1. Mean Woman Blues
2. High School Confidential
3. Money
4. Matchbox
5. What'd I Say
6. Great Balls Of Fire
7. Good Golly Miss Molly
8. Lewis Boogie
9. Your Cheatin' Heart
10. Hound Dog
11. Long Tall Sally
12. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
I know what you're thinking. What could this old dinosaur be doing with an album right in the middle of 1965? This list works in mysterious ways! This live album is from the lowest point in his career, after he hadn't had a hit for years and years. You see, when you marry your 13 year old cousin, it's not exactly the best thing to have the public find out about it. It can get kind of awkward.
He seems to have channeled his bitterness into his piano playing, if this album is any indication. Dude plays like a man possessed. Sure, he always played like that, but this is even more so. Without the constraints of studio recording, Jerry Lee breaks out with a truly frantic performance. In fact, it actually sounds like he's playing too fast for the band in a couple spots. This must've been a special night, because I'd be surprised if he performed like that at all his concerts back then.
Though it certainly has an impressive amount of energy, this album definitely isn't the greatest live album ever, as I've seen it called. Since this album isn't really well known in comparison to more legendary live albums like At Fillmore East or Made in Japan or whatever, people use it as an excuse to drown the poor thing in a sea of superlatives. I mean, check out this review from Allmusic: '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.'
I mean, Jesus. This album is incredibly exciting and loud, but to say that it outstrips things like hardcore punk seems a bit much. It's not like Jerry Lee was out to make the audience feel the anguish of his failing career by wearing safety pins on his clothing, burning a picture of Elvis screaming 'KILL YOUR IDOLS' and kicking Glenn Danzig in the balls. It's not that intense! Sure, it would've felt that way if you were actually there, but in this modern era where we have things like hardcore punk and thrash metal, calling this the most furious thing ever recorded seems really excessive. The songs themselves aren't that amazing, either! They're the same ol' bunch of early rock covers that every fucking rock band was doing at that point (well, except for that Hank Williams cover that was nice enough to slow things down a bit). These songs have similar enough structures that they would all sound the same if you didn't know the original songs, and even if you do it's kind of touchy. I didn't really need to hear yet another version of 'Money'.
This is truly a wild live album, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's that good. The way I see it, this album shows the extremes that pre-'65 rock could go to, before new sounds and new scenes turned rock into something more than a bunch of hopped-up blues progressions. 7/10
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