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Rating: People often talk about repetition in the vast world of music. Even when many artists in any genre try to reinvent themselves and offer the public seemingly well-packaged products, they are often criticized and branded as useless records, similar to the previous ones, and lacking depth. Let's be realistic. Blues, rockabilly, country, boogie, rock’n roll, and the various sub-genres birthed by these ragged mothers, a bit like humble and dusty street whores, are conceived with three simple chord progressions of C, G, and F, or by changing the starting note, the sequence remains indifferent. Making history with these three measly chords has been possible mainly thanks to immense talent, undeniable voices, showmanship, and the meticulous ability to divinely exhaust every unfortunate instrument seized or touched by the enchanting fingertips of these universal monsters.
Attention, I don't want to be misunderstood, I know we are talking about the genesis (concerning the '900s), the very first molecules that will slowly mutate into rock, and regardless of the chords, there is one (not the only one, surely) who, when listening to characters like John Lee Hooker or Muddy Waters to name a couple, experiences a drop in the pants from emotion. What this music evokes is incredibly indescribable. Rather, I specify that the blame goes to those who stop giving warmth and creativity to music, shamelessly stripping it of every artisanal garment, selling it and themselves to the highest bidder. It was not even the case for Jerry Lee Lewis, who in the early '60s was forced for a long time to perform for a few dollars in small pubs and clubs to make a living.
It was thus on April 5, 1964, during some dates in Germany, precisely at the “Star Club” in Hamburg, on any ordinary night among thousands spent wandering the globe, the killer personified his gratitude for what he revered and what had made him what he was. Swollen with candid adrenaline, he offered the audience an impeccable performance that would unknowingly make history. Thanks to that record, which would be released a few months later, Jerry Lee Lewis would return to the spotlight after a few years of obscurity caused by some romantic scandals, which had led to a dramatic downturn in his deservedly and ingeniously accumulated success in the latter half of the '50s.
In his presence, the completely unknown Nashville Teens prostrated, direct accomplices of the perfect crime of Jerry's recent past monsters, who wants to prove at all costs that he knows how to do his job; that night, he is a stage werewolf, with the blood of a demon throughout his circulatory system. When the unfortunate piano senses the looming danger, Jerry charges up, starting to pound on it, and with draconian selfishness, he absorbs every skill, transforming into a fierce, arrogant, rough, and merciless sniper ready to shoot the heart of that audience numbed by the boredom of routine, in need of ecstasy, and forcefully expels all his repressed fury, interpreting his most successful songs with foam at the mouth and twisting other milestones of the previous decade in his own way. It's Hank Williams' turn with “Whole lotta shakin' goin' on” and “Your cheatin' heart”, then Little Richard with “Long tall Sally” and “Good Golly Miss Molly”, and also Ray Charles with “What’d I say”, passing through “Money” by Barret Strong, “Matchbox” by Carl Perkins, “Mean woman blues” by Claude Demetrius, and the immortal “Hound dog”. The audience, satisfied with so much passion, carries him in triumph along with the young Nashville Teens and decrees his consecration.
Even though a handful of songs were lost after the direct recording, it was still possible to package a product of almost 40 minutes of extraordinary level never equaled again, both for the excellent sound and the legendary performance the ensemble realized.
But even 1964 ended by carrying away this grand live event and a brief period of return to the peaks for the Louisiana killer.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 High School Confidential (02:38)
You better open up honey its your lover boy me that's a knockin'
You better listen to me sugar all the cats are at the High School rockin'
Honey get your boppin' shoes before the jukebox blows a fuse
Well everbody's hoppin' everybody's boppin' boppin' at the High School Hop
Well boppin' at the High School Hop shakin' at the High School Hop
Movin' at the High School Hop rollin' at the High School Hop
Well everybody's hoppin' everybody's boppin' boppin' at the High School Hop
Come on little baby gonna rock a little bit tonight
Oh I'll get with you sugar let's shake things up tonight
Check out the heart beatin' rhythm cause my feet are movin' smooth and light
Yeah boppin' at the High School Hop...
[ piano ]
Oh come on little baby let me tell you a piece of good news
Yeah you gotta come on down I gotta rhythm out all the blues
Yeah we're gonna shake it tonight honey I gotta lose these the blues
Oh boppin' at the High School Hop...
