By the mid 1960's,
Jerry Lee Lewis had been blacklisted in the US because of his controversial
marriage to his 13-year-old cousin. It also didn't help that America had fallen
in love with The Beatles, along with all of the other artists to follow in the British
Invasion. Ironically, he wound up in the Beatles' old haunt of the Star Club in
Hamburg, Germany.This album is highly regarded as one of the best live rock & roll albums ever. But it didn't do much to restart his career in America. Lewis would remain blacklisted in the States until later in the '60s when he started recording country ballads.
There's a great version of "What'd I Say" on here, as well as the only two Jerry Lee Lewis songs that I actually knew ("Great Balls Of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"). I can see where it gets its reputation because of the energy level that Lewis maintains from the first note to the last, but I'm not sure that I would necessarily agree with it being the "best." And I'm not here to judge the artists on their personal choices, just the music, but it was hard for me to separate the two here. Maybe that's why I wasn't completely blown away.
Favorite Tracks: "What'd I Say," "Great Balls Of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"
No comments:
Post a Comment