Customer Reviews

Let It Rock: The 60th Birthday Concert

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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I was fortunate enough to be at this concert. There are two live concerts that stand out in my 65 years, this one and a Bob Seger Concert in the 80's. I did not think it was possible to put that incredible concert on Dvd, but they came darn close. The last performances of Rick Denko and Carl Perkins, the incredible guitar work from Jeff Healey and one of the tightest Bands around. The Romp has started to leave Ronnie (at 60) but he can still blow the walls out. For those of you that are not familiar with Massey Hall, it's Old, in Toronto and as Gordon Lighfoot once stated "the best acoustics around". The performances by Larry Gowan, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jeff Healey are fantastic. This is a good, no a great dvd. I was just at Ronnies final Concert at Massey (Dec/05) and he has always been the consumat entertainer and really, really knows how "Rock and Roll" should be played. I am grateful to have been at the concert and this dvd comes really close to letting you experience what was "One Helluva Concert".
Gary Copeland
Aurora Ontario

The Good
The DVD kicks off with "Let it Rock", a performance by the All-Star Band (Lewis, Hawkins, Perkins, The Band, Healey, and Gowan). These rock veterans show the young'uns how it's done. Jerry Lee Lewis plays the piano with such ease, as does Healy with his trademark seated guitar playing. Despite his sixty years, Hawkins is in great voice with his deep vocals tones. This is how you start a show my friends. The All-Star Band follows up with the blues number "Down in the Alley". It's loaded with twangy slide guitar, soulful piano playing, warm brass, and emotional vocals courtesy of Hawkins. For the group's third and final performance together they choose the high-energy "Bo Diddley".

The Band injects dual drums, crazy key smashing, and vocal melodies into "Remedy". They follow that with `The Weight" and "Rock and Roll Shoes". Lawrence Gowan contributes with three songs. He breaks out some sweet 12 string guitar tones on "Time for Love" that compliments his vocals well. He gets behind the keys for a rousing version of "Good Golly Miss Molly", and stays behind them for a soulful version of "Long Tall Sally". Ronnie Hawkins takes to stage five times throughout the DVD, and each performance is flawless. Carl Perkins uses plenty of 50s style double stops during his solo work on "Matchbox", and also get the crowd on their feet with "Blue Suede Shoes".

Jerry Lee Lewis isn't exactly the Wildman he was in his younger days (he's 70 at this time), but he can still hit all the notes and his signature yodels on "Whole Lotta Shakin'" and "Great Balls of Fire". Jeff Healey backs him up with some phenomenal guitar work. The DVD bonuses include a music video by Ronnie Hawkins featuring The Band for "Days Go By". The video itself features backstage clips from the big show. Also included is the documentary "At the Crossroads of Rock and Roll", which not only chronicles the concert, but also gives you a little history of how and when the rockabilly craze got started. It's quite in-depth as it goes into the artists lives and explores the controversy that they possibly stole the style of music from the black culture of that time.

The Bad
Not a damn thing!

The Verdict
This DVD lives up to it's billing as "the rock event of the decade". You can't deny the musicianship and talent of all the artists involved. This isn't necessarily music or artists that I've listened to in the past, but after watching this DVD I'm going back to explore more of their past work.

With Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee "The Killer" Lewis together on the same stage, I knew I had to get my hands on this DVD. Despite my youthful age of only 31 years, I've always been a fan of the original legends of rock n' roll and this concert is a worthy purchase for anyone who loves this type of music. I bought this as a fan of Lewis and Perkins and wasn't very familiar with Ronnie Hawkins and the other performers, but everyone here is quite good and the backing band is also top-notch.

After a nice opening introduction by Jerry Lee, Ronnie Hawkins takes the stage and leads the all-star band into a performance of Chuck Berry's "Let it Rock". The red hot blues jam "Down in the Alley" is next and is probably the highlight of the show. Jeff Healey plays guitar better blind than most guys can with 20/20 vision. Jerry Lee's priceless, gleeful reaction to Healey's wicked solo during this song was worth the price of the DVD for me! Lawrence Gowan also rocks out with a spirited performance of Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly" and "Long Tall Sally", and even manages to outplay Jerry Lee in this performance with his keyboard playing.

Carl Perkins {dressed appropriately in a pair of blue suede shoes} and the Killer are both in good form here as they deliver their familiar hits, but both are past their primes and stronger performances of these two legends are available on other DVD's. Anybody who enjoys this concert needs to get a copy of Perkins' superb concert special from 1985, "Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session". It is a masterpiece very similiar to this show that features Carl burning down the house with Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and others! Jerry Lee has also had several DVD releases in the last year. Check out his DVD "Greatest Live Performances of the 50's, 60's, and 70's" to see the Killer tearing it up in his prime!

