Country western star Mickey Gilley was born on March 9, 1936 in Natchez, Mississippi, the cousin of future rockabilly legend Jerry Lee Lewis and disgraced televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, and raised in Ferriday, Louisiana. In their childhood, all three would play the piano when they got together and sing gospel and boogie-woogie songs.

After Lewis became a chart-topper in the 1950s, Mickey turned professional himself and cut some singles before becoming a session player in the Big Easy. First married at age 17, Gilley had a minor hit, "Call Me Shorty", in 1958, but it would be years before he came out from under Jerry lee's shadow and established himself as a star. He didn't release his first album, "Down the Line", until 1967.