makes my fingers hurt just to watch!
August 3, 2010 9:57 PM Subscribe
Me and Bobby McGee This is worth watching if only to observe Jerry's keyboarding starting at 2:26.
Murdered a good song though. Not just a good song, actually, one of the greats. Absurdly hard to cover well. Even Johnny Cash stumbled with it (couldn't hack the modulation halfway through so played it all in the same key). KK's is the definitive version for me.
posted by unSane at 10:16 PM on August 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by unSane at 10:16 PM on August 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
and, it appears that, for most of this song, his eyes were closed....
posted by HuronBob at 10:16 PM on August 3, 2010
posted by HuronBob at 10:16 PM on August 3, 2010
This is like when somebody pulls up next to you with a kickass stereo, and it makes you finally realize that you've had a blown out speaker on yours. Probably for, oh, about 27 years.
I've missed this caliber of sound.
posted by iamkimiam at 10:17 PM on August 3, 2010
I've missed this caliber of sound.
posted by iamkimiam at 10:17 PM on August 3, 2010
Murdered and soulless.
posted by uraniumwilly at 10:20 PM on August 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by uraniumwilly at 10:20 PM on August 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
Jerry's keyboarding is fantastic..... but, given that, I saw Kris sing this a year or so ago in Ann Arbor.... A wonderful moment... however Janis is well his equal on the vocals...
posted by HuronBob at 10:22 PM on August 3, 2010
posted by HuronBob at 10:22 PM on August 3, 2010
His version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow is vastly more impressive to me--and audio here is kinda lacking. (Meanwhile, Roger Miller did the original "Me and Bobby McGee," y'all, just for the record.)
posted by raysmj at 10:36 PM on August 3, 2010
posted by raysmj at 10:36 PM on August 3, 2010
best ever application of Me + Bobby McGee.
From Two Lane Blacktop.
Kris Kristofferson's take. Happens roughly 4:40 in ... but watch the whole thing.
posted by philip-random at 11:08 PM on August 3, 2010 [3 favorites]
From Two Lane Blacktop.
Kris Kristofferson's take. Happens roughly 4:40 in ... but watch the whole thing.
posted by philip-random at 11:08 PM on August 3, 2010 [3 favorites]
Murdered and soulless.
Heh. Vive la difference.
I was all set to grouse about SLYT posts (though I've made them myself) and then at 1:52 or so the band gathered momentum and Jerry Lee blew my head off.
And now I am most pleased.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:38 PM on August 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Heh. Vive la difference.
I was all set to grouse about SLYT posts (though I've made them myself) and then at 1:52 or so the band gathered momentum and Jerry Lee blew my head off.
And now I am most pleased.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:38 PM on August 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Ah, my creepiest hero.
posted by gum at 12:36 AM on August 4, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by gum at 12:36 AM on August 4, 2010 [2 favorites]
1974: Old Grey Whistle Test
Not a whole lot, just a little, that's when you know you've got something.
1987: Franco-Louisianan MCP Summit
Serge: What do you think of Apartheid?
Jerry Lee: I love France ....France has the best looking women in the world!
Serge: Break the Steinway, it's shit!
Jerry Lee: When I go on stage, I separate the goddamn men from the boys...I pass out.
Even past-expiry Jerry Lee Lewis is exceptionally badass.
posted by bendybendy at 3:16 AM on August 4, 2010 [2 favorites]
Not a whole lot, just a little, that's when you know you've got something.
1987: Franco-Louisianan MCP Summit
Serge: What do you think of Apartheid?
Jerry Lee: I love France ....France has the best looking women in the world!
Serge: Break the Steinway, it's shit!
Jerry Lee: When I go on stage, I separate the goddamn men from the boys...I pass out.
Even past-expiry Jerry Lee Lewis is exceptionally badass.
posted by bendybendy at 3:16 AM on August 4, 2010 [2 favorites]
Uncharacteristically polite there at the end, isn't he?
I saw him a few times during this period at the Stockyard restaurant in Nashville, and he delivered amazing long, well-constructed solos of this type each time. Very special.
posted by texorama at 4:04 AM on August 4, 2010
I saw him a few times during this period at the Stockyard restaurant in Nashville, and he delivered amazing long, well-constructed solos of this type each time. Very special.
posted by texorama at 4:04 AM on August 4, 2010
I hate "Me and Bobby MacGee" with a blue passion, and so (I suspect) does Jerry Lee. He does a lot of material that means absolutely nothing to him, and "Jerry Lees" it up, just to show that he doesn't need a great song, he just needs to be there to make it great. (And this piece of crap song was NOT written by Roger Miller who was actually talented, but by Kris Kristoffersson, who basks in a reputation for genius that is only half deserved.)
posted by Faze at 4:42 AM on August 4, 2010
posted by Faze at 4:42 AM on August 4, 2010
A friend of mine's mother grew up in Ferriday, LA. When she started riding the bus to school her mother told her to stay away from the three trouble-makers that liked to hang out in the back, cousins Jerry Lee Lewis, Mickey Gilley, and Jimmy Swaggart.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 4:46 AM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 4:46 AM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
(And this piece of crap song was NOT written by Roger Miller who was actually talented, but by Kris Kristoffersson, who basks in a reputation for genius that is only half deserved.)
