Some say the king of glissandos would have been bigger than Elvis if it wasn't for his tumultuous life (marrying his 13 years old cousin Myra, being blacklisted in the US and having 2 of his 7 wives dying in dubious ways).
The Killer's competitive nature to outdo anyone else on the bill led to this story:
Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry were on the same night in New York in 1957. They argued about who would go on the featured last set, and since Berry had more hit songs, he won. So Jerry Lee did his set and closed with the wildest version of Great Balls Of Fire, ending by setting his piano on fire. As he passed Chuck backstage, legend has it that Jerry Lee said "Top THAT, nigger!" In the movie made in 1989, this was cleaned up by having Dennis Quaid saying "Top THAT, cat!".
Live at The Star Club is mind blowing, arguably the greatest live album ever and sounds like all of his rage at not being the accepted king of rock & roll surfaced that night, or perhaps he just was in a particularly nasty mood. Or maybe this is the way he sounded on an average night in 1964
"Compared to this, thrash metal sounds tame, the Stooges sound constrained, hardcore punk seems neutered, and the Sex Pistols sound like wimps."
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