Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => The Coffee Corner => Topic started by: BernardLanguillier on January 15, 2012, 07:09:54 am
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I hear recently an increasing number of people claiming their pride about the camera they own.
My view had always been that the only people who can legitimately be proud about a camera are the engineers who designed it. The pride of the owner is nothing but pride for the willigness to engage in a money spending act.
Thoughts? ???
Cheers,
Bernard
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I have been proud of owning something, including a camera. The pride came from the fact that I worked and saved money in order to be able to purchase it.
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It's been my experience that most people who take "pride" in their photographic equipment aren't much as photographers.
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It must depend, I suppose, on circumstances.
If you're working in your own business, then as you graduate up through the ranks of what you can afford, is it unreasonable to enjoy a little pride, as Russ suggests, in your cameras and other work-related bits and pieces - much as in the nice set of wheels, come to think of it?
Also, in the pro situation, there's no doubt that having good stuff around you reflects your status to clients - and many are knowledgeable about equipment.
For the amateur - well, I don't know; now that that's what I am, as some may know, the cellphone suddenly gets the airing!
Rob C
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It's been my experience that most people who take "pride" in their photographic equipment aren't much as photographers.
Could you please expound upon your opinion?
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Thoughts? ???
In my experience that's mainly a language thing. The word "pride" is just used differently in different places (at least that's what I can say about Europe vs. USA). Similarly to "liberal" which in Europe is used to describe a relaxed attitude towards an issue, while in the US it's almost a curse word.
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I have been proud of owning something, including a camera. The pride came from the fact that I worked and saved money in order to be able to purchase it.
Agree.
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I hear recently an increasing number of people claiming their pride about the camera they own.
You must be new around here (where here refers to this think we call Planet Earth), because this "brand pride" has existed for ages: cameras, cars, TV's, ... . Just wait till Apple releases their iCamera!
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I hear recently an increasing number of people claiming their pride about the camera they own.
My view had always been that the only people who can legitimately be proud about a camera are the engineers who designed it. The pride of the owner is nothing but pride for the willigness to engage in a money spending act.
Thoughts? ???
Cheers,
Bernard
I think it's an ego thing. People are not proud of the camera in the same sense as the designers would be, I don't believe, but they are probably proud at having made the particular choice that they made. This happens with cars, watches, shoes, you name it. I chose "this" one, therefore it's the best choice. This is the decision I made, therefore it must be the best, because I made it.
And then we need to boast about it to others, maybe because in this day and age, when people spend most of their time pushing paper around instead of hunting on the savanna, we don't really have much to brag about. It's domination politics. Watch any wolf pack on National Geographic. Same thing, but with less blood. :)
Different cameras are more similar than they are different, same with cars, same even with political parties, etc. The differences are wildly exaggerated. It's as if we need to construct points of divergence to prove we're not conformists to each other.
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Guess it can be taken in different ways, the pride on the effort made to buy the equipment is a good one, but in that case I guess would be more like a good feeling about the effort in buying the camera, I'm more into the pride of the pictures taken by yourself, but that lefts the equipment aside.
Personally, I feel good about the equipment I use, but not proud, since is not something I made. I feel proud whenever I take a good picture, and I guess even more since I'm still learning. Whenever I get to buy something bit better than someone elses I feel different, but not proud (maybe a bit spoiled by me), but that's it.
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"I want photography to be not just a hobbie, but to be my life"
Canon t2i, Sigma 50 1.4, Sigma 18-125 3.8-5.6
Well, that's not really a matter of wanting: it's a matter of having no choice. If it's going to be, you can't prevent it.
Rob C
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Well, that's not really a matter of wanting: it's a matter of having no choice. If it's going to be, you can't prevent it.
You are right, is not just about wanting, but well I guess there's no harm on wishing for it to be, don't know if I'm talented enough but at least I won't stop practicing and trying my best. :)
Thanks for the feedback
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You are right, is not just about wanting, but well I guess there's no harm on wishing for it to be, don't know if I'm talented enough but at least I won't stop practicing and trying my best. :)
I think you missed the point of Rob's post. He wasn't talking about being a professional, he was talking about photography being so important to you, regardless of talent, that you HAVE to make images. It becomes a compulsion and, in many aspects, one of the more important aspects of your life.
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I think you missed the point of Rob's post. He wasn't talking about being a professional, he was talking about photography being so important to you, regardless of talent, that you HAVE to make images. It becomes a compulsion and, in many aspects, one of the more important aspects of your life.
Absolutely, and a mixed blessing at best!
I watched David Hockney on a brief tv clip this evening; he's 74 and has just put on an exhibition of a new series of English landscapes. What had me giggle was his remark that, if you find something that excites you at his age, best stick with it! I wonder what became of his multi-print picture era?
Rob C
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I think you missed the point of Rob's post. He wasn't talking about being a professional, he was talking about photography being so important to you, regardless of talent, that you HAVE to make images. It becomes a compulsion and, in many aspects, one of the more important aspects of your life.
Thanks for clarifying that, since english is not my native language some times I get caught on the words and sentences and don't always see the full picture. Now I understand, and guess I need to fix my signature, when I say that I want photography to be my life I mean that I would love for it to be my job, my way of living, that much I enjoy it.
I work all day with computers and fixing this, and fixing that, with 12 hour journeys that sometimes drain me completely, I know is not enough of an excuse, but I still grab my camera whenever I can, trying to learn more day after day and taking all the variety of pictures I can. But oh man, I would love to live of my photography.
Sadly I'm also in some kind of minor depression because of the situation here in my country (Mexico) specially in my city and state, robbery is increasing like maniac, gun shots almost everywhere, can't be outside too early or too late, can't take your camera outdoors because of what may happen, soldiers everywhere, living with a constant fear of getting caught in crossfire.
But still, I try to take the best out of being indoors, grab my speedlight, a couple of my clamp lights and take portraits, inanimate objects or whatever I can, photography also has become a way of being more in peace.
Sorry to drop all my problems on you, is just that sometimes it comes out without even noticing.
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There was a short piece I saw on TV last week showing him (David Hockney) sketching en plein air with an iPAD, and also, the multi-screen presentation of his home territory on the Yorkshire Wolds over the year, which is part of the exhibition. Fascinating stuff, and I am really hoping to have time and money to go to the RA and see the exhibition before it closes. His remarks on the importance of being able to see, rather than just looking, really struck a chord with me.
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/hockney/
If you haven't seen his latest work and like modern landscapes, this is inspiring stuff! I saw an "Imagine" documentary on him a year or two back, and his draftmanship was masterly. Anyone who thinks you can be a great painter without having the basic skills should be made to watch it, IMO.
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There was a short piece I saw on TV last week showing him (David Hockney) sketching en plein air with an iPAD, and also, the multi-screen presentation of his home territory on the Yorkshire Wolds over the year, which is part of the exhibition. http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/hockney/
Hi Lois
The short piece that I saw had him mention the iPAD and he said that at first he thought it a toy (rough paraphrasing here!) but that he was able to work out a great pallette and that he discovered it to be really usefull.
I've never seen one of these delights in the flesh, as it were, and I wondered if it's something like one of those Waco/ Wacom? tablet things you can use to do Photoshop with instead of working via a mouse?
He made reference to doing all his own work - I wonder if he was having a go at Messrs. Hirst and Koons...
And why not!
Rob C
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Sorry to drop all my problems on you, is just that sometimes it comes out without even noticing.
Don't worry about it, I have my own problems and I can tell you that I've had a lot of help and mental support from some of the people here. There are some pretty good friends-in-need to be found in this place, people who will not just agree with you to calm you down, but kick your ass as well when a kick's the best thing for you!
Rob C
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It's been my experience that most people who take "pride" in their photographic equipment aren't much as photographers.
Such as the guys who list all their equipment in their forum signature? :)
I've always found that an odd way to identify ones' self to the public.
