JERRY LEE LEWIS TOUR
1972
COUNTRY FEVER toured with legendary country rocker JERRY LEE LEWIS on the UK leg of his 1972 European tour.
Extra dates were added after the tour advertisements had gone to press. The show travelled to various European cities after Coventry on May 7th. Country Fever supported Jerry at all 16 UK venues and on the first of his European shows 'The Olympia' in Paris.
Unfortunately, following the tour, fellow supporting artists on the tour, James Royal and Liz Christian were both slated in the press for being too 'pop'. Journalist and broadcaster, Bob Powel former editor of the publication 'Country Music People' wrote, "It is a difficult thing to put on acts that would appeal to both Rock and Country fans so this tour came up with a novel approach, James Royal and Liz Christian were pure Pop and appealed to neither. That's one way to solve the problem."
Both Jon Derek and James Royal, when asked about the tour in later years, remembers Jerry's excessive drinking back then and how it was a common occurance for Jerry's roadie to knock on their dressing room doors, "Hey, The Killer would like to know... ya wanna come for drink?"
Apparently, in the audience at the London Palladium were such faces as Eric Clapton and Elton John. James recalls the Palladium's stage manager pleading with Jerry Lee Lewis not to stand on the prestine Bechstein piano, but of course he ignored that.
ADDITIONAL DATES
Southampton Guild Hall (Apr 30)
Stoke Festival (May 3)
The Olympia - Paris (May 8)
Walthamstow Granada - London (May 19)
Adelphi - Slough (May 20)
(Above) Billboard poster and ticket from the
London Palladium performance
COUNTRY FEVER (1972)
Ian Hewitt, Jon Derek, Brian Wood and Dave Cawse
JERRY LEE LEWIS
London Palladium - April 23, 1972
JERRY LEE LEWIS
Central Hall, Chatham - May 1, 1972