Jerry Lee Lewis' 13 year old wife, interviewed

[mominatrix]

Ballad of the 13-Year-Old Bride
Myra Lewis Williams—eternally known as the young wife of Jerry Lee Lewis—speaks candidly about their notorious rock & roll romance





It was the most notorious rock & roll romance of all time, the Big Bang of pop music scandal. Before Kurt and Courtney, Sid and Nancy, or John and Yoko, there was Jerry Lee Lewis and his thirteen-year-old bride, Myra Gale Brown.

In 1958, when Elvis Presley was drafted into the military, Lewis was perfectly poised to become rock’s biggest star. Coming off of “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great Balls of Fire,” he embarked on a tour of England that was supposed to establish his fame worldwide. But when the Lewis party landed in London, the press wanted to know about the teenage girl at his side.

“The only problem was that nobody told me anything,” says Myra—now Myra Williams, a real estate broker in Atlanta. “So when a reporter asked me, Who are you?, I was the one who let the big ol’ cat out of the bag. It was a perfect storm—it couldn’t have happened at a worse time, at a worse place. Everything just came together and a major explosion happened.”

The British tabloids went ballistic, and after a few dates, the tour was cancelled. Jerry Lee held a defiant press conference at the London airport, boasting about his houses and cars and accusing the British of being “just plain jealous,” and the Lewises returned home to Memphis. By the time they made it home, it had been discovered that Myra was the daughter of Jerry Lee’s cousin and bass player, J.W. Brown, and that the 22-year-old singer was still technically married to his previous wife, Jane Mitcham.




   
Myra sits on the lap of husband Jerry Lee Lewis at the press conference that sparked an explosion of negative publicity in London, May 23, 1958 | Five days later, Jerry Lee and Myra arrive in New York, after his tour of England was cancelled





“I was in England when they ran him out of the country,” Kris Kristofferson has said, “and it really seemed unfair to me, because he had no idea he was doing anything wrong. He went immediately from being a guy who made $10,000 a night to a guy who didn’t make $100 a night.”

A few years ago, Rolling Stone sent me to the Lewis Ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi. The plan was to shoot a portrait of Jerry Lee and Myra together, and I would write up the experience and their interaction. In blistering heat, with nine dogs scurrying underfoot, I found that Myra was a bright, funny woman, with a very clear perspective on her notorious past, and she gave new insight into this pivotal moment in rock & roll history.

Most people might not want to be reminded of a time when, as she put it, “his career took a nosedive right into the concrete,” but displayed in the den, alongside the gold records, family memorabilia, keyboards, and bibles were several photos of The Killer with his adolescent wife. Though Lewis has been married five other times, it seems that Myra remained close to his heart.

After thirteen years of marriage, they were divorced in 1970, when Myra charged that she “has been subject to every type of physical and mental abuse imaginable”; Jerry Lee later said that “it was all my fault—she caught me cheating.” When we met, she described their relationship as a “successful divorce,” though more recently it seems they’ve been clashing over his current, seventh wife.

The two of them were playful and affectionate during the shoot—joking and giggling, poking and swatting each other, Jerry Lee even sneaking a kiss at one point—but when the photos came back, the editors fell in love with a shot of him sitting alone at his childhood piano, and the piece was recast as a straight profile. Myra’s voice was relegated to a quote or two.




This week, Jerry Lee will release both Rock & Roll Time, a studio album of duets, and a memoir, Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story, written with Rick Bragg. And still, the world remains fascinated by the marriage—when the Wall Street Journal asked him about it recently, he said, “I probably would have rearranged my life a little bit different, but I never did hide anything from people… The newspapers in England came down heavy but they didn’t faze me, really. I just went on with my life as usual.”

Since Myra Lewis Williams, now 70, was never able to go on with, or even to start, her life “as usual,” it seemed a good time to finally let her tell her own story, in her own words.





Myra Lewis Williams: It’s not a story that ever went away. I’m still the 13-year-old child bride. Sometimes I say something about Jerry and people say, “Isn’t he the one married the little girl?” and I say, “Wait a second, you’re talking to the little girl now—be careful what you say.”

There were so many stories told that were not necessarily the truth, or else it was the truth wearing a mask. When all of this hit in London in 1958, it just took the world by storm. It bumped De Gaulle off the front page of the newspaper. They said Jerry played to a half-empty house, and they booed and that kind of stuff, and that was not true. The fans there were so excited to see Jerry that the biggest problem was his safety—Scotland Yard said, “We don’t know how to protect you.” The people were climbing on the buildings, looking through windows trying to find us and we couldn’t go out.