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Such as the guys who list all their equipment in their forum signature? :)
I've always found that an odd way to identify ones' self to the public.
Innit just!
Rob C
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The short piece that I saw had him mention the iPAD and he said that at first he thought it a toy (rough paraphrasing here!) but that he was able to work out a great pallette and that he discovered it to be really usefull.
I've never seen one of these delights in the flesh, as it were, and I wondered if it's something like one of those Waco/ Wacom? tablet things you can use to do Photoshop with instead of working via a mouse?
He made reference to doing all his own work - I wonder if he was having a go at Messrs. Hirst and Koons...
And why not!
Rob C
Nor have I - but it was interesting watching him. I think it removes one level of abstraction as he was drawing on the tablet with a stylus and seeing the results immediately - rather than having to watch the screen and "draw" elsewhere. If I had a mind or the budget to buy gadgets, that might be one to think about. I'm in two minds about the doing your own work - I understand it was common practice in mediaeval times to get apprentices to paint the peripheral bits, while the master concentrated on hands and faces etc. Not that I wish to defend Koons, Hirst or the rest.
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Don't worry about it, I have my own problems and I can tell you that I've had a lot of help and mental support from some of the people here. There are some pretty good friends-in-need to be found in this place, people who will not just agree with you to calm you down, but kick your ass as well when a kick's the best thing for you!
Thanks for your words Rob, I do need some ass kicking and some support :)
This site indeed help me out to decrease and forget some of my problems, and it is really full with nice people willing to help one out.
+1
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Such as the guys who list all their equipment in their forum signature? :)
I've always found that an odd way to identify ones' self to the public.
Those are the guys, Kirk. They're usually too busy screwing around with their equipment and thinking about the next thing to add to the pile to actually go out and get a decent picture.
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Unlike those of use with pithy quotes who are surely, by shear virtue of our cleverness, real photographers ;)
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Unlike those of use with pithy quotes who are surely, by shear virtue of our cleverness, real photographers ;)
Dagnabbit, Chuck! At last I know what I've been missing as a photographer. I'd better see if Google can find me a pithy quote to make me as good a photographer as you. ;)
Eric
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Unlike those of use with pithy quotes who are surely, by shear virtue of our cleverness, real photographers ;)
That's because those of us who are clever, shear pithy quotes and keep them in a notebook, Chuck.
A month ago in St. Augustine I saw an elderly guy with one of those much-advertised elaborate camera harnesses over his shoulders and around his waist with what looked like three D3's, all fitted with 70-200 lenses, hooked to the hangers on that rig. I was surprised he could even walk. If he'd tried to make a street shot on St. George street, assuming he could have gotten one of those cameras off his rig in time and without toppling over from the resulting imbalance, people would have run, screaming. I was ROTSL.
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hmmm
I wonder what I might glean from these communiques
I want you all to know I really benefit from knowing you're out there too.
No matter the terms, always creating
and always something good.
But I do get a thrill out of knowing I can do good work
using the equipment I have,
and make something out of nothing
I am proud of that,
and by inference,
my gear is a source of satisfaction at least.
I'm more proud if somebody has a great response to my art(if you can call it that)
Not just like it, but love it-
I'm really proud of my photo a woman framed and put directly in her stall opposite the commode-
tell me how cool is it that she can't, well you know
without looking at my art?
hahahaha
a thrill and pride right there sure
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Rocco,
That's the kind of pride that is worth while.
Eric
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Yes, but just as long as the picture is an authorised one and not a rip-off!
Anyone buying one of mine is welcome to hang it anywhere - even above their bed, from the ceiling, should that take their fancy. I can just about imagine a picture of a couple of Inquisition chairs hanging overhead... Oh, even on a barroom wall would be okay.
;-)
Rob C
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I wonder what became of his multi-print picture era?
Rob C
The dogs barked; the caravan moved on.
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The dogs barked; the caravan moved on.
Reminds me of my favourite Chuck Berry quotation: never let the same dog bite you twice!
