Jerry Lee Lewis - vocals, piano; Ken Lovelace - fiddle, guitar; Buddy Harmon - drums; Bobby Moore - bass; Jerry Shock- guitar; Steve Nathan - keyboards
There is a brilliant and comical moment early in this show, where rock 'n' roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis is told by a crew member that the show is being recorded for a live radio broadcast. Surprised, he immediately speaks to the audience with the brute honesty only Jerry Lee can muster up: "I'm sorry…. I didn't know we were on the radio. I could have said something wrong, or worse."
Undaunted, he carries on, pumped and ready to rock. From the opening piano runs of "Rockin' my Life Away," through his trademark version of "C.C. Rider," memorable takes of "Let's Talk About Us," "Careless Hands," "Who will the Next Fool Be?," and several others, Lewis shows the audience just why he has been nicknamed "The Killer."
Originally recorded for the Silver Eagle Cross Country radio concert series, this show was released in an abbreviated version as a live album in the mid-1990s. No longer in print, you can still hear it here, and in its complete uncut version. In between country ballads, some of his own hits, and classic early rock classics, he even throws in the standard "Somewhere over the Rainbow." After doing a couple of good old country gospel tunes ("How Great Thou Art" and "I Saw the Light"), Lewis offers up cool versions of Ray Charles' "Georgia on my Mind," and "I Got a Woman;" the Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace;" and his rival Little Richard's "Lucille." He closes with a spirited version of "Great Balls of Fire," the song that made him famous and inspired a biopic of the same title.