JERRY LEE LEWIS
Live At The Star Club Hamburg
Bear Family
The first of the rock’n’roll wild
men, Jerry Lee scared the life out of every parent during the late fifties with his ferocious on-stage antics, almost killing the piano he played during each performance.This was a man who lived for the moment and proudly displayed his sexuality to the world while thrilling the youngsters who gazed, mouths agape, at this fiery ball of energy, to steal an image from his great hit, ‘Great Balls Of Fire’.
His life was packed with incident and scandal. He was thrown out
of bible college, thrown into jail, lionised for marrying his thirteen year old cousin, admitted to hospital for alcohol and drug abuse and... well, the films and books reveal all.
Originally released in 1964, this vinyl LP is a welcome reissue of a classic live album. Backed by the Nashville Teens, Lewis rips through his own hits and gives superb renditions of others too. From his own ‘Great Balls Of Fire’ and ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On’ to covers
of ‘Hound Dog’, ‘Long, Tall Sally’
and ‘Your Cheating Heart’, this is a tour de force performance. In fact,
Lewis tears through the album with pure, undiluted energy. An explosive performance, it is a wonder that Bear Family has been able to confine the great man within an acceptable audiophile pressing.They’ve done more than that, however. For such an early live recording, this is a superb pressing that somehow manages to retain the sound dynamics, maintain the sound quality and allow Lewis to unleash his considerable talents.
As a bonus, the inside of the gatefold cover includes a fold-out street map of Hamburg’s St. Pauli quarter showing the Reeperbahn and Star-Club.You also get the bonus live track, ‘Down The Line’.