Rob C
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Unlike those of use with pithy quotes who are surely, by shear virtue of our cleverness, real photographers ;)
Taking the pith?
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It's been my experience that most people who take "pride" in their photographic equipment aren't much as photographers.
i was very pleased with my new (to me) Nikon F in 1969 (I was 17); an ex-newspaper camera bought in little old Adelaide, SA (where Rupert Murdoch got his start), it had the texta-marked company number 4945 written on the inside of the back, and the Contax-style flat-top shutter release was worn into a hemisphere of brass. Loved it but never bragged about it. Maybe it was because it sported the thumpingly obese original Photomic finder rather than a svelte pentaprism!
As time went on, both equipment and work became professional, and the gear itself became less and less objet de l’amour and more a set of tools. I remember buying equipment so that it would cover an angle of view or do a specific job, not because I desired the object. RB67, SQA and certain view cameras were purchased for reasons of the head—did desire an SL66 for its tilting front standard.
Now, out of photography and back in, no Nikons, just Pentax, chosen for a balance of reasons. And a Mamiya 645 with a digital back, making a circular argument for the M645 I bought about thirty years ago, and had a soft spot for.
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Such as the guys who list all their equipment in their forum signature? :)
I've always found that an odd way to identify ones' self to the public.
The listing of gear in photography forum profiles seems to apply to computer forums too, where every bit of kit is oft displayed. My sig on MacTalk (http://www.mactalk.com.au/forum.php) is below (and note a typical gear sig below mine):
(http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/4594/computersigs.jpg)
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It's a common thing in many forums to display a quote or the specs of the computer system, me as a computer technician have to search through a lot of them and every time there is a lot of the members displaying what specs their computer have. I had displayed some of mine equipment in my signature here, but since all this debate I came into sense that all that doesn't matter, and just left as a signature a note to my late older brother.
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That's my favorite Groucho quote. It's much better than the Macbook one.
Eric
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That's my favorite Groucho quote. It's much better than the Macbook one.
Eric
And it looks likely that he will have to change his sig. ;D
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standard.
Now, out of photography and back in, no Nikons, just Pentax, chosen for a balance of reasons. And a Mamiya 645 with a digital back, making a circular argument for the M645 I bought about thirty years ago, and had a soft spot for.
How come no Nikon? Having had one early on, I couldn't imagine photo-life without some reasonable version.
Rob C
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How come no Nikon? Having had one early on, I couldn't imagine photo-life without some reasonable version.
Rob C
Having owned, in no particular order, Nikon F, F2, F3, Nikkormat, FMs, and FEs (some with motors, most without) for many years, I eventually got to the point where I pretty much abandoned photography in favour of print design and pre-press work, and the Nikon gear was either stolen, broke down, or sold. I had respected Canon as a *serious* camera maker, but never owned one. Ignored Minolta, Pentax etc.
A point about pro photography in South Australia is that we never had the high acceptance of 35mm (compared to larger formats) as had long existed in Europe and the US. Kodachrome in Australia took a week to get to Melbourne (next capital city to the east) and return processed, too slow for agencies and clients who wanted things done yesterday—has anything changed? And non-Kodachrome emulsions didn’t really hit the sharpness spot until Fuji came along with better films. So MF and LF was much used.
About 10 years ago, missing photography, or maybe it was a decent shooting job coming up, I bought a used Pentax ME Super body for $100 and grabbed a few lenses for very little money, much less than it would have been for Nikon or Canon. The ME Super and its manual sibling the MX were very small but very solid cameras (I chose the battery-dependent ME-S for its 1/125 flash synch speed). Worked fine until I put some light oil on the stiff rewind crank and the meter suddenly crapped out (how does that work?).
When I went *seriously* digital in 2007 (had bought out some RAW-featured point-and-shoots to teach myself digital conversions) I elected for a K10D, a decent camera with weather-sealing at a good-for-the-time price, and more solid than equivalent Canikons. Still had some lenses that fit it.
