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Live at the Star Club, Hamburg

Jerry Lee Lewis - Live at the Star Club, Hamburg Audio CD

A fair review of the Jerry Lee Lewis "Live at the Star Club, Hamburg" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Jerry Lee Lewis reviews here, or go back to the Jerry Lee Lewis tabs.

Band: Jerry Lee Lewis
Title: Live at the Star Club, Hamburg
Rating:

Release Date: 1994-06-27
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Mean Woman Blues 2: High School Confidential 3: Money (That's What I Want) 4: Matchbox 5: What'd I Say, Pt. 1 6: What'd I Say, Pt. 2 7: Great Balls of Fire 8: Good Golly Miss Molly 9: Lewis Boogie 10: Your Cheatin' Heart 11: Hound Dog 12: Long Tall Sally 13: Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On 14: Down the Line [*]

Jerry Lee's Gonna Rock Away All Your Blues...
Yet his few hits were arguably more vital to rock and roll than Elvis' and he didn't play a character like Little Richard did to appeal to suburbia. Growing up in the '70s, I saw Jerry Lee Lewis as part of that trend of quaint '50s nostalgia that America seemed to need in order to forget the whole hippy decade. I did buy the theory he would've taken Elvis' crown had he kept his child bride under wraps (Heck, Elvis met Priscilla when she was 14).

Now I'm a fan of Live at Leeds, the Regal, Folsom Prison and even the Hollywood Bowl. I've love Ya Ya's Out and I have my favorite live discs from The Boss, Petty and Dylan. A good live album is a document of that moment in time when a performer channels a special energy into his songs and makes a singular connection with the audience.

So when I heard the hype about the Killer's '64 show in Hamburg I was rooting for the crotchety Louisiana egomaniac. By that time Elvis was making bad movies, Little Richard had been born again and again, The Beatles had conquered America and the hardest rock we Yanks could put on the charts was Simon and Garfunkel.

Well, even the samples of the songs on Amazon were unbelievable! I had to hear more. In short, Jerry Lee wasn't phoning it in, and he rocks the house like it's 1957, when he was still on the top of the charts. Right from the first chord it's obvious The Killer plans to live up to his title and the poor piano is going to need some tuning in the morning. There's no warming up: "Mean Woman Blues" takes off fast and furious, with the audience singing along and the backing band working hard to keep up. Ever the showman, Jerry Lee "gets real low," slows it down to show off his stellar piano riffs and then turns it up to 11 again for a stompin', hollerin' ending. "High School Confidential" keeps the energy high (the rowdy audience recognizes it from the first few notes), then the well-chosen covers begin.

Cover songs are a strange phenomenon in rock and roll, and when so many acts run out of good songs they'll cover Jerry Lee. The Killer, though, lets the covers showcase his talent. He makes "Money" and "Matchbox" his own before his long, glorious interpretation of "What'd I Say" rivals the original. When the audience chants his name, Jerry Lee takes the hint and quickly launches into a joyful, high-speed "Great Balls of Fire. "

The cover of "Good Golly Miss Molly" must be heard to be believed. The drummer of the backup band (The Nashville Teens, from Surrey, England) fills the stop parts with frantic rolls that might upstage a lesser talent (Little Richard himself supposedly fired Hendrix for just such an offense). But it only adds to the electricity that will make this show one for the record books.

After the fun, self-referential "Lewis Boogie" the band "slows it down" with Hank Williams' "Your Cheating Heart," but it's really just an opportunity for Jerry Lee to show off his piano work and his voice is so well suited to the song he possibly out-Hanks Hank. It's definitely not a lull in the festivities. Then it's back to stealing some songs away from Elvis and Little Richard before closing the show with "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On. "

For the whole show Jerry Lee showed off his ability to mix (relatively) quiet parts into his rock and roll numbers, but they still crackled with energy. In "Shakin'" he can be forgiven for using the spoken interlude to take a much needed breath. But when he shouts, "Let's go!" he pulls out the stops one last time and hammers and hollers his way to a brilliant ending.

Unfortunately, I got the disc without the extra track "Down the Line. " Judging from the sample on Amazon, I might have to shell out for that version, too. Make sure you get every track you can from this career-defining show from the Killer.

"Just a Little Bit Better, And a Whole Lot More Of It..."
Completely. Yes. 100%. All the hype is true. I'm just another vote. The best live recorded rock and roll in the history of rock and roll. I am a dyed-in-the-wool Who fan. But Jerry Lee Lewis ripped the roof off in this session. It's like a train going too fast down a steep grade, only the engineer just keeps stoking the boiler higher and higher with wild wide-eyed abandon making the train roar on faster and faster. Will we crash? Will we survive? On that night, the angels trembled and turned to God and said, "Yes. You made man superior to us. ".

Not Enough Good Stuff
The reviews were great, but he found there were not enough of vintage Jerry Lee and too much little known material. I bought this for my husband for Christmas and he was disappointed with it. Not one of his favorites.

Truly Wild
It took me a few listens to understand this. The Killer transcended the mortal coil this night. After reading the rhapsodic reviews, I listened for something discrete in his playing, bud didn't hear it. On a subsequent listen, I stopped scrutinizing it, and I felt the wildness and power of the recording. Not wild in any planned, reproducible way, the man is seemingly coming unglued mentally, much to the benefit of the music.

Jerry Lee makes us all his female dog
The first is entertaining and hints at danger, the second delivers. If Elmore Leonard is Elvis, then James Ellroy is Jerry Lee Lewis. It simply doesn't rock harder than this. His other recordings only hint at the level of malice and fury delivered here.

It must be listened to at high volume. This ain't no sippin' tea. Buy it now and blow out your stereo. Hyperbole is irrelevant here.

You can see a complete list of all Jerry Lee Lewis discography, or go back to the Jerry Lee Lewis tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.