High School Confidential (Jerry Lee Lewis song)
| "High School Confidential" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Jerry Lee Lewis and His Pumping Piano | ||||
| B-side | "Fools Like Me" | |||
| Released | May 20, 1958 | |||
| Format | 7", 45 rpm | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll, rockabilly, country | |||
| Length | 2:27 | |||
| Label | Sun 296 | |||
| Writer(s) | Ron Hargrave, Jerry Lee Lewis | |||
| Producer(s) | Sam Phillips | |||
| Jerry Lee Lewis chronology | ||||
| ||||
"High School Confidential" is a song written by Ron Hargrave and Jerry Lee Lewis (and copyrighted in both their names on January 28, 1958) as the title song for the movie of the same name directed by Jack Arnold. Jerry Lee cut the song at the Sun Studio in February 14, then went to California, where the director set him, his bass player Jay W. Brown, his road drummer Russ Smith, and their instruments on the top of a flatbed truck and had Jerry Lee lip-synch the song to a crowd of fake high school kids.[1] During this session Jerry Lee recorded at least 14 takes of "High School Confidential" (no other songs were recorded), but at that time not a single take from this session was released. The takes from this session were officially released only in early 1980s: one take on Sun LP 1004 "Wild One at the High School Hop" (UK, 1982) and three takes on Charly Records 12-LP boxed set "Jerry Lee Lewis: The Sun Years" (UK, 1983). Jerry Lee returned to this song in April 24, 1958, when he recorded three down tempo takes of it. The splice of two takes (3 and 1) from this session was released as the side A of the single Sun 296[2] in May 1958 (doubled by UK single by London Records HLS.8780 in January, 1959), on EP Sun EPA 110 (UK RES.1187) and on the first self-titled album by Jerry Lee Lewis Sun LP-1230 (UK HAS.2138), all US releases in the same year 1958.[3] The film version was never released.
Chart performance
The song was released on May 20, 1958 as a Sun single, Sun 296, backed with "Fools Like Me" in 1958 and reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 9 on the country chart, No. 5 on the R & B chart, and No. 12 on the British pop charts.[4] The single reached No. 13 on the Canadian charts. The single was also certified Gold by the RIAA.[5]
| Chart (1958) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 21 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 9 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Singles | 5 |
| U.K. Singles Chart | 12 |
Notable recordings
The Beatles performed and recorded the song live at the Get Back/Let It Be sessions in Twickenham Film studios on January 6 and 26, 1969.[6] The song was also featured in the Jerry Lee Lewis biopic Great Balls of Fire! (1989). Both Adam Faith and Cliff Richard recorded the song in 1958.[7] The Refreshments recorded the song in 2008. The song was also recorded by Johnny Worth, Fairport Convention on the album Moat on the Ledge: Live at Broughton Castle, August '81, Mike Smith, and Alan Mills.
References
- ↑ Tosches, Nick (1982). Hellfire. New York: Grove Press
- ↑ The Jerry Lee Lewis Sun Collection.
- ↑ Jerry Lee Lewis and Charles White (1995). Killer! The Baddest Rock Memoir Ever. London: Century
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1985). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits.
- ↑ "High School Confidential". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
- ↑ The Beatles Bible: Get Back/Let It Be Sessions: Complete Song List.
- ↑ Second Hand Songs: High School Confidential.
Sources
- Bonomo, Joe (2009). Jerry Lee Lewis: Lost and Found. New York: Continuum Books.
- Gutterman, Jimmy (1991). Rockin' My Life Away: Listening to Jerry Lee Lewis. Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press.
- Gutterman, Jimmy (1993). The Jerry Lee Lewis Anthology: All Killer, No Filler. Rhino Records.
- Silver, Murray (1981). Great Balls of Fire: The Uncensored Story of Jerry Lee Lewis. William Morrow/Quill/St. Martin's Press.
- Whitburn, Joel (1985). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits.