45worlds - David M. McKee

David M. McKee Activity

This is an archived account.

10 Points / Joined 25 Jun 2013

Member	Item		Review/Comment
David M. McKee 1st May 2015		Vinyl Album Jerry Lee Lewis - The Return Of Rock	Anyone who thinks that great rock 'n' roll records stopped being made during the Beatles era should give this a listen! As well as possibly the ultimate versions of rock 'n' roll / rhythm 'n' blues standards such as Roll Over Beethoven, Sexy Ways (previously recorded at Sun as both Cool Cool Ways & Carrying On), Corrine, Corrina (re-recorded during his final Mercury sessions in 1977) & Got You On My Mind, there's several new songs of which I Believe In You (with Jerry's best ever piano solo?) & Baby, Hold Me Close are the best. Without a doubt Jerry's finest studio rock 'n' roll album (great "mix" too!). 5 out of 5 Outtakes: Mathilda / The Wild Side Of Life / Just In Time / Skid Row Of these outtakes one song was issued a few months later on Country Songs For City Folks & another a year later on the Memphis Beat album. Just In Time & Skid Row were first issued on an early 80's bootleg EP, & then officially via Bear Family a few years later. Skid Row in particular is as good or better than virtually anything on the Country Songs For City Folks LP, a truly remarkable performance & song! This is from an excellent blog by Peter Checksfield. See the full blog at http://themargatemusicman.blogspot.com/ ... years.html
David M. McKee 1st May 2015		Vinyl Album Jerry Lee Lewis - The Greatest Live Show On Earth	Although inevitably over-shadowed by the wilder (& better-recorded) Live At The Star-Club, Hamburg, this is still a storming performance. Jerry purposely avoided most of his usual hits & included several new (at least to him) songs. Buck Hutcheson (the guitarist at this concert) can recall the entire band rehearsing these songs with Jerry at his home a few days beforehand, quite a rarity for Jerry to do any rehearsing! Highlights include Who Will The Next Fool Be (later recorded in the studio for Elektra in 1979) & High Heel Sneakers (released in slightly edited form as a single). 5 out of 5 (No known outtakes) Note: This is from an excellent blog by Peter Checksfield. See the full blog at http://themargatemusicman.blogspot.com/ ... years.html
David M. McKee 1st May 2015		Vinyl Album Jerry Lee Lewis - Memphis Beat	Considering that nearly half of the songs on this album are outtakes from previous albums it blends together remarkably well! The song Memphis Beat itself though OK is a slightly contrived combination of Breathless & Chuck Berry's Memphis. Far better are Just Because, Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee (though both earlier & later versions are probably superior), Big Boss Man & George Jones' She Thinks I Still Care. Again there's a couple of unnecessary covers that add little to the originals, particularly Hallelujah, I Love Her So & Too Young (great piano solo though!), & there's the notorious Lincoln Limousine, his "tribute" to John F. Kennedy that sounds more like a car commercial! 3 out of 5 Outtakes: What A Heck Of A Mess / Rockin' Jerry Lee What A Heck Of A Mess was issued as the B-side of Sticks & Stones, while Rockin' Jerry Lee (one of the stronger rock 'n' roll performances from this era) was first issued on a 70s bootleg & then officially in the late 80s. Non-Album Session: Memphis Beat / Twenty Four Hours A Day / Swinging Doors / If I Had It All To Do Over Presumably dissatisfied with the album version, Memphis Beat was re-cut here for a single, backed with If I Had It All To Do Over. Swinging Doors was released on the 1971 Would You Take Another Chance On Me album, & Twenty Four Hours A Day remained unissued until a bootleg EP in the early 80s (& then an official release a few years later). Additionally, an alternate take of Memphis Beat was issued on the 1969 I'm On Fire compilation, & remixes (minus strings) of the other 3 songs were released via Bear Family in the 80s. This is from an excellent blog by Peter Checksfield. For the full blog, see http://themargatemusicman.blogspot.com/ ... years.html
David M. McKee 1st May 2015		Vinyl Album Jerry Lee Lewis - By Request: More Of The Greatest Live Show On Earth	Jerry's third official live album from the '60's & without doubt the weakest. Part of the reason is the relatively poor mix (why on earth couldn't US Smash record & mix as as well as German Philips did with Live At The Star-Club, Hamburg?), & another reason is that Jerry seems a little below form for the period, particularly on side two (compare the Paris 1966 bootleg for example). Having said this there's some very good performances indeed, in particular Little Queenie, How's My Ex Treating You, Green Green Grass Of Home, What'd I Say (Part 2) & I'll Sail My Ship Alone. Others are rather weak, particularly Money (which sounds almost insipid compared to the powerful Star-Club version) & You Win Again. 3 out of 5 Outtakes: Blue Suede Shoes / Crazy Arms / Lovin' Up A Storm / Mean Woman Blues / What'd I Say (Part 1) A mono acetate of the uncut first show (featuring all songs from the original LP up to & including What'd I Say (Part 2) plus all of the above outtakes) was discovered in the mid 90s & issued by Bear Family. Pretty much all of the outtakes are sensational versions, & if this had been released in 1966 instead then I wouldn't hesitate to give it 5 out of 5! Note: This is from an excellent blog by Peter Checksfield. See the full blog at http://themargatemusicman.blogspot.com/ ... years.html
David M. McKee 1st May 2015		Vinyl Album Jerry Lee Lewis - She Still Comes Around	Another superb country collection (almost but not quite the equal of the previous album), with highlights including the singles To Make Love Sweeter For You & She Still Comes Around (To Love What´s Left Of Me), as well as Today I Started Loving You Again, Louisiana Man & There Stands The Glass. One of the weaker tracks is the re-make of Let's Talk About Us (where's the intro?!), and in fact it wouldn't be until late 1969 when Jerry would again cut a convincing rock 'n' roll performance in the studio. 4 out of 5 Outtakes: Slippin' Around / I Can't Have A Merry Christmas, Mary (Without You) Slippin' Around was issued as the B-side of She Still Comes Around (To Love What´s Left Of Me), while I Can't Have A Merry Christmas, Mary (Without You) (b/w In Loving Memories) was issued as an A-side in November 1970. Note: This is from an excellent blog by Peter Checksfield. See the full blog at http://themargatemusicman.blogspot.com/ ... years.html