“There Must Be More to Love Than This”
Jerry Lee Lewis
Written by Thomas LaVerne and Bill Taylor
Billboard
#1 (2 weeks)
September 5 – September 12, 1970
The historically oblivious rock fans who cry, “Why don’t they just call it the Music Hall of Fame” each time a country, pop, R&B, or hip-hop artist is inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame would do well to study the early seventies, when quintessential rock legends like Elvis Presley and Brenda Lee who’d dominated across genres in their R&R days.
Jerry Lee Lewis had scored some No. 1 country hits before he raped his cousin, and country was the genre that gave him a redemption act. Whether his character warranted that opportunity is a conversation for another time and place. What’s undeniable is that he made some damn great country records during his comeback era.
“There Must Be More to Love Than This” is one of the best, a genuinely fresh take on a cheating song from the perspective of The Other Man. Saloon pianos and ass-kicking twang surround a hearty vocal performance from the Killer, making for a record that is grounded in traditional country roots but has a rock and roll attitude which kicks it up an extra notch.
I’d enjoy writing about it so much more if he’d held himself to the same standard he held his material.
“There Must Be More to Love Than This” gets an A.
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