The hour long rockabilly documentary included here as a bonus feature is just as good as the concert. It spotlights the early Memphis rockabilly scene and includes some nice interviews with Carl Perkins and his son Stan as well. If old-time rock n' roll is your thing, you won't be disappointed with this. Add this one to your collection along with Carl Perkins' "Rockabilly Session" DVD!

UPDATE: Jeff Healey passed away about a month after I wrote this review. Both Healey and Carl Perkins are sadly no longer with us which only adds to the value of this DVD. Buy this today and honor the memory of two guitar legends!

A REAL FUN GET TOGETHER OF OLD ROCKERS CELEBRATING THE 60
BIRTHDAY OF ONE OF THE MOST FUN OF THEM ALL ... ROMPIN' RONNIE HAWKINS ... A GREAT SHOW !

This Show it's just great... Roonie Hawkins Birthday Celebration is one big bang-rock & roll-blues extravaganzza... but, as always, it's the Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis who stole the show... since his introduction to Mr. Hawkins to his performance of "Great Balls of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin", Jerry Lee rock's the viewers brains out!

And of course, there's the others musician acts...

It contains great extras, and the documentary about the birthday of rock & roll it's just great!

I heard some of it on a local radio station on the Jim Parsons show and just had to get it.I have been to two Jerry Lee Lewis concerts in London and Toronto and also have seen Ronnie Hawkins here in a bar just as he was starting his recording career back in the 1960's and enjoy listening to him. Carl Perkins was an added bonus.

Bought the cd 10-12 years ago, and it has been played over and over again.
Great music, great musicians and a great happening.
And what a thrill to finally get it on dvd... :-)

This has the feel of an old time R&R time but it is based in blues. the real birthplace of R&R.
Being a Canuck, I cannot downplay the great guitar and feeling, Jeff Healey adds.
Angel Eyes is still one of the best songs ever. Carl Perkins is great but still shines
less than "E". A great songwriter. a great guitar player, good enough vocals but not the
charisma of "E". He though he was but he may have been more successful with "HIS" stuff.

Jerry Lee Lewis: Great. Still great. I saw him live a couple of times and was blown away.
Another guy that had all the talent but screwed up trying to get more press than "E"
He may have loved that 14 year old that became Mrs. Lewis but it was a PR killer.

I'm from Canada and have seen the "Hawk" Ronnie Hawkins perform many times. Always
a great show. When the Beatles came to Canada they hooked up with the Hawk.
Check out his bio. Long, varied and surprising. I remember Ronnie in a silk blue
suit, red tie and cut off boots, singing Mary Lou. Long time ago.

Get this DVD. It is solid. Don't like it-it will sell on EBAY
for a ton.n These guys invented Rock and Roll. Enjoy them!

Ronnie Hawkins is a legendary music name in this part of the world (Ontario, Canada and Western New York). Although born in Arkansas and still having that southern twang, Ronnie is pure Canada and its country's answer to America's "rockabilly stars."

So, it was fitting that two of the biggest rockabillies of all-time - Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis - showed up for a 60th birthday bash for Hawkins at Massey Hall in Toronto in 1995. They were joined by such music greats as Jeff Healey, The Band and Lawrence McGowan. The results was a foot-stoppin' rock `n roll concert that warmed the hearts of everyone who loves that 1950s rock sound.

Not only was Hawkins smiling the whole time, so was Jerry Lee, Carl and the rest of the group. It translated into one heckuva feel-good concert
You can read the title page here to see all the classic rock songs that were sung, plus a few you might not know but will enjoy, as I did. Ironically, it wasn't one of the "legends," but a young guy - guitarist Jeff Healey - who blew everyone away.

I am just grateful that concerts like this, and the one Carl Perkins did in the mid `80s and Roy Orbison did in the late `80s are available to us old rockabilly fans in 2008. In addition, Bill Wyman and the Rhythm Kings pay homage to this kind of music, as do a few others. This kind of music is especially big in the UK. Wherever we life, we can still enjoy these great songs and concerts, thanks to the magic of DVDs.

Also, you might want to check out the behind-the-scenes documentary on this disc. It was interesting to hear Perkins reminisce, especially since he died shortly after this concert. Unlike Lewis, who shows himself once again to be a very rude, arrogant man off-stage, Perkins was a first-class gentleman as is the star of the evening, Mr. Ronnie "The Hawk" Hawkins.