Live at the Star Club, Hamburg
Encyclopedia
Live at the Star Club is a live recording of Jerry Lee Lewis
backed by The Nashville Teens
playing at the Star-Club
, Hamburg
, Germany
, April 5, 1964. It is regarded by many music journalists as one of the wildest and greatest rock and roll concert albums ever. The album appears in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
.
Sixteen songs were recorded over two sets, the first set comprising "Down The Line," "You Win Again," "High School Confidential," "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Great Balls of Fire," "What'd I Say (Parts 1 & 2), and "Mean Woman Blues." The second set featured "Good Golly Miss Molly," "Matchbox," "Money," "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," "Lewis Boogie," "Hound Dog," "Long Tall Sally" and "I'm On Fire." ." "Down The Line," omitted on the original LP due to a sound fault at the beginning, was included on later CD editions. The tapes for "You Win Again" and "I'm On Fire" are believed to have been lost.
: "All but the first song from this set, recorded with the Nashville Teens, was issued on what's widely regarded as the wildest rock'n roll album of all time - Live At The Star-Club."
Rolling Stone
(5 out of 5 stars): "'Live At The Star Club, Hamburg' is not an album, it's a crime scene: Jerry Lee Lewis slaughters his rivals in a thirteen-song set that feels like one long convulsion. Recorded April 5th, 1964, this is the earliest and most feral of Lewis' concert releases from his wilderness years ..."
Q
: "This might be the most exciting performance ever recorded..."
Included in Mojo's
"The 67 Lost Albums You Must Own!" - "[A]n unbelievably seismic document of rock 'n' roll so demonic and primal it can barely keep its stage suit on.... It's up there with James Brown's great live albums."
Amazon.com
(editorial review): "One of the greatest live albums in rock & roll history."
Allmusic: "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 [...] Live at the Star Club is extraordinary -- the purest, hardest rock & roll ever committed to record [...] 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."
Robert Christgau
: "...this legendary 37-minute performance is our last and clearest glimpse of Jerry Lee as a young world-beater. Not only has he bulled his way past the incest 'n' bigamy tour of 1958 and the drowning death of his son in 1962, he's some kind of hero in a Europe rediscovering '50s rock and roll via Beatlemania
. Without cracking the charts or drawing crowds commensurate with his ego on the endless tour that is his life, he believes so profoundly in his pact with the devil that he remains unbowed. Here that faith is both made manifest and recorded for posterity, which otherwise never happened on the same night. Admirers attribute this ungodly miracle to one emotional resource or other, but I find Lewis so impenetrable psychologically that I hesitate to put a name on it. Instead I'll list a few technical attributes. Both performance and recording are very clean. Tempos are speedy, and the backing band—the Nashville Teens
of 'Tobacco Road' renown—keep up manfully. 'Mean Woman Blues
' and 'Money
' are definitive. And the piano kills."
Side two
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
backed by The Nashville Teens
The Nashville Teens
The Nashville Teens are a British pop band formed in Weybridge, Surrey in Summer 1962.-History:Arthur Sharp began his career in music as the manager of Aerco Records in Woking, Surrey...
playing at the Star-Club
Star-Club
The Star-Club was a music club in Hamburg, Germany that opened Friday 13 April 1962 and was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. In the sixties, many of the giants of rock music played at the club. The club closed on 31 December 1969 and the building it occupied was...
, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, April 5, 1964. It is regarded by many music journalists as one of the wildest and greatest rock and roll concert albums ever. The album appears in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book edited by Robert Dimery, first published in 2005. The most recent edition consists of a list of albums released between 1955 and 2010, part of a series from Quintessence Editions Ltd...
.
Sixteen songs were recorded over two sets, the first set comprising "Down The Line," "You Win Again," "High School Confidential," "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Great Balls of Fire," "What'd I Say (Parts 1 & 2), and "Mean Woman Blues." The second set featured "Good Golly Miss Molly," "Matchbox," "Money," "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," "Lewis Boogie," "Hound Dog," "Long Tall Sally" and "I'm On Fire." ." "Down The Line," omitted on the original LP due to a sound fault at the beginning, was included on later CD editions. The tapes for "You Win Again" and "I'm On Fire" are believed to have been lost.
Reception
Record CollectorRecord Collector
Record Collector is the United Kingdom's longest-running monthly music magazine. It distributes both within the UK and worldwide. It started in 1979.-The early years:...
: "All but the first song from this set, recorded with the Nashville Teens, was issued on what's widely regarded as the wildest rock'n roll album of all time - Live At The Star-Club."
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
(5 out of 5 stars): "'Live At The Star Club, Hamburg' is not an album, it's a crime scene: Jerry Lee Lewis slaughters his rivals in a thirteen-song set that feels like one long convulsion. Recorded April 5th, 1964, this is the earliest and most feral of Lewis' concert releases from his wilderness years ..."
Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
: "This might be the most exciting performance ever recorded..."
Included in Mojo's
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
"The 67 Lost Albums You Must Own!" - "[A]n unbelievably seismic document of rock 'n' roll so demonic and primal it can barely keep its stage suit on.... It's up there with James Brown's great live albums."
Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
(editorial review): "One of the greatest live albums in rock & roll history."
Allmusic: "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 [...] Live at the Star Club is extraordinary -- the purest, hardest rock & roll ever committed to record [...] 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."
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
: "...this legendary 37-minute performance is our last and clearest glimpse of Jerry Lee as a young world-beater. Not only has he bulled his way past the incest 'n' bigamy tour of 1958 and the drowning death of his son in 1962, he's some kind of hero in a Europe rediscovering '50s rock and roll via Beatlemania
Beatlemania
Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy directed toward The Beatles during the early years of their success...