[ guitar ]
Oh boppin' at the High School Hop...
04 Matchbox (02:47)
I been sitting here wondering,
will a matchbox hold my clothes
I been sitting here wondering,
will a matchbox hold my clothes
Ain't got no matches, but I got a long way to go
I'm an old poor boy, ain't got no home
Yes, I'm an old poor boy, and I'm a long,
long, long way from home
Everything I do certainly turns out mighty wrong
Well, if you don't like my peaches, honey,
please don't shake my tree
If you don't like Jerry's peaches,
don't fool around on his tree
I got news for you, baby, I'll leave you here in misery
Yes, I'm sitting here wondering,
will a matchbox hold my clothes
Oh! I'm sitting here wondering,
will a matchbox hold my clothes
Ain't got no matches, but I got a long way to go
07 Great Balls of Fire (01:44)
You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain
Too much love drives a man insane
You broke my will
But what a thrill
Goodness gracious great balls of fire!
I laughed at love cause I thought it was funny
You came along and moooooved me honey
I've changed my mind
This love is fine
Goodness gracious great balls of fire!
Kiss me baby....mmmmm...feels good
Hold me baby
Wellll I want to love you like a lover should
You're fine, so kind
Got to tell this world that you're mine mine mine mine
I chew my nails and I twiddle my thumbs
I'm real nervous but it sure is fun
C'mon baby, you drive me crazy
Goodness gracious great balls of fire!
(piano solo)
Wellll kiss me baby...mmmmm...feels good
Hold me baby
Wellll I want to love you like a lover should
You're fine, so kind
Got to tell this world that you're mine mine mine mine
I chew my nails and I twiddle my thumbs
I'm real nervous but it sure is fun
C'mon baby, you drive me crazy
Goodness gracious great balls of fire!
11 Hound Dog (02:30)
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
Cryin' all the time
You ain't nothin' but a hou-ound dog-ah
Whinin' all the ti-ime
You ain't never caught a rabbit
You ain't no friend of mine
Woh, now they told me you was high class
Well that was just a lie
You know they told me you was high class
Well that was just a lie
You ain't never ever never caught a rabbit
You ain't no friend of mine
Well you ain't nothin' but a hou-ound dog
Stoopin' 'round my door
You ain't nothin' but a hou-ound dog
Stoopin' 'round my door
Well, you can wag your tail
But I ain't gon' feed you no more
Well you told me you was high cla-ass
They told me you was high class
They told me you was high class
They told me you was high class
You ain't never been high class, No!
Yeah, you ain't nothin' but a hou-ound dog
Your just an old hound do-og
Your nothin' but a hound do-og
You're just an' old hou-ound dog
Your nothin' but a hound do-og
Yeah you didn't tell the truth
Your nothin' but a hound dog
One more time
Play it man
13 Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On (04:28)
Come along my baby, whole lotta shakin' goin' on
Yes, I said come along my baby, baby you can't go wrong
We ain't fakin', while lotta shakin' goin' on.
Well, I said come along my baby, we got chicken in the corn
Woo-huh, come along my baby, really got the bull by the horn
We ain't fakin', whole lotta shakin' goin' on.
Well, I said shake, baby, shake,
I said shake, baby, shake
I said shake it, baby, shake it
I said shake, baby, shake
Come on over, whole lotta shakin' goin' on.
Oh, let's go . . .(Piano break, guitar rift)
Well, I said come along my baby, we got chicken in the barn,
whose barn, what barn, my barn
Come along my baby, really got the bull by the horn
We ain't fakin', whole lotta shakin' goin' on.
Easy now. Shake.
Ah, shake it baby
Yeah, you can shake it one time for me
Yeah-huh-huh-ha-ha, Come along my baby,
Whole lotta shakin' goin' on.
Now let's get down real low one time now
Shake, baby, shake
All you gotta do, honey, is kinda stand in one spot
Wiggle around just a little bit, that's what you got
Yeah, come on baby, whole lotta shakin' goin' on.
Now let's go one time
Shake it baby, shake, shake it baby, shake
Woo, shake baby, come on baby, shake it, baby, shake
Come on over, whole lot-ta sha-kin' go-in' on.
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