Category Archives: Rock’n Roll

October 8: Jerry Lee Lewis Great Balls of Fire was recorded in 1957

Well kiss me baba, woo-oooooo….it feels good
Hold me baba
I want to love you like a lover should
Your fine, so kind
I got this world that your mine mine mine mine-ine

From Wikipedia:

Released November 11, 1957
Recorded October 8, 1957, Sun Studio, Memphis, Tennessee
Genre Rock and roll, Rockabilly, Country
Label Sun 281
Writer(s) Otis Blackwell (under the pseudonym Jack Hammer)

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 (under the pseudonym Jack Hammer). The Jerry Lee Lewis 1957 recording was ranked as the 96th greatest song ever by Rolling Stone. The song is in AABA form.

Continue reading October 8: Jerry Lee Lewis Great Balls of Fire was recorded in 1957

September 29: Happy 80th Birthday Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis 2

September 29:  Jerry Lee Lewis was born in 1935

“I am right. I`m always right. One time I thought I was wrong, I found out I was right. ”
~Jerry Lee Lewis

“Just point me to the piano and give me my money. In fifteen minutes I’ll have ’em SHAKIN’, SHOUTIN’, SHIVERIN’, and SHAKIN'”
~Jerry Lee Lewis

From Wikipedia:

Birth name Jerry Lee Lewis
Also known as The Killer
Born September 29, 1935 (age 80)
Origin Ferriday, Louisiana, U.S.
Genres Rock and roll, country, rockabilly, blues, Honky tonk, gospel
Occupations Singer, songwriter, pianist
Instruments Vocals, piano, guitar
Years active 1954–present
Labels Sun, Mercury, Sire/Warner Bros, MCA
Website www.jerryleelewis.com

Jerry Lee Lewis (born September 29, 1935) is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. He is known by the nickname “The Killer”.

Continue reading September 29: Happy 80th Birthday Jerry Lee Lewis

30 Best live albums countdown: 20 – Live at the Star Club Hamburg by Jerry Lee Lewis

live at the star club 1964

I have 20 albums left in my top 30 live albums countdown, it is getting extremely difficult to say that one is better than the other. Now I continue on “gut feeling” and even if it is a carefully thought out list, it may well look different tomorrow (or even later today). But don’t take it too seriously, we’re just having fun here.

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. – Rolling Stone Magazine

Live at the Star Club, Hamburg by Jerry Lee Lewis is the best classic rock’n roll live album ever made. No, it is not from Lewis’ golden age, the 50’s, it is from The Star Club in Hamburg in 1964.

It was not released in the U.S. until the early nineties when Rhino re-issued it on CD. That’s when I heard this thunderstorm of a record.

From the liner notes (the Rhino re-issue):
What do you think of when you think of the Star Club? “Well, that’s obvious. That’s where The Beatles played.” Right and wrong. If you’re a regenerate rocker, you’d say, “That’s where Jerry Lee Lewis recorded the greatest album ever made.”

It’s a speed driven, frenzied, rock’n roll moment, luckily it is captured for posterity.

Mean Woman Blues:

Continue reading 30 Best live albums countdown: 20 – Live at the Star Club Hamburg by Jerry Lee Lewis

September 14: Little Richard recorded Tutti Frutti in 1955

little-richard

The phrase next to Robert Zimmerman’s picture in the 1959 Hibbing High School Yearbook was “To join Little Richard.”

“Bob Dylan is my brother. I love him same as Bobby Darin is my baby. I feel Bob Dylan is my blood brother. I believe if I didn’t have a place to stay, Bob Dylan would buy me a house. He sat by my bed; he didn’t move for hours. I was in pain that medicine couldn’t stop. My tongue was cut out, leg all tore up, bladder punctured. I was supposed to be dead. Six feet under. God resurrected me; that’s the reason I have to tell the world about it.”
– Little Richard (to John Waters, 1987)

Tutti Frutti (meaning “all fruits” in Italian) is a song written by Little Richard (Richard Wayne Penniman) along with Dorothy LaBostrie that was recorded in 1955 and became his first major hit record. With its opening cry of “A-wop-bom-a-loo-mop-a-lomp-bom-bom!” (a verbal rendition of a drum pattern that Little Richard had imagined) and its hard-driving sound and wild lyrics, it became not only a model for many future Little Richard songs, but also a model for rock and roll itself. The song introduced several of rock music’s most characteristic musical features, including its loud volume and vocal style emphasizing power, and its distinctive beat and rhythm.

It was recorded in September 1955 and released in November the same year.

Continue reading September 14: Little Richard recorded Tutti Frutti in 1955

10 Great versions of That’s All Right (Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, The Beatles & more)

johnny cash & bob dylan

For Elvis Presley & Arthur Crudup versions:

Such an important song needs special attention. So I decided to seek out versions of the song by some of my fav artists… here’s what I found:

1. Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash (1969)

2. Bob Dylan  – Columbia Recording Studios (NYC) 1962/10/26 OR 1962/11/01

3. The Beatles – Live @ BBC

Continue reading 10 Great versions of That’s All Right (Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, The Beatles & more)