“Live” at the Star‐Club, Hamburg

It’s almost a shame that Live at the Star Club, Hamburg is barely over half an hour long because purely as a live document, it’s explosive. Jerry Lee Lewis was many things, and most of them deeply problematic, but on stage he was undeniable.

But here’s the problem: separating the art from the artist isn’t easy and in this case, it’s almost impossible. Lewis’s personal history casts a very long shadow, and for me it overshadows whatever brilliance is captured on this recording. Yes, he could perform. Yes, this is raw rock ’n’ roll at full throttle. But knowing who he was makes it hard to enjoy without discomfort.

So while I can recognise the musical impact, it’s not something I’ll return to.

I was surprised that a bunch of the songs were most known from other artists like Elvis, Little Richard, but guess that’s the way it went back then. But fun album for sure.

Oh, just read he was a pedo racist though, so knocked it down for that.

"Brown was only 14 years old when their son was born"

Another one for that niche genre of great live album from a scumbag. Maybe the scumbaggery outweighs the quality in this case.

Jerry Lee Lewis manages to answer the question: What if Little Richard was white and married his 13 year old cousin? A question which really didn't need asking.

rest in pieces asshole

3/5. Vocal performances and high intensity instrumentals are so fun that you almost forget Jerry Lee Lewis married and had children with his 13 year old cousin.

Not really my type of music. I can see though that people that enjoy this type find this live version also good.

Now this is a live album! I'm very much not a fan of 60s Rock n Roll, but with this audience and energy it's hard to resist jamming along with them.

This dude has some strong af vocals.

The further down on the Jerry Lee Lewis Wikipedia page I got, the worse it got. This dude was a real piece of shit. However, he really knew how to make that piano sing. The songs here all have an infectious energy that’s makes you want to get up and boogie. Favorites were What’d I Say, Great Balls Of Fire, and Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On

22 minutes of decent Little Richard covers from noted incestuous pedophile.

Incredible, raw energy.

4/5

Otro directo. Voy a decir lio mismo de siempre, que en principio no me gustan aunque reconozco que tienen su interés. De Jerry Lee lo conozco más a raíz de la película y el revival que supuso para su música. Se pasa en un suspiro y no es para menos 22 minutos y 22 segundos. Historia de la música rock. Suena bastante bien y me gustó "Money".

For my listening, I had to go to YouTube to listen to the full album, as some tracks are missing on the Spotify release.

Let me get my criticisms of this record out of the way. This is yet another live album in which the songs are out of order and incomplete compared to the original 1964 performance at The Star Club in Hamburg, Germany. The opening cover of Roy Orbison's "Go Go Go (Down the Line)" was left on the cutting room floor until a 1989 reissue, and the taped recordings of Hank Williams's "You Win Again" and Jerry's own "I'm on Fire" are lost to time. While the remaining tapes were sequenced and edited such that it wouldn't be as noticeable to the average listener, it does feel disingenuous to have an incomplete account of what that concert was like.

On top of that, aside from Jerry's more notable contributions like "Great Balls of Fire", most of the remaining set consists of cover songs of existing rock & roll and country standards, for some of which there are superior versions more widely available these days. I'll take the original versions of Ray Charles's "What'd I Say", Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly", Hank Williams's "Your Cheatin' Heart", and Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog" any day of the week. Hell, even the Beatles had put out a better cover of Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" by this point in time.

That all said, I can still recognize that this was a ferocious performance, a rarity for rock & roll at this time, save for Little Richard and Chuck Berry. Jerry's command behind the mic and piano sounded like a feat to behold, and I also have to commend the backing band for trying to keep up with his pace. Also worth noting is producer Siggi Loch's recording setup, where the positioning of the microphones in proximity to the instruments and the audience made for the best possible capture of the raw energy emanating from that live show. Short of seeing Jerry set his piano on fire, I felt as immersed as I could have been for the performance.

So yeah, I'd say Live at the Star Club is a solid, if not complete, live album. It probably says a lot that this was the one bright spot in a tumultuous and controversial period for Jerry Lee Lewis, an aspect of his career that I did not want to bring up in this review. All I can say after reading up on it is that I needed a shower.

Firstly, you can choose to separate the art from the artist or you can choose not to. That’s your choice. I’ll review the album. Not the person.

Once you get past the ‘legendary’ name, the music can stand alone and, on its rockabilly roots and caustic attack, it is very strong.
The problem with the album is its lack of continuity and Lewis’ stylistic inflexibility when the material requires it. He performs full of energy and passion, which comes out as an explosion, not with control or in measured doses. This is what makes him so great at ehat he does. But it is all that he does.
His style is rightfully fierce and historic on “Great Balls of Fire” and “Good Golly, Miss Mollly”. But on a track like, “Your Cheating Heart”, the delivery is terribly misfit to the sentiment of the lyrics and Lewis’ poor attempt at a honeyed tone is abandoned before long. His vocal style is not a good fit for any sort of reflective material or anything approaching a ballad. I mean, why take the sports car to the supermarket?
Finally, as an album, this doesn’t work. You feel “in the room” but this is just a guy playing his (and others) hits well, but without any sense of cohesion or reason that these songs should be together. To say this is one of the 1000 best albums is to bow to tradition without really hearing it for what it is.

One Line Twitter Review: Your least favorite power punk bands’ favorite rapper.

it's mostly quite good

One of the only albums so far short enough for me to be able to finish before getting to work. That said if I went to a gig and they finished after 20 mins I would want money back.

Complicated to rate this one because I generally dislike live albums and Jerry Lee is a piece of shit. However, his influence is undeniable IMO. My favorite live band is Low Cut Connie and Adam's performance style is directly influenced by JLL. Adam wrote a reflection about JLL when he died, published by Spin. (https://www.spin.com/2022/11/jerry-lee-lewis-tribute/)

Foot tapping and high energy rock & roll. It must have been a real experience to be a young kid at one of his concerts. Though perhaps not a young girl.

I had no idea he tried to kill Elvis!? So he wasn't all bad then.
3½

solidan rokenrol. ništa posebno, ništa loše