. Without cracking the charts or drawing crowds commensurate with his ego on the endless tour that is his life, he believes so profoundly in his pact with the devil that he remains unbowed. Here that faith is both made manifest and recorded for posterity, which otherwise never happened on the same night. Admirers attribute this ungodly miracle to one emotional resource or other, but I find Lewis so impenetrable psychologically that I hesitate to put a name on it. Instead I'll list a few technical attributes. Both performance and recording are very clean. Tempos are speedy, and the backing band—the Nashville Teens
The Nashville Teens
The Nashville Teens are a British pop band formed in Weybridge, Surrey in Summer 1962.-History:Arthur Sharp began his career in music as the manager of Aerco Records in Woking, Surrey...
of 'Tobacco Road' renown—keep up manfully. 'Mean Woman Blues
Mean Woman Blues
"Mean Woman Blues" is a 12-bar blues song written by Claude Demetrius. It was recorded by Elvis Presley as part of the soundtrack for his 1957 motion picture, Loving You. Presley also released the song on Side 2 of a four-song EP record...
' and 'Money
Money (That's What I Want)
"Money " is a 1959 hit single by Barrett Strong for the Tamla label, distributed nationally on Anna Records. The song was written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, and became the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise....
' are definitive. And the piano kills."
Track listing
Side one- "Mean Woman BluesMean Woman Blues"Mean Woman Blues" is a 12-bar blues song written by Claude Demetrius. It was recorded by Elvis Presley as part of the soundtrack for his 1957 motion picture, Loving You. Presley also released the song on Side 2 of a four-song EP record...
" (Claude DemetriusClaude DemetriusClaude Demetrius was an African American songwriter.Born in Bath, Maine, by his early twenties he was in New York City writing music for and/or with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Witherspoon and B.B. King. Demetrius wrote the 1945 musical comedy short film Open the Door, Richard...
) 4:01 - "High School ConfidentialHigh School Confidential (Jerry Lee Lewis song)"High School Confidential" is a song written by Jerry Lee Lewis and Ron Hargrave and released in 1958. The song was the title song of the movie of the same name starring Russ Tamblyn, Mamie Van Doren, and Jerry Lee Lewis...
" (Hargrave, Lewis) 2:25 - "Money (That's What I Want)Money (That's What I Want)"Money " is a 1959 hit single by Barrett Strong for the Tamla label, distributed nationally on Anna Records. The song was written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, and became the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise....
" (Janie BradfordJanie BradfordJanie Bradford is an American songwriter, most known for her tenure with Motown. With Berry Gordy, she co-wrote "Money ", originally recorded by Barrett Strong and used by The Beatles on their second album With The Beatles...
, Berry GordyBerry GordyBerry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
) 4:35 - "MatchboxMatchbox (song)"Matchbox" is a rock and roll and rockabilly song written by Carl Perkins and first recorded by him at Sun Records in December 1956 and released on February 11, 1957 as a 45 single on Sun Records. It has become one of Perkins' best-known recordings...
" (Carl PerkinsCarl PerkinsCarl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
) 2:46 - "What'd I Say, Part 1" (Ray CharlesRay CharlesRay Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
) 2:18 - "What'd I Say, Part 2" 3:08
Side two
- "Great Balls of FireGreat Balls of Fire"Great Balls of Fire" is a 1957 song recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun Records and featured in the 1957 movie Jamboree. It was written by Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer...
" (Otis BlackwellOtis BlackwellOtis Blackwell was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist, whose work significantly influenced rock 'n' roll...
, Jack Hammer) 1:48 - "Good Golly, Miss MollyGood Golly, Miss Molly"Good Golly Miss Molly" is a hit rock 'n' roll song first recorded in 1958 by the American musician Little Richard. The song, a 12-bar blues, was written by John Marascalco and producer Robert "Bumps" Blackwell. Although it was first recorded by Little Richard, Blackwell produced another version...
" (Bumps Blackwell, John MarascalcoJohn MarascalcoJohn Marascalco is an American songwriter, who is most noted for his collaborations with Robert Blackwell...
) 2:19 - "Lewis' Boogie" (Lewis) 1:55
- "Your Cheatin' HeartYour Cheatin' Heart"Your Cheatin' Heart" is a song written and recorded by the American country music singer and songwriter Hank Williams in 1952, but released after his death in 1953.. It is often considered one of his greatest songs, and one of the great songs of country music...
" (Hank Williams) 3:03 - "Hound DogHound Dog (song)"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton in 1952. Other early versions illustrate the differences among blues, country, and rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The 1956 remake by Elvis Presley is the best-known...
" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) 2:28 - "Long Tall SallyLong Tall Sally"Long Tall Sally" is a rock and roll 12-bar blues song written by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson and Richard Penniman , recorded by Little Richard and released March 1956 on the Specialty Records label....
" (Enotris Johnson, Little RichardLittle RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
) 1:52 - "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" (Sunny David, Dave Williams) 4:24
Personnel
Credits for Live at the Star Club, Hamburg adapted from Allmusic.- Johnny Allen – guitar
- Robert "Bumps" Blackwell – composer
- Janie Bradford – composer
- Ingrid Buhring – photography
- Sunny David – composer
- Berry Gordy, Jr. – composer
- Barrie Jenkins – drums
- Ron Hargrave – composer
- Enotris Johnson – composer
- Bob Jones – mastering
- Jerry Leiber – composer
- Jerry Lee Lewis – composer, piano, vocals
- Little Richard – composer
- Sigfried Loch – producer
- John Marascalco – composer
- Pete Shannon Harris – bass
- Mike Stoller – composer
- Peter Van Raay – photography
- Richard Weize – photography, reissue producer
- Dave Williams – composer
External links
- Live at the Star Club, Hamburg at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...