About to upgrade to a K5 (will keep the K20D and try getting it converted to infrared) but do the bulk of my present work with the Mamiya—ouch, my back!
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A point about pro photography in South Australia is that we never had the high acceptance of 35mm (compared to larger formats) as had long existed in Europe and the US. Kodachrome in Australia took a week to get to Melbourne (next capital city to the east) and return processed, too slow for agencies and clients who wanted things done yesterday—has anything changed? And non-Kodachrome emulsions didn’t really hit the sharpness spot until Fuji came along with better films. So MF and LF was much used.
It was quite a struggle getting it accepted in Scotland, too. Kodachrome was indeed the only colour option we could use - in 35mm - and I sometimes preferred the colours of Ektachrome. However, processing made it viable only for non-urgent shoots like calendars; for day-to-day advertising it was 120 rolls of Ektachrome every time.
But we then moved on to the next job - if there was one! - unlike today, where folks seem to be wedded to the computer chair 24/24.
Rob C
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I find it is the film photographers who take more pride in their cameras. Most digital cameras are less then 12 years old and film photographers have cameras that are older than that and they usually tell you how old they are unlike a a digital photographer.
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Well, stamper, as you didn't ask, I'm thirty-nine and holding. I've been holding so long it's starting to hurt.
;-)
Rob C
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Well, stamper, as you didn't ask, I'm thirty-nine and holding. I've been holding so long it's starting to hurt.
;-)
Rob C
Yes, Rob. I'm expecting to hit that milestone in about another 39 years or so too.
Eric
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Yes, Rob. I'm expecting to hit that milestone in about another 39 years or so too.
Eric
That's interesting; to find help, as I did, you need to consult with Dr Jerry Lee Lewis, who has it down to a T in his rendering of the musical sermon on that particular condition. And not even a mention of a pink Cadillac.
Rob C
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Interesting thread. Personally I've never subscribed to the "Pride" in my equipment thing. I've had cameras over the years that I've loved the look of and admired them as pieces of work, but pride - never. A camera to me is merely a tool - as a torque wrench would be in my workshop - and I must admit to having no great feeling for it beyond it's capability to take the photograph that I want it to. I don't even buy expensive camera bodies these days, I never have since I retired as a professional wedding photographer a few years ago - the client likes to see an expensive camera sat on a tripod right? These days my cameras are abused too much - usually being bounced about in a motorcycle top box or being drenched with rainwater on mountain or with salt water near the coast. I do however stick to one maker, for no other reason than I like the particular brand and feel comfortable with them. the current batch are the cheap 'n cheerful so called mid-entry level models which fit my needs perfectly - with a decent lens lens attached, I still even use compacts sometimes. If I bought anything more expensive it would be purely for the snob value and I don't subscribe to that ethos either
Dewi
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...to find help, as I did, you need to consult with Dr Jerry Lee Lewis...Rob C
distinctly remember one of the first things that made me feel really good,
...badoombadoombadoombadoombadoom badoom badoom badoo"COME ON OVER BABY WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN GOIN ON!"
the killer,
a shiteating grin and fire in his eyes
well even he got old...
by the way,
he still is touring,
stopping by Europe later this year,
can you imagine the inside of that guys eyelids?
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distinctly remember one of the first things that made me feel really good,
...badoombadoombadoombadoombadoom badoom badoom badoo"COME ON OVER BABY WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN GOIN ON!"
the killer,
a shiteating grin and fire in his eyes
well even he got old...
by the way,
he still is touring,
stopping by Europe later this year,
can you imagine the inside of that guys eyelids?
Little sis ain't no slouch!
http://youtu.be/Y6Mwm5BCR2k
Rob C
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Strange perspective but this is from a (religious?) site that sums up some of the life of what can be called one of the more reckless stars the world has known...you should read what they say about Little Richard on it! ::)
JERRY LEE LEWIS
Jerry Lee Lewis (1935- ) is not only one of the fathers of rock & roll, but is also one of rock’s many wild men. His mother was a member of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God denomination, and like his preacher cousin, Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Lee attended AOG churches frequently as he grew up. Jerry Lee, though, did not repent of his sin, trust Jesus Christ for salvation, and dedicate his life to the Lord. Instead he went out into the world and served the flesh and the Devil. Jerry Lee’s father was a moonshiner, who had been in prison for making homemade liquor before Jerry Lee was born. Though his mother (sometimes accompanied by her husband) was a frequent churchgoer and is described by her children as serious about the things of God, the home was not happy, and his parents fought constantly. Jerry’s mother began drinking as she got older, and she was known to get into violent confrontations (Linda Gail Lewis, The Devil, Me, and Jerry Lee, p. 53). By age 15, Jerry Lee was working at a juke joint and had acquired a taste for liquor. He quit high school after bringing home 29 F’s on one report card. He then enrolled at Southwestern Bible Institute (Assemblies of God) in Waxahachie, Texas, and even preached a little; but was expelled after only three months when he played a boogie-woogie version of the hymn “My God Is Real” for morning assembly. He wasn’t too sad at being kicked out of Bible school, because he had been sneaking out of the dorm at night and hitchhiking to Dallas to visit nightclubs. Now he was free to pursue his real love.
Jerry Lee was far more fascinated with the world’s licentious rhythms. He loved the blues and boogie-woogie even as a boy. He was fascinated with Robert Johnson’s recording of “Hellhound on my Trail” and other blues records. He listened to Mississippi bluesmen on Natchez radio station WMIS, to dance band music on WWL in New Orleans, and to country boogie on radio programs such as The Louisiana Hayride. He would sneak down to black honky tonks and listen to the music coming from the jukebox. “He would linger by the tar-shingled juke joints where bad black people drank in the morning, and he would listen to the music that came from the nickel machine” (Nick Tosches, Hellfire, p. 46). The teenage Jerry Lee Lewis became proficient on the piano and formed his own rock & roll style from a combination of jazzed up Pentecostal music, hillbilly boogie, and black rhythm & blues. Lewis’s biographer Nick Tosches observes that “if you took the words away, there were more than a few Pentecostal hymns that would not sound foreign coming from the nickel machine in the wildest juke joint” (Hellfire, p. 57).
At age 22 he vaulted to fame with his 1957 hit, “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On.” He became immensely popular with his frenzied rock & roll shows. His skyrocketing career was cut down, though, when the press learned that he had married his 13-year-old cousin before he divorced his second wife. He did not have more hit records until the late 1960s.
Jerry Lee Lewis has been a drug- and alcohol abusing, profane, immoral “party animal,” and his life has been marred by violence, tragedies, and by repeated run-ins with the law. At last count he had been married seven times. In February 1952, when he was only 16, he married a girl named Dorothy, a preacher’s daughter, but he would not stay home with her and she left him in early 1953. That summer he met 17-year-old Jane Mitcham and she was soon pregnant with his child out of wedlock. Her irate father and brothers forced him to marry her, and the marriage was registered on September 10, 1953. The 17-year-old Jerry Lee was a bigamist, because he was still legally married to Dorothy. The divorce was not finalized until a month after his second marriage. The boy that Jane bore for Jerry Lee was named Jerry Lee, Jr. When a second child arrived in March 1955 (a boy named Ronny Guy), Jerry Lee refused to call it his own and left Jane.
In 1957, while still married to Jane, Lewis began an affair with his 13-year-old cousin Myra Gale. He was still legally married to Jane, in fact, when he married Myra Gale in December 1957. The divorce was not granted until May 1958. Thus by age 25, Jerry Lee Lewis was a bigamist two times over. Myra’s father played bass in Jerry’s band. In February 1959, Myra Gale bore Lewis a second son, Steve Allen Lewis. In 1962, little three-year-old Steve Allen drowned in the family swimming pool. In August 1963, Myra had a little girl named Phoebe Allen Lewis.
