Monday, sad sad Monday, eh?
Well, time to blow it all to hellfire, wire your tits to the mains motherfuggers and crank up Jerry Lee Lewis Live At the Star Club Hamburg! Trust me by the end of it your nipples will be visible from space*. True story.
Recorded in 1964 when JLL was exiled from radio, polite conversation and the US on account of some matrimonial numerology, forced to tour the circuit trading on past rock and roll glories, while the beat revolution was happening; Live At The Star Club Hamburg is quite simply the best live LP ever recorded and in with a shout of being one of the best recorded period.
You can hear the killer’s sheer resentment and rage at his position in life – his rock and roll throne usurped by Elvis, Chuck and Little Richard as he saw it, the way folks had reacted to his ‘minor’ marital situation and then the kids preferring all these long-haired English groups … man, you get to hear him take every rageillimeter of anger out on that poor piano. The killer was far too good, in his own mind, for where he found himself and he was going to go out swinging.
Recorded by the enterprising Siggi Loch Live At The Star Club Hamburg finds JLL playing with the Nashville Teens, the English group who were yet to cut ‘Tobacco Road’^. The Teens are good and they have the admirable good sense to keep a low profile and just try to keep up; you can hear JLL snarling at them from time to time^*. This is very much a one-man show, the band, like the audience are just there to provide collateral damage at the end of the day, this is between Jerry and his inner demons.
If you don't like Jerry's peaches Don't pull around on this tree (Matchbox)
At my last careful count I own 18 trillion punk LPs, 495k thrash and hardcore albums and every loonball scurvy garage rock recording I have been able to afford and nothing I have even comes close to pushing the listener’s face into the white heat of the comet trail of pure rock and roll like Live At the Star Club Hamburg does.
It’s relentless, it’s gloriously cussedly uncouth and bludgeoning. Every track explodes and you can hear JLL thinking ‘right, let’s kick it up a gear’ before hammering out the intro to the next tune. The sole exception to this upward trajectory is a glorious take on ‘Your Cheating Heart’, where he dials back the thuggery a notch to spellbinding affect. And then we’re off to the races again!
The songs, wonderfully, skilfully played aren’t the point here, they are a classic mélange of almost all the best bits of rock and roll – you know the score, long tall Sally’s hound dog has a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on^^. Just stick the needle down anywhere on this platter and you’ll get exactly the same jolt. The songs here are just the vessels for the killer’s energy, that’s the whole point of this recording.
Hell, that’s the whole point of everything!
Live At the Star Club Hamburg is an amazing album, a total and utter fucking blast. I have never heard anything that serves up the sheer fiery essence and spirit of this rebel music we all love so much, from the very first note of ‘I Got A Woman’ to the final crashing chords of ‘Down The Line’. Jerry just slays
Never has a piano suffered so much to bring us all so much.
My copy of Live At The Star Club Hamburg is a 2010 reissue by Bear Family Records, an excellent quality reissue. More to the point though it has a truly fabulous 24″x24″ fold out map of the St Pauli area of Hamburg featuring the Star Club and the Reeperbahn.
You should own this too. Buy it.
1058 Down (the line).
*NASA scientists have confirmed this.**
**NASA standing for Nipples And Space Anomalies, apparently. Kept that quiet didn’t they? deep state.
^my mum saw the Nashville Teens in Taunton around ’63/64 and was very excited by the fact they were the backing band here when I sent her this one.
^*during a rattling ‘What’d I Say’ the killer snarls ‘play that thing right, boy!’ at one of them.
^^possibly related to his great balls of fire.
What a pity you don’t like live albums, Joe. Otherwise you might have found a way to make this review more positive.
Seriously though folks, that’s a fabulously sparky rave about an album I would have passed over in a heartbeat (Headline: ‘Past it r’n’r-er earns pocket money playing lacklustre self-covers in Europe’). As of now, it’s on the radar. Cheers.
I know, I hate them with a passion Bruce!
This is an exceptional LP, really venomous.
You did justice to this. Fantastic! The album is pretty good too. If you asked me who ‘s King Of Rock n Roll, that’s easy JLL. He is also the King Of Country. Just ask him.
Ive done two takes (not near enough) on the Killer. For some reason I have been holding off. on more. Saving it. Like a special cigar. Why? I dont know. CB cant figure himself out sometimes. I might just borrow this take. Great piece. I mean it.
Thanks CB. I’m pretty country-phobic so I’ll stick with his utterly punk RNR years, I think.
I hear ya but Jerry Lee puts his stamp on everything. He always throws in the “Devils Music”
This album is where his nasty soul lived.
Love a bit of Jerry (Tom & Ben also) but never came across this one. Thanks to the your excellent sales pitch (ever thought about the snake oil business?) I will have to buy a bloody turntable now…
Cheers Mr JLL&H! This just blows away so much of what I think of as punk, or heavy. It’s just insanity on wax.
On the 1001 list – and yes, the piano suffering was at least for a good cause, a stellar show!
You have convinced me to part with cash for wax on a few occasions… never have you done it with such gusto. This sounds essential.
It’s because I mentioned nipples isn’t it?
This is an incredible LP, they captured lightning in a bottle here.
Of course. You don’t just throw nipples about when talking about any old LP.
Yup, my Pet Sounds review was entirely nippleness.
Nippleless not nippleness – come on autocorrect millions must type nippleless every day!!
Nipples from space… I may use that in the future.
I’m currently in high level talks with Netflix and it starts filming in 2022.
Netflix deal? 100% believable.
Well the streak didn’t last long, I don’t have this one, surprise, surprise. Oh well. But anything Jerry Lee Lewis sounds cool and this looks like a beauty.
This is real lightning in a bottle. Properly wild.
Definitely Jerry’s best live record. The killer rocks. It’s best to turn up the speakers as much as possible.
Yup, before he got too into country music.
I should remember to pick this up sometime.
Time to treat yourself.
That foldout map is brilliant.
It is just awesome DeKE. Everything about it.
You need to frame that…
To my eternal shame, I haven’t heard this album but will rectify that ASAP. A brilliant singer/songwriter I know swears also that is the bees knees.
Treat yourself Paul. I swear to you by all that is unholy, sweaty and rather beastly, you won’t regret it.
Sold!