At that time, Elvis had gone into the Army, and Jerry was poised to be the king. All of Jerry’s managers told him, “Do not take Myra to England,” because the British press was known to rip Americans apart—that’s where all the tabloid journalism started. He said, “If Myra doesn’t go, I’m not going.” Everyone underestimated me being aware and possibly knowing what to do. I could so easily have said, “I’m J.W. Brown’s daughter. That’s my little brother, that’s my mother.” Because that was the truth! If anybody had told me anything, I could have prevented this thing. But they didn’t, and I didn’t, and the rest is history, I guess.

In my little mind, I couldn’t believe that they could not see that I was a grown woman. I was only 13, but people said I was more mature than Jerry. I was serious-minded, I was like, “We gotta take care of this and do this,” and he was like, “Where’s the piano?” That’s what he is, that’s what he’s about. And I really, truly wasn’t a typical teenager. My generation was taught to hide under our desk when the bomb came, so you always had in the back of your mind that any minute, any day, life could come to an end. What I wanted was a baby in my arms, a home, a husband, a kitchen to cook in, a yard to raise roses. My little brother was born because I begged my parents for a baby at ten years old. They called me his deputy mom; I just took him over. That was what I was like, and Jerry was busy having fun, he was the true entertainer.

It wasn’t anybody’s business—OK, it was somebody’s business, but it wasn’t everybody’s business. It was my family’s business, it was mine and Jerry’s business. And, OK, if you say to me now, “There’s a 13-year-old girl over here who wants to get married,” I would say “God, please do not do that, little girl. Go to college, get an education, then figure it out.” But it was a different world, things have changed so drastically. Options, mindsets—this world has gone so fast the last fifty years that you can’t keep up with it.




Myra (L) going over scrapbook pictures with her daughter Phoebe in 1989




When we went back home, the whole country was “Shame on you, bad boy.” The other thing we had back then was a hypocritical society. It was “Do as I say, not as I do—and if you get caught, we don’t even know you.” Also, a lot of people took good notes when it happened. Elvis didn’t marry a little 16-year-old girl, did he? Priscilla lived with his grandmother for, what, seven or eight years?

It was something that marked Jerry for life. We kept thinking every year, every six months, that it was going to go away, they’re going to stop talking about it, and it just didn’t happen. But it brought me and Jerry very close, and we had ten incredible, wonderful years together after that. We were like a little camp that had been attacked by the enemy, and we held strong to each other and said, regardless of what they do, we’re going to keep fighting. Jerry’s fame and money went down to almost nothing, it was very turbulent for ten years, but it was the happiest years of our marriage.

I never lost the first name “13-year-old-child-bride-Myra”—I think that’s on my birth certificate now! I don’t think I ever resented it for me, though, I always resented it for what they did to Jerry. It wasn’t harming me, it was harming somebody I loved, that was the pain of it. I was seeing someone punished because of my age, my existence, and I always wanted to just stand up and defend him.


It was the hatchet that was used to attack rock & roll.


We took a lot of hits for the music itself. Every day, you wondered what was going to happen next. Everything came together at one time, and here’s Elvis and here’s rock & roll and here’s Dick Clark and Ed Sullivan—a new generation born, a new music born. The preachers preached against it, it was the devils’ music. To the mainstream educators, it was evil and wicked. It was different, it was the new kid on the block and the new kid arrived in a storm. And they just weren’t ready for that. Change isn’t something that everyone always likes—“Play some Frank Sinatra, what’s wrong with Sing Along with Mitch?” It was a time and a place that won’t come around again.

They were looking for a place to stick the knife into rock & roll. And Jerry gave it to them—well, I did, I opened my mouth. That’s exactly what it was.



medium.com/cuepoint/ballad-of-the-13-year-old-bride-f909cbe1c6b4

[heyjude]

She will always be Winona Ryder to me.

[jenny1223]

Fascinating. Great Balls of Fire was one of my favorite movies when I was a teenager.

[secretlyevil]

At least Elvis "waited" until Priscilla was "old enough." All those quotes were used on purpose. My SN might be what it is but I'm not stupid.

[heyjude]

Didn't she write a memoir? And wasn't she involved in the movie? I think she has spoken out but it's been a few decades.

[jeaniebueller]

“I was in England when they ran him out of the country,” Kris Kristofferson has said, “and it really seemed unfair to me, because he had no idea he was doing anything wrong.

^o)

[mcsangel2]

Well, to play Devil's Advocate (I suppose), the law at the time allowed a 13 year old to consent to be married. It's interesting that their story has always been about that, but the fact that he wasn't legally divorced from his prior wife yet doesn't merit a discussion? I've never heard how that was straightened out (wouldn't it mean that Myra and Jerry's marriage was illegal?)