The 1970s did not bring any peace to Jerry Lee Lewis. Myra filed for divorce in 1970. She testified in court that their marriage had been a nightmare. Not only had she caught him cheating on her, but he also cuffed her around and in 13 years of marriage had spent only three evenings alone with her. He had accused her of adultery, beat her, and even implied that their son’s drowning death was a punishment for her sins. That year Jerry Lee tried religion briefly, went back to church, and vowed to stop playing in nightclubs; but his newfound spirituality didn’t last. Myra’s divorce was granted in May 1971. That October, he married his fourth wife, a 29-year-old Memphis woman named Jaren Elizabeth Gunn Pate. They separated after only two weeks and spent more time apart than together during their stormy marriage. They had a daughter only six months after their wedding. Jaren filed for divorce at least three times, charging him with “cruel and inhuman treatment, adultery, habitual drunkenness, and habitual use of drugs.” Shortly before the divorce settlement in 1982, she drowned in a swimming pool under mysterious circumstances. Jerry’s sister Linda Gail says she took an overdose of drugs. In 1973, Jerry Lee’s first son, Jerry Lee, Jr., was killed in an automobile crash while driving the jeep his father had given him for his 19th birthday. Jerry Lee, Jr. had spent part of that year in a psychiatric institution possibly because of the effects of marijuana usage. He even thought he was his father and walked around saying, “I’m the Killer! I’m the great Jerry Lee Lewis.” (A few weeks before his death, Jerry Lee, Jr., made a profession of faith in Christ at a revival meeting.)
Charlie “Red Man” Freeman, the guitarist for Jerry Lee Lewis, died at age 31. Lewis’s drummer, Robert “Tarp” Tarrant, had a nervous breakdown when he was only 22 because of his heavy drinking and drug abuse.
In 1973, Lewis jabbed the editor of Country Music magazine in the neck with a broken bottle when he took offense at one of the interviewer’s questions (Country: The Twisted Roots of Rock, p. 85). In 1974, he smashed a fan in the face with a whiskey bottle and “cut the guy’s face all up to pieces.” In 1975, Jerry Lee shot 25 holes through his office door with a .45 semi-automatic handgun. Jerry Lee was particularly out of control in 1976. In September, he shot his bass player, Norman Owens, in the chest with a .357 magnum handgun in a drunken fit of anger. Owens survived, and Lewis lamely said it was an accident. A week later Lewis was arrested at his home for disorderly conduct. He had been shouting obscenities at his neighbors. In November of 1976 he drove to the gate of Elvis Presley’s Graceland, brandished a .38-caliber derringer, and drunkenly told the security guard he was there to kill Elvis. Twenty-four hours earlier Lewis had overturned his $46,000 Rolls-Royce and was charged with reckless driving, driving while intoxicated, and driving without a license. In 1979, Lewis got into a fight onstage with a fan in Australia and suffered fractured ribs. The tour was cancelled. Also in 1979 the IRS confiscated his expensive cars for nonpayment of taxes.
The 1980s brought more of the same. In 1981, Lewis almost died when he had to be rushed to the hospital for massive stomach surgery. In 1983, about a year after his fourth wife drowned in the swimming pool, Jerry Lee married his fifth wife, 25-year-old Shawn Michelle Stephens. Less than three months after the wedding she was found dead in their home. After a superficial investigation, the death was ruled a suicide by overdose of methadone pills and Lewis was not charged with foul play, though Shawn Michelle was found lying in their bed in a bruised condition with blood on her body and under her fingernails. There were also “the permeation of fresh, small bloodstains around Lewis’ Mississippi home.” A few months later, the 49-year-old Jerry Lee married his sixth wife, 22-year-old Kerrie Lynn McCarver. She filed for divorce in 1986, but they were reconciled the next year and she gave birth to Jerry Lee Lewis III. In 1988, Lewis filed bankruptcy, listing more than $3 million in debts.
