Song · Jerry Lee Lewis
“Great Balls Of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis
Released 1987
“Great Balls Of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis appears on 6 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 1998 and 2012. It was first released in 1987. Its best result is #82 on the WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,331 indie & aaa song of all time.
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Jerry Lee Lewis cut "Great Balls of Fire" at the Sun Studio in Memphis on October 8, 1957, and Sun Records put it out as a 45 that November, Sun 281. Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer wrote it, a tidy AABA pop song on paper, but Lewis plays it like the piano owes him money.
The session was stripped to the bone: Lewis on piano and vocals, Sidney Stokes on bass and a session drummer, Larry Linn, while Sun's regular sidemen, drummer Jimmy Van Eaton and guitarist Roland Janes, sat this one out. It also turned up that year in the movie Jamboree. Then it went off like a firecracker, selling a million copies in the US in its first 10 days, and Rolling Stone later ranked it 96th among the greatest songs of all time.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
Hard Rock & Metal
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 303 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) | 1000 |
| 1999 | 326 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) | 998 |
| 2001 | 82 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2007 | 293 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2012 | 211 | WYEP | WYEP Top 500 Songs Countdown | 500 |
| 2012 | 178 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012) | 885 |
Also listed as: Great Balls of Fire.
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