I guess what I'm saying is, there had been plenty of girls getting married that young in that region of the country for a very long time by then. It was getting rare by 1958, but there was a context for their background. It was not unheard of, there. And we don't hear the stories of all the other marriages like theirs. It's only shocking because he was famous.

I mean, they had a relatively normal rock n roll marriage, otherwise. Adultery, domestic violence....and they got divorced after 13 years. They might just as well have been married when she was 18.

I am NOT condoning underage marriage, just saying, it was legal then.

[jln]

I'm wondering just how common that was at that time, since it was legal.

[Deleted]

Dear Myra, times weren't that damned different. You stop it.

In 1958, the average woman was 20 years old when she married, the average man 22. Jerry was still married to some other woman and he was 22 damned years old. So the idea that the only thing bad about is that no one told you to lie is some horseshit.

And if Jerry Lee Lewis had been black, he would have gone to jail like Chuck Berry did for a similar crime, sleeping with a 14 year old.

So . . .

Where is IIOY so we can hate an old together?

[Deleted]

Oct 30, 2014 18:24:50 GMT -5 jln said:

I'm wondering just how common that was at that time, since it was legal.

It was likely more common in some backwoods areas of the country. Loretta Lynn was 15 I think when she married Doo. Had Jerry Lee Lewis not been famous and married to another woman, just some dude living up in a small town that barely qualifies as a town in Arkansas, no one would have thought anything of it. Provided she wasn't his third wife*, of course.

*But not since he was still married.

[mcsangel2]

Oct 30, 2014 18:24:50 GMT -5 jln said:

I'm wondering just how common that was at that time, since it was legal.

I'm not sure. Maybe the most important consideration in it's shockingness, is that they came from cities. By the late 1950s, the country was 'getting smaller', with television and newspapers and mass media and a mostly common culture.

By comparison, Loretta Lynn (who btw was almost 16 when she married, not 13 as she led people to believe for decades), came from a rural mountain community in Kentucky, was married in 1948. If "Coal Miner's Daughter" is accurate otherwise, teenage brides were both common and accepted then. But that region of the country would have been a lot more isolated and not as exposed to more widely accepted societal norms.

[cville]

Can we talk about what my Wikipedia investigation has uncovered? He had a son who he named for himself as a junior, then another son with yet another wife who he named Jerry Lee Lewis III.

That's not how it works!!

[Deleted]

Oct 30, 2014 20:18:47 GMT -5 cville said:

Can we talk about what my Wikipedia investigation has uncovered? He had a son who he named for himself as a junior, then another son with yet another wife who he named Jerry Lee Lewis III.

That's not how it works!!

So what you're saying is that Myra met him because they took the same class together in middle school, yes?

[cville]

Oct 30, 2014 20:23:18 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Oct 30, 2014 20:18:47 GMT -5 cville said:

Can we talk about what my Wikipedia investigation has uncovered? He had a son who he named for himself as a junior, then another son with yet another wife who he named Jerry Lee Lewis III.

That's not how it works!!

So what you're saying is that Myra met him because they took the same class together in middle school, yes?

I'm very confused now. He had two sons. Jerry Lee Lewis Jr. and Jerry Lee Lewis III.

I have had a lot of wine tonight. Lol.

Oh, also, this article was poorly written and lacking in detail about the alleged subject.

[Deleted]

Oct 30, 2014 20:24:29 GMT -5 cville said:

Oct 30, 2014 20:23:18 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

So what you're saying is that Myra met him because they took the same class together in middle school, yes?

I'm very confused now. He had two sons. Jerry Lee Lewis Jr. and Jerry Lee Lewis III.

I have had a lot of wine tonight. Lol.

Oh, also, this article was poorly written and lacking in detail about the alleged subject.

Sorry. I just made a failed joke about he and his child bride being in the same grade since he's too dumb to understand how juniors and thirds work.

I'm calling her child bride now because I'm amused by her dislike of it. I don't care how not uncommon 13 year old brides were in that era, I bet they were still all referred to as child brides.

[cville]

Oct 30, 2014 20:29:30 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Oct 30, 2014 20:24:29 GMT -5 cville said:

I'm very confused now. He had two sons. Jerry Lee Lewis Jr. and Jerry Lee Lewis III.

I have had a lot of wine tonight. Lol.

Oh, also, this article was poorly written and lacking in detail about the alleged subject.

Sorry. I just made a failed joke about he and his child bride being in the same grade since he's too dumb to understand how juniors and thirds work.

I'm calling her child bride now because I'm amused by her dislike of it. I don't care how not uncommon 13 year old brides were in that era, I bet they were still all referred to as child brides.

You're probably right. Because 13 year olds are CHILDREN.

