Jerry Lee at the Star Club

With Little Richard's passing, my mind turned to Jerry Lee Lewis. Who would've thought that Jerry Lee would be the last man standing? He seems ornery, to be sure...and I guess he's tough. How tough? This concert shows it.

By April 1964, when this was recorded, Jerry Lee was a washed-up has-been. They had all fallen. Eddie and Buddy had died. Chuck took an underage girl across state lines and was sent to prison. Johnny took pills. Elvis came out of the army, made silly movies, took pills, and - with her parents' permission - took an underage girl into his home where he looked over her moral upbringing. Jerry married a 13-year-old...his first cousin...once removed. I think he was taking pills too.

The scandal destroyed him. He went from making $10,000 a night (in 1958 dollars) to $250 a night (in 1968 dollars). One of those nights was captured here at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany. Yes, that Star Club. He's backed by the British Invasion pre-one-hit wonders, the Nashville Teens. It doesn't sound like it's from 1964. The sound is too full. It has bass and doesn't sound tinny...sounds more like a post '67 recording.
You can read about the album elsewhere*. Jerry being the Killer, somebody compared it to a murder scene. I won't go over it here except to point out that Jerry, at the end of "What'd I Say"...with the crowd chanting his name...tells them to settle down. I ask you, who - over the hill at 28 - treats the audience like that?

Jerry F**kin' Lee Lewis, that's who.

*You can also, and should, read Hellfire: The Jerry Lee Lewis Story, by Nick Tosches. A rock bio that doesn't read like a rock bio.

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GlamSlamMay 19, 2020 at 8:23 PM
If ever you wanted proof that only the good die young...
Only a few hardy souls could survive the level of debauchery enjoyed by Messrs. Penniman and Lewis.
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