Live at the Star Club, Hamburg [Import, Live]

Jerry Lee Lewis | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 28, 1999)
• Original Release Date: 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Live
• Label: Bear Family
• ASIN: B0000282YX
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,330 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #40 in Music > Indie Music > Rock > Oldies & Retro

Track Listings

1. Mean Woman Blues

2. High School Confidential

3. Money (That's What I Want)

4. Matchbox

5. What'd I Say, Pt. 1

6. What'd I Say, Pt. 2

7. Great Balls of Fire

8. Good Golly Miss Molly

9. Lewis Boogie

10. Your Cheatin' Heart

11. Hound Dog

12. Long Tall Sally

13. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On

14. Down the Line [*]

Editorial Reviews

MOJO Magazine, October 2011

A howling beast of an album, with Jerry Lee (backed by The Nashville Teens) on world-conquering form playing to a feral crowd of liquored-up Hamburg rockers on April 5, 1964. Live LPs rarely capture a tenth of the excitement in the room, but this superbly recorded slice of mayhem preserves all the guts and glory of a vintage night on the Reeperbahn when The Killer ruled the street. Mersey Beat might have been the new sound in the charts, but as the original rock 'n' roll bad boy said elsewhere after torching his piano, "I'd like to see any goddam son of a bitch follow that."

Product Description

Words cannot describe -- cannot contain -- the performance captured on Live at the Star Club, Hamburg, an album that contains the very essence of rock & roll. When Jerry Lee Lewis performed the concert that became this album in the spring of 1964, his career was at its lowest point. Following his scandalous marriage to his teenage cousin, he was virtually blacklisted in the U.S., and by 1964 it had been six years since he had a real hit single, he was starting his recording career again with a new label, and, to make matters worse, America had fallen in love with the Beatles and the bands that followed in the British Invasion, leaving him exiled from the charts. Ironically, he wound up in the Beatles' old haunt of the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany, in the spring of 1964, backed by the Nashville Teens, who still had yet to have a hit with "Tobacco Road" (which would scale the charts later that year). Lewis and the Nashville Teens had been touring throughout the group's native England for about a month, capped off by a stint at the Star Club, where the band played for two weeks, but was only joined by the Killer for one night, which was what was captured on this incendiary recording. Who knows why this was a night where everything exploded for Jerry Lee Lewis? It sounds like all of his rage at not being the accepted king of rock & roll surfaced that night, but that probably wasn't a conscious decision on his part -- maybe the stars were aligned right, or perhaps he just was in a particularly nasty mood. Or maybe this is the way he sounded on an average night in 1964. In any case, Live at the Star Club is extraordinary -- the purest, hardest rock & roll ever committed to record. It starts with the Killer launching into "Mean Woman Blues" at a tempo far faster than the band is prepared for, and he never, ever lets go from that moment forward. He pounds the piano into submission, sings himself hoarse, berates the band ("What'd I Say, Pt. 2" has him yelling at a Nashville Teen to "play that thing right, boy!"), increases the tempo on each song, and joins in with the audience chanting his name. It's a crazed, unhinged performance, with the Nashville Teens running wild to follow his lead, and it's a great testament to the bandmembers that they nearly manage to keep up with him. One of the profound pleasures of this record is hearing the band try to run with Jerry Lee, which is exceeded only by the sheer dementia of the Killer's performance; he sounds possessed, hitting the keys so hard it sounds like they'll break, and rocking harder than anybody had before or since. Compared to this, thrash metal sounds tame, the Stooges sound constrained, hardcore punk seems neutered, and the Sex Pistols sound like wimps. Rock & roll is about the fire in the performance, and nothing sounds as fiery as this; nothing hits as hard or sounds as loud, either. It is no stretch to call this the greatest live album ever, nor is it a stretch to call it the greatest rock & roll album ever recorded. Even so, words can't describe the music here -- it truly has to be heard to be believed. [The Bear Family issue of Live at the Star Club includes one bonus track, a version of "Down the Line" that is marred by subpar fidelity, including Jerry Lee singing partially off mike -- it maintains the high quality of the rest of the record, but only fanatics need seek this edition out if they can easily obtain Rhino's domestic pressing.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Live Record Ever!, July 26, 2005

By 

Elliott Covert (White Bear Lake, MN, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at the Star Club, Hamburg (Audio CD)

The title of my review does not exaggerate. This record makes "Live at Leeds" or "Get Your Ya-Ya's Out" sound like total garbage. Lewis recorded this record at the low point of his career, when he had been marginalized by The Beatles and all the other British Skiffle groups musically (It should be noted that The Star Club was one of the old hangouts of The Beatles), and his marriage to his 13 year old cousin had ruined his personal life and professional prospects.

So how did Lewis exact revenge? With this truly stunning record. The piano sounds like it's on fire, the drums crash along with incredible speed, the vocals howl like a wounded wolf, and the attitude was undeniably punk, thirteen years before punk even existed. It is no exaggeration to call this easily the best live record ever, and maybe not too much to call it the greatest rock and roll record ever.

The song set is incredible as well. Lewis has his way with all his rivals: Elvis (Hound Dog), Ray Charles (What'd I Say), Hank Williams (Your Cheating Heart), Little Richard (Long Tall Sally/Good Golly Miss Molly), Carl Perkins (Matchbox), and he blows all of them out of the water. All throughout the record you can just see it: Lewis pounding his piano, eyes shut, beads of sweat on his forehead, his incredibly outmatched band (The Nashville Teens) struggling to keep up with The Killer.

One of very few records that can be called perfect.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 100% BEST Live Album EVER Released, March 28, 2006

By 

Phreeek-E "indigosmash" (Calgary, Ab, Can.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at the Star Club, Hamburg (Audio CD)

Totally have to agree with the previous reviewer. He said it all and I just can echo the thoughts. It's hard to believe that this was from 1964. The Killer cooks!!!!! And yes, his band does it's best to keep up with him. INCREDIBLE. A must for the music lover!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Listening If you Like Rock'n Roll., August 15, 2009

By 

C Harding (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at the Star Club, Hamburg (Audio CD)

This disc is a must-have for anyone interested in early Rock.

Jerry, having been crucified in the British press for his marriage to Myra, had nothing left but touring to make a living. To say he was mad at the world would be an understatement. And then came this night in 1964....

The back-up players were young German kids who called themselves 'The Nashville Teens'.

The Star Club was packed with very enthusiastic rock'n roll fans, and Jerry delivered a live recording for the ages that night.
He pours on the speed on his classics and those of others, singing and playing as if it's the end of his life, and letting the band hang on as best it can. The recording is pure adrenaline.

The stereo sound quality is very good, having been done in a small club under such circumstances (one of the stills on the sleeve shows a Neumann mic hanging in front of him, indicating that this was done with care and respect, not just done as a 'throwaway' live recording.) Bear Family once again does beautiful work in re-mastering this.

There have been many comments critizising The Nashville Teens as not being up to playing with Jerry Lee, and I don't understand this.

I have several live discs with the man, and I think they did fine, the drummer in particular glueing things together and keeping his mates on track.

There are mistakes along the way (I am sure rehearsal was at an absolute minimum) but even with Jerry's crazy tempo changes and his whipping the songs in general, the beat stays true and you never lose the urge to dance.
Whereever these guys are today, this is a night I am sure they must have talked about for a long time.

If you are a fan of his, get it. Just get it. If you are new to 'old' rock, just get it as well, and hear what one of the original hellraisers was all about in his heyday. This is punk before there was punk.