Analysis Of Whole Lotta Shakin On And The Shook-Up Generation

“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and the “Shook-Up” Generation The 1950s were a period of extreme change in the United States. On top of the end of World War II, the United States entered into a consumer society with a shift to white-collar work. In the 1950s, the emergence of rock ’n’ roll forever altered the lifestyle of American citizens because it brought forth questions to gender roles, sexuality, generational conflicts, and race. Of all the artists from the era, Jerry Lee Lewis was the embodiment of the hatred towards the new sexuality of rock and roll, for his songs contained lyrics that were seen as risqué and impure. Of his songs, “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” caused Lewis to head to fame, contained lyrics that were sung in a way that was regarded as ribald, and contributed to his legacy as a hellraiser of rock’n’roll.

Lewis arrogantly said that he knew that the song he had cut was going to be a hit, and he was correct as the song soared up the charts and led him to be an instant sensation. The song, which was recorded on one microphone in a recording booth at the Sun Records studio in Memphis, Tennessee, would be the first out of four of Jerry Lee Lewis’s Top 40 Hits and would appear with Lewis’s second single “Great Balls of Fire” on multiple different charts. Sam Phillips, founder of Sun Records, showed concerned that Lewis’s “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” would be viewed as too suggestive. Lewis’s second single followed his unsuccessful cover of “Crazy Arms” by Ray Price. As Jerry Lee Lewis rose to fame following the release of his second single, many members of older generations were in an uproar about the sexual nature of his