1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: 46. Jerry Lee Lewis – Live at the Star Club, Hamburg (1964)

This seems very late in the day to go back to classic rock and roll, but my goodness it’s worth it. I don’t normally go too deep into the biographical details, although I usually look them up to get some context to the album, and besides, you can always just skim it off Wikipedia like I do. It’s a pretty well-known fact that Lewis married his 13-year old cousin (actually first cousin once removed) Myra Gale Brown in 1958, which made him a bit of a musical pariah (and it also seems he’s also another abuser). So, this live show is something of a comeback, and by Lewis’ own statement he continued to play rock and roll even though it was going out of style. 

But what a live performance. The drummer (Barry Jenkins) beating the ever-living hell out of the drum kit, Lewis giving thundering boogie-woogie piano, and it almost feels like therapy on stage, pounding through the songs, piled high with energy and exuberance. If all you’ve ever heard is the studio version of Great Balls of Fire, prepare to have your mind blown, because Lewis gives an absolutely barnstorming performance. On Highschool Confidential he machine-guns out the words decades before the high-speed rap stylings of the likes of Eminem; on what I think is the third version of Money in this list so far, he free-forms, howls, slams the piano like he’s trying to kill it. Astonishing stuff. 

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