The Jim Jones Revue - Foghorn

ORIGINATION Burning Down Your House
RECORDED IN 2010
LAST LISTENED TO day before yesterday
RATING ★★★★★

After seeing these guys going all-out on Monday night and then main-lining them most of the rest of the week, it is only a surprise it took this long for them to show up in my morning head. Foghorn is a pretty typical number from their latest album, sitting somewhere between good time rock 'n' roll, garage rock and with just a hint of the blues. The vocals, never more than a breath away from a soul scream, deliver the borderline-cliché lyrics with verve and passion, surrounded by soaring guitars, a piano that strays into Jerry Lee Lewis' madness and relentless drumming. A kick of adrenaline to start the day.

Jerry Lee Lewis - High School Confidential (Live)

ORIGINATION "Live" At The Star-Club Hamburg
RECORDED IN 1964
LAST LISTENED TO October
RATING ★★★★★

In 1964, Jerry Lee Lewis had been recording music for nearly a decade, was several years from his last hit, had been more or less ostracised for his marriage to his teenage cousin and was out of fashion. Rock 'n' roll was dead, just a teen fad that had had its turn. The odds were clearly not in his favour on the one night he played with a pick-up band in the club that helped make The Beatles name. Yet against those odds, he not only prevailed, he recorded was must be one of the best, if not the best rock 'n' roll album. To be sure, the competition for that title is not fierce, yet even so there is no question that this would surely rule because Jerry Lee, The Killer, is absolutely on fire. Solid gone. His frenzied performance is barely contained, so much so that his young backing band can barely keep up with him, even though they give it a hell of a try. It is a manic performance, utterly deranged, and an absolute necessity for anyone with even a passing interest in rock 'n' roll, hell, with even a passing interest in music. Nothing has ever rocked quite like this and it is unlikely anything ever will again.

High School Confidential is one of Jerry Lee's hits from his period on top, before events turned against him. A fast-paced tune to begin with, here he attacks it without mercy, tearing to shreds. The band do their best to keep up but even so, around two minutes into the song you can hear them hurrying to catch the madman. You also get to hear that madman yelling at 'himself to play that thing' during his solo, before referring to himself in the third person. Deranged. Irreplaceable. Genius.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls Of Fire

ORIGINATION it's everywhere, isn't it?
LAST LISTENED TO too long ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT too small
RATING

What's not to like? It's huge-sounding, rambunctious rock 'n' roll, full of energy and fire. Lewis recorded it in 1957 at Sun Studios with only a drummer accompanying him and it is to the credit of Sam Phillips that Lewis' excitement and personality are so abundantly clear. From the jangling boogie-woogie piano to the high tone leaps in vocal pitch, this had become not just one of the defining songs in rock 'n' roll but also one of the key moments in rock history.