On November 23, 1976 at Graceland, Memphis tennessee, Elvis' cousin Harold Loyd, the night guard at graceland, called the police complaining of a drunk, pisto wielding man blocking the gates at Elvis Presley's home in a brand new white lincoln continental.

Two police cars arrived at the scene at 2.56 A.M. to find Mr. Lloyd hiding the the gate house. He complained that the man in the car threatened him and told him he was going to 'get in, one way or another'.

Mr Lloyd had noticed that the man carried a gun in his right hand.

Police approached the car cautiously. The Lincoln's sole occupant sat staring out the front window.

When the police got to the open driver's side window, they found that the man was Jerry Lee Lewis, balanced on his knee was a chrome-plated, over- under style .38 caliber derringer pistol.

Mr Lewis was helped from his car and the gun was confiscated by the police. he officers noticed that Mr. Lewis was extremely unstable on his feet , his speech was slurred, and his breath smelled of alcohol.

Mr Lewis was apprised of his rights and was arrested for carrying a pistol and being drunk in a public place.

According to Ernst Jorgensen in his book 'Elvis Day By Day', this was the second night in a row that Jerry Lee had shown, telling Harold Loyd that he and Elvis had been trying to get together for a long time. Elvis is said to have watched the 'whole drama on his closed-circuit monitors'.

Here is Jerry Lee Lewis' own account of what happened, as related by Kay Martin: the president of Lewis' fan club .... 'Elvis called him and asked him to come out to the house to talk to him. Jerry was out on the town and by the time he got to Elvis's house, it was much past when Elvis had expected him and Elvis was asleep. Jerry had driven up after a sheriff from MS had given him a brand new handgun, but since Jerry did not have a permit for a concealed weapon, he had it on the dashboard of his car, as the sheriff had supposedly suggested. The guard at Graceland asked Jerry what he was doing with the gun, and sarcastically Jerry said he hadn't brought it to kill Elvis, so the guy should chill out. He didn't. He called the cops. Jerry was PO'ed, but the gun stayed on the dash the whole time. The situation blew over because it was a tempest in a teapot.

The sheriff who had given Jerry the gun cleared it up, too'.

The Million Dollar Quartet

On December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley dropped in on Sam Phillips to pay a social visit while Carl Perkins was in the studio cutting new tracks with Lewis backing him on piano. The three started an impromptu jam session, and Phillips left the tape running. He later telephoned Johnny Cash and brought him in to join the others. These recordings, almost half of which were gospel songs, survived, and have been released on CD under the title Million Dollar Quartet. Tracks also include Elvis Presley's 'Don't Be Cruel' and 'Paralyzed', Chuck Berry's 'Brown Eyed Handsome Man', Pat Boone's 'Don't Forbid Me' and Presley doing an impersonation of Jackie Wilson (who was then with Billy Ward and the Dominoes) impersonating him on 'Don't Be Cruel'.

Buy Million Dollar Quartet CD

About Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis (born September 29, 1935) is an American rock and roll and country music singer, songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and his pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #24 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2003, they listed his box set All Killer, No Filler: The Anthology #242 on their list of '500 greatest albums of all time'.

Hits and awards

Between 1957 and 2006, the date of his latest release 'Last Man Standing', 47 singles plus 22 albums (The Session counted as 2 albums) made the Top Twenty Pop, Jukebox, Rock, Indie and/or Country charts in USA or UK. 14 reached #1 position. He's had nine official gold disks, plus unofficial ones issues by his record company Mercury for albums which sold over a quarter of a million copies. His 2006 duets CD Last Man Standing has sold over half a million worldwide, his biggest selling album ever. Jerry Lee Lewis is also among the Top 50 all-time Billboard Country artists. It is also rumored that the soundtrack album to the movie, Great Balls Of Fire, has now sold over a million copies. The original Sun cut of 'Great Balls of Fire' was elected to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, and Jerry's Sun recording of 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On' received this honor in 1999. Only recordings which are at least 25 years old and have left a lasting impression can receive this honor. Along with Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison, Jerry received a Grammy in the spoken word category for the very rare album of interviews released with some early copies of the The Class of 55 album in 1986. On February 12, 2005, Jerry received the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award the day before the Recording Academy's main Grammy Awards ceremony, which he also attended, picture below. On October 10, 2007, Jerry received the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame's American Music Masters Award