Lewis has abused drugs and alcohol like a wild man and was undergone treatment for addiction to painkillers. He claims to have spent $500,000 on the drug Demerol. In the early 1960s Lewis and his band were arrested at a motel in Texas and charged with possession of seven hundred amphetamine capsules. In March 1976, federal narcotics agents confiscated “a substantial amount of drugs” from Jerry Lee’s private plane. In 1979, he was busted again by federal agents for possession of cocaine and marijuana.
Lewis was possibly the first rock & roller to light his musical instrument on fire. He did this at a 1958 Alan Freed rock concert. “They still talk of that show, how Jerry Lee had the crowd screaming and rushing the stage, how he took a Coke bottle of petrol from his jacket pocket and doused his piano with one hand as the other hand banged out ‘Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On,’ how he set the piano aflame, his hands still riding the keys like a madman as the kids went finely and wholly berserk with the frenzy of it...” (Country: Twisted Roots of Rock, p. 82).
Jerry Lee Lewis is what the Bible calls a “double minded man” (James 1:8; 4:8). He is frequently remorseful about his wicked lifestyle, but he does not repent and turn away from it. His sister Linda Gail testifies: “Jerry Lee would go through periods of depression and then back to his religious roots. Many times, he’d go home to the church in Ferriday, confess his sins to the world, repent and start all over again by the end of the week—drinking, running around and all the other activities associated with his sinful life on the road” (The Devil, Me, and Jerry Lee, p. 73). He has often admitted that rock & roll is “the devil’s music.” When he was recording one of his lewd songs at Sun Records in Memphis in 1957, the 20-year-old Lewis argued with Sun Records’ owner Sam Phillips about whether or not rock & roll was wholesome. The discussion was recorded. As the session began, Lewis protested that rock is “worldly music” and that God requires separation from the world. Phillips argued with him that rock & roll is arousing good feelings and is therefore a good thing. In fact, he said that rock could even save people. Lewis vehemently replied: “How can the Devil save souls? What are you talkin’ about? I have the Devil in me. If I didn’t, I’d be a Christian” (Hungry for Heaven, p. 24). In 1970, Lewis told Rolling Stone magazine: “I was raised a good Christian, but I couldn’t make it. Too weak I guess.” In 1980, he told People magazine: “Salvation bears down on me. I don’t wanna die and go to hell. But I don’t think I’m heading in the right direction. ... I’m lost and undone, without God or son. I should’ve been a Christian, but I was too weak for the gospel. I’m a rock ‘n’ roll cat. We all have to answer to God on Judgment Day.” In a 1982 interview with rock researcher Steve Turner, Lewis said: “How do you see ‘A Whole Lotta Shakin’ and ‘Great Balls of Fire’ done in church? Can you picture Jesus Christ singin’ it? [He then said that he, Lewis, couldn’t picture it.] Everything Jesus preached was against it. It’s the devil’s excitement [at a rock concert] and God’s excitement [in the church]. It’s just which one you want. You can’t go back and forth” (Hungry for Heaven, p. 26). When asked what power falls on him when he performs, Lewis replied: “The power of voodoo.”
Jerry Lee Lewis has enough spiritual discernment to know what he is doing. We believe he spoke the truth when he said, “I’m draggin’ the audience to hell with me” (cited by Nick Tosches,Hellfire, p. x).
Jerry Lee Lewis was, appropriately enough, the first person inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
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“The power of voodoo.”
"He reminds me of the man." "Which man?" "The man with the power." "What power?" "The power of the voodoo." "The voodoo?" "The voodoo." "Who do?" "He do." "He do what?" "He reminds me of the man."
I don't think the Killer need worry too much; I suspect that we are all programmed to be what we are, for better or for worse, and we carry that through life. Responsibility is always ours too, and then we have to live with the results of our games. Perhaps that can be as heavy a punishment in personal, if not civil/legalistic terms as it gets. What you think of yourself may be more painful a burden to carry than any external judgement.
Easy for people without access to some temptations to criticise; easy to disguise envy in a cloak of criticism, too.
As he says in the song: "Who's gonna play this old piano, when the Killer's gone?"
Rob C