Jerry Lee Lewis had been at Smash Records for several years, searching for a hit and searching for a direction, prior to releasing Another Place Another Time in 1968. While the quality of his music didn't necessarily dip -- he was still capable of transcendent moments on a regular basis -- he was out of step with the times and lacked focus, simply cutting whatever he or producers laid across his piano. With Another Place, he snapped into focus and moved toward country. Not that the Killer had avoided country -- his first single for Sun was a version ofRay Price's "Crazy Arms," and he cut manyHank Williamssongs and countrystandardswhileatSam Phillips' label -- but here, he deliberately sticks to pure, hardcore country throughout the record,refashioninghimself as a barroom balladeer and honky tonk raver. This reignited his career, sending him to the top of thechartswith this album and its singles "What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me)" and "Another Place AnotherTime." Even though this brought him success, this was not the sound of Jerry Lee pandering for a mass audience.