in You, Maybellene, Flip, Flop and Fly, Don't Let Go, Roll Over Beethoven and Herman the Hermit
Side B includes Baby, Hold Me Close, You Went Back on Your Word, Corrine, Corrina, Sexy Ways, Johnny B. Goode and Got You on My Mind
Flip, Flop and Fly was originally a Big Joe Turner song, and Lewis performed it on this album
Corrine, Corrina is performed in a boogie-woogie version
His reading of Sexy Ways by Hank Ballard was considered daring for its time
Lewis and Chuck Berry were once rivals, but they respected each other, and Lewis returned to Berry's songs throughout his 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).

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

Joe Bonomo, in his book on Lewis, described the cover as an atrocious one that nearly finished the record before the needle dropped
Bonomo characterized the self-penned single Baby, Hold Me Close as a cool studio-concocted groove
The album was released on June 4, 1965, and reached number 121 on the Billboard 200

Bonomo praised the single Baby, Hold Me Close as a cool studio-concocted groove, while criticizing the cover
Bonomo's view is that the cover made Lewis look out of step with the times, next to teenagers who seemed to have been teleported from the set of Shindig!
Rick Bragg, in his 2014 biography of Lewis, wrote that the problem was the material, not the technique
Bragg's remark is that the problem was always the material rather than the playing

Billboard 200: peaked at number 121
Baby, Hold Me Close, the only single, reached number 129 on the Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart
The single was performed live on the TV variety series Shindig! in 1965
Released at a time when the commercial glitter of the album chart was falling quickly, according to Bonomo's comparison with other acts of the day

Jerry Lee Lewis performed Baby, Hold Me Close live on the musical variety TV series Shindig! in 1965
The cover shows Lewis in a mummified paisley tux and frilly shirt, drawing mockery from critic Joe Bonomo
Bonomo wrote that a few teenagers on the cover dance in mild bewilderment, as if they had been teleported from the set of Shindig!
Lewis had kept his fans in Europe even while losing chart success after his 1958 marriage
The Return of Rock came out only a year after the live album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg, recorded in 1964