[Deleted]

Oct 30, 2014 20:37:57 GMT -5 cville said:

You're probably right. Because 13 year olds are CHILDREN.

Interestingly, when I was looking at average age of marriage, it was lower for women in the 1950s and 1970s than in the last three decades of the 19th century.

It's been centuries now since shoulders weren't shrugged over 13 year old brides in the Western world. Granted it was sometimes permitted, sometimes legal but since the 13th century at least it was considered an incredibly young age to be married and usually done for political, financial, or business reasons.

[Deleted]

Oct 30, 2014 20:51:18 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

My grandma got married at 13 in 1954. But she lived even more BFE than me. You have to take a boat to get there. There are no roads.

How old was grandpa?

[tacosforlife]

Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads.

[cattledogkisses]

I'm rolling my eyes at her trying to say that teenagers were oh so much more mature back then because Cold War/bomb threats/whatever.

By that logic current teenagers should be super mature because terrorism, right? And no.

[cattledogkisses]

True story: in college I worked with someone who had recently married his 15 year old wife (he was older but I can't remember how much older... 18-19-ish?). They had to go before a judge to get permission to get married because she was a minor. They started having kids immediately, and their logic for this whole insanity was that when their kids were grown they still wanted to be young enough to enjoy life. This guy was a WEIRDO. I wonder now what happened to him. This was 10 years ago; I'd love to find out how things are now!

[ttt]

Oct 30, 2014 21:11:12 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

I'm rolling my eyes at her trying to say that teenagers were oh so much more mature back then because Cold War/bomb threats/whatever.

By that logic current teenagers should be super mature because terrorism, right? And no.

I think they were more mature vis a vis the way the world was back then. It was a much simpler place. You didn't have nearly as many choices or decisions to make, especially as a woman, it was pretty clear what was expected of you, you probably got news once a day, maybe twice if you watched the evening news, you probably lived in the same place where you grew up, where all your family was. Life was a lot less complicated then - not easier, just simpler. And it's a lot easier to be "mature" when your set of expectations is simple and clear.

[Cicero]

Oct 30, 2014 20:44:39 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Oct 30, 2014 20:37:57 GMT -5 cville said:

You're probably right. Because 13 year olds are CHILDREN.

Interestingly, when I was looking at average age of marriage, it was lower for women in the 1950s and 1970s than in the last three decades of the 19th century.

It's been centuries now since shoulders weren't shrugged over 13 year old brides in the Western world. Granted it was sometimes permitted, sometimes legal but since the 13th century at least it was considered an incredibly young age to be married and usually done for political, financial, or business reasons.

In Appalachia it's been more like decades. But as you stated up thread, they weren't Appalachian.

[tres3]

Oct 31, 2014 1:18:12 GMT -5 Cicero said:

Oct 30, 2014 20:44:39 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Interestingly, when I was looking at average age of marriage, it was lower for women in the 1950s and 1970s than in the last three decades of the 19th century.

It's been centuries now since shoulders weren't shrugged over 13 year old brides in the Western world. Granted it was sometimes permitted, sometimes legal but since the 13th century at least it was considered an incredibly young age to be married and usually done for political, financial, or business reasons.

In Appalachia it's been more like decades. But as you stated up thread, they weren't Appalachian.

Appalachia and Mississippi aren't all that different. 

[Cicero]

tres3 said:

Appalachia and Mississippi aren't all that different. 

Touché

[Anti Feminist Woman]

Good for them. I'm glad they were happy. I'm just sorry that feminism had to ruin it for them.

[sochiresident]

My 13 year old was chosen to skate for the Motherland! It's better than marriage.

[Deleted]

Oct 31, 2014 1:18:12 GMT -5 Cicero said:

Oct 30, 2014 20:44:39 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Interestingly, when I was looking at average age of marriage, it was lower for women in the 1950s and 1970s than in the last three decades of the 19th century.

It's been centuries now since shoulders weren't shrugged over 13 year old brides in the Western world. Granted it was sometimes permitted, sometimes legal but since the 13th century at least it was considered an incredibly young age to be married and usually done for political, financial, or business reasons.

In Appalachia it's been more like decades. But as you stated up thread, they weren't Appalachian.

But even there it was still considered a young age and done because you had a shitton of kids in your home and getting one out and married reduced the amount of mouths you were responsible for.

She's speaking as if 13 year olds were getting married every day. And they weren't. It's been rare for a good long while. Not uncommon but still rare.

[wise_rita]

Oct 30, 2014 21:27:37 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

Oct 30, 2014 21:03:46 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

How old was grandpa?

I think he was 18/19. He left her after she had 4 kids in 5 years starting when she was 15. I didnt know this until college.

OMFG the olden days were fucked up!