Great Balls of Fire

From Wikipedia:

“Great Balls of Fire” is a 1957 popular song recorded by American rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun Records and featured in the 1957 movie Jamboree. It was written by Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer. The Jerry Lee Lewis 1957 recording was ranked as the 96th greatest song ever by Rolling Stone. It is written in AABA form. It sold one million copies in its first 10 days of release in the United States making it one of the best-selling singles in the United States at that time.

Background and Composition

“Great Balls of Fire” is best known for Jerry Lee Lewis’s original, which was recorded in the Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on October 8, 1957, using three personnel: Lewis (piano/vocals), Sidney Stokes (bass), and a session drummer, Larry Linn, instead of the usual Sun backups Jimmy Van Eaton (drums) and Roland Janes (guitar). Lewis was quoted in the book JLL: His Own Story by Rick Bragg, (pg 133), as saying “I knew Sidney Stokes but I didn’t know him that well either, and I don’t know what happened to them people. That’s the last time I ever seen ’em. That’s strange isn’t it?” It was released as a 45rpm single on Sun 281 in November 1957. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard pop charts, No. 3 on the R&B charts, and No. 1 on the country charts. It also reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, and appeared on the New Zealand Singles Chart and the Dutch Top 40. […]

According to Mark Lewisohn in “The Complete Beatles Chronicle“, The Beatles performed “Great Balls Of Fire” regularly between 1960 and 1961. However, no known recordings from that period exist.

On January 26, 1969, during the Beatles’ “Get Back” sessions, Paul McCartney played a version of “Great Balls Of Fire,“ soon joined in by George Harrison and John Lennon.

Bootlegs

Cover versions played during the "Get Back" sessions

"Great Balls of Fire" was covered during The Beatles' "Get Back" sessions in January 1969. Here is the complete list of covers recorded by Paul McCartney, either alone or with other Beatles, during these sessions:

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