Jerry Lee Lewis – High School Confidential

Jerry Lee Lewis put the Rock in Rock and Roll. When I see those old clips of Elvis, he is tame compared to Jerry Lee Lewis. He was nicknamed the Killer for good reason. On a side note…if you want to hear one of the best live albums ever…give Jerry Lee Lewis, ‘Live at the Star Club, Hamburg’ (1964) a try.

By 1957 Lewis was on fire…he was set with three previous top ten hits Whole Lotta Shakin, Breathless, and Great Balls of Fire. He released High School Confidential in 1957. It was riding up the charts when news of Lewis’ marriage to his 13-year-old second cousin broke out. Upon hearing this, Sun Records canceled distribution of the record to DJs and it stalled on the charts. Not a good career move Jerry…but he was just warming up.

This was the title track to a movie in which Lewis appeared. There was a sequel to the movie called College Confidential, but Lewis didn’t appear in that one. The song peaked at #21 in the Billboard Charts and #12 in the UK. Lewis wrote this song and it probably would have made it in the top ten until it was pulled.

He released a few more songs but they didn’t go anywhere until he reinvented himself into a country artist. In 1967 He had a #2 Billboard Country hit and also the #1 Canada country song in What’s Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me). After that, he continued to chart country hits well into the 1980s.

I love reading descriptions of Lewis’s personality. I see menacing, seductive, dangerous, aggressive, and most of all…dangerous.

As far as musically…he is a great piano player that influenced many and was a super performer…one if not the best of his generation.

High School Confindential

Well open up, honey
It’s your lover boy me that’s a knockin’
Why don’t you listen to me, sugar
All the cats are at the High School rockin’

Honey, get your boppin’ shoes
Before the juke box blows a fuse
Hey everbody hoppin’, everybody boppin’
Boppin’ at the High School Hop
Boppin’ at the High School Hop
Shakin’ at the High School Hop

Hoppin’ at the High School Hop
Rockin’ at the High School Hop
Everybody’s hoppin’, everybody’s boppin’
Boppin’ at the High School Hop

Come on little baby, let’s rock a little bit tonight
Woo, I got get with you, sugar, let’s shake things up tonight
Well the heart beatin’ rhythm
And my feet are moving smooth and light

Boppin’ at the High School Hop
Boppin’ at the High School Hop
Shakin’ at the High School Hop
Movin’ at the High School Hop
Everybody’s hoppin’, everybody’s rocking
Boppin’ at the High School Hop

Well, let me tell you something baby
I’m gonna give you some good news
Lookee here, sweet mama, let’s burn off both our shoes
My hearts beatin’ rhythm and my soul is singin’ the blues

Boppin’ at the High School Hop
Boppin’ at the High School Hop
Jumpin’ at the High School Hop
Rollin’ at the High School Hop
Everybody’s hoppin’, everybody’s boppin’
Boppin’ at the High School Hop

Boppin’ at the High School Hop
Boppin’ at the High School Hop
Shaking’ at the High School Hop
Movin’ at the High School Hop
Everybody’s boppin’, everybody’s hoppin’
Boppin’ at the High School Hop

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

28 thoughts on “Jerry Lee Lewis – High School Confidential”

  4. He alone invented the anti-establishment groove that gave rock n rolls its bad rap. Marry your 15-year-old cousin? WTH. I know things were different in the old south, but that act is what drove the bible beating ladies crazy. He played the Big D Jamboree a few times, but I never heard much about it. He was good at country music and should have done more. Dennis Quaid made a movie about him some years ago. It was good, but in true Hollyweird fashion, Quaid made him a Buffon, which in life, he wasn’t. Good post.

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    1. Thanks Phil. He was on the cusp of being bigger…but yea…what was he thinking?
      He did reinvent himself though. I give him credit for that.

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      1. LOL, yah, it was surprising it was a big hit in Toronto on AM radio even, although they were hometowners. A few Americans heard a slightly tamer version when they did it on SCTV.

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      2. Yea America would get the censored no doubt.

        Speaking of SCTV…CB pointed me toward The Fishin’ Musician with Carl Perkins…it was great. If you get a chance check it out.

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    1. I would say the cousin part….neither would have been too appealing. That was only the beginning for him…he is a piece of work but talented!

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  12. “High School Confidential” was a movie about the evils of marijuana. When I was a kid, my dad was on active duty for two weeks every summer with the Air National Guard. We camped at a park a few miles from the base and my dad commuted to work every day. One evening he took the whole family to the base to see an outdoor movie – and it was “High School Confidential”. I was introduced to the Evil Weed as a young child via the film. My three oldest siblings were teenagers. I don’t know what year it was, but I was 5 the summer it was released. When I saw it as an adult I had fleeting images from memory.

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    1. I miss drive in theaters. My first trip was when my mom made my sister take me on dates…I was 8 and she was 16. They put me in the trunk until we got in so they wouldn’t have to pay….I watched “Cheerleaders” in 1975 and I was excited…but I didn’t know why.
      That is cool that you got to see that movie when it was released.

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  13. Pingback: Jerry Lee Lewis – Breathless – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

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