To paraphrase Voltaire, I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to spout such complete and utter shite from your mouth-hole. Not only was Miller a complete candy-coated hack, but the song was written by Kristoffersson and Fred Foster.
posted by unSane at 5:02 AM on August 4, 2010 [3 favorites]
To paraphrase Voltaire, I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to spout such complete and utter shite from your mouth-hole. Not only was Miller a complete candy-coated hack, but the song was written by Kristoffersson and Fred Foster.
posted by unSane at 5:02 AM on August 4, 2010 [3 favorites]
I'll have to say he was just phoning this one in.
That said, Jerry on the phone is still pretty damn good.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:07 AM on August 4, 2010
That said, Jerry on the phone is still pretty damn good.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:07 AM on August 4, 2010
I'm now convinced that he was Liberace's alter-ego.
posted by Shike at 5:07 AM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Shike at 5:07 AM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Hey, Faze... point me to where someone said it was written by Roger Miller...
posted by HuronBob at 5:24 AM on August 4, 2010
posted by HuronBob at 5:24 AM on August 4, 2010
You know what one of the problems is of having a brother who is a very talented concert pianist? All I saw when I watched JLL playing was someone with terrible technique, working way too hard, and that's sad.
posted by plinth at 5:40 AM on August 4, 2010
posted by plinth at 5:40 AM on August 4, 2010
go to the associated video list and click on the one of jerry lee in the black and white striped shirt. that is a defining moment in rock and roll history. maybe THE defining moment. jerry lee on fire and dangerous as hell.
posted by kitchenrat at 5:56 AM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by kitchenrat at 5:56 AM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Feeling good was easy lord when Bobby sang the blues
And feeling good was good enough for me
'Specially since she's my cousin and only thirteen
posted by allen.spaulding at 6:04 AM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
And feeling good was good enough for me
'Specially since she's my cousin and only thirteen
posted by allen.spaulding at 6:04 AM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Impressive as Jerry's crazed keyboard technique is, I can't forgive him for his dead, soulless performance of a song that, for me, is all about heart -- I guess because, also for me, it belongs to Janis.
posted by The Bellman at 7:05 AM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by The Bellman at 7:05 AM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Ugh. Always hated that repetitive, irritating song and could never comprehend why folks think it's so great. Kind of nice to watch it pounded to death.
Love it if you want to. I'll just listen to some DEVO, thanks. The new album is triffic.
posted by kinnakeet at 7:27 AM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Love it if you want to. I'll just listen to some DEVO, thanks. The new album is triffic.
posted by kinnakeet at 7:27 AM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Kris Kristofferson is most definitely overrated, but that's because his handful of great compositions are really great. He's no Roger Miller, though.
To have one's song murdered by Jerry Lee Lewis trumps all.
posted by bonefish at 7:50 AM on August 4, 2010
To have one's song murdered by Jerry Lee Lewis trumps all.
posted by bonefish at 7:50 AM on August 4, 2010
The song itself didn't do a lot for me, but I couldn't stop staring at his hands - I kept expecting that ridiculously huge rock on his pinky ring to rotate a little more and smash into the keyboard.
posted by ardgedee at 8:24 AM on August 4, 2010
posted by ardgedee at 8:24 AM on August 4, 2010
Faze: Uh, I didn't say it was written by Roger Miller. He recorded it first, had the first hit with it (on the country charts, No. 12). I'm guessing he loved it.
posted by raysmj at 8:28 AM on August 4, 2010
posted by raysmj at 8:28 AM on August 4, 2010
Murdered and soulless.
I couldn't agree more. I'm a fan of Janis and this song because it touched raw emotion in the audiance few in history could do. Jerry, raped the song of all its wonder.
posted by notahero at 8:53 AM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
I couldn't agree more. I'm a fan of Janis and this song because it touched raw emotion in the audiance few in history could do. Jerry, raped the song of all its wonder.
posted by notahero at 8:53 AM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
irritating song and could never comprehend why folks think it's so great.
1. Janis Joplin's version is on for the ages; to argue that it isn't is akin to arguing that the Beatles suck (ie: go ahead and try but don't expect many to take you seriously)
2. that line about "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" is exactly the kind of thing that the old hippie kids (first generation, 1960s variety) couldn't get enough of.
posted by philip-random at 8:59 AM on August 4, 2010
1. Janis Joplin's version is on for the ages; to argue that it isn't is akin to arguing that the Beatles suck (ie: go ahead and try but don't expect many to take you seriously)
2. that line about "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" is exactly the kind of thing that the old hippie kids (first generation, 1960s variety) couldn't get enough of.
posted by philip-random at 8:59 AM on August 4, 2010
if only to observe Jerry's keyboarding
I was trying to figure out who "Jerry" is. . . and I guessed that it was the Talking Heads covering that song. Now that would be rare. . .and sorta scary.
posted by Danf at 9:04 AM on August 4, 2010
I was trying to figure out who "Jerry" is. . . and I guessed that it was the Talking Heads covering that song. Now that would be rare. . .and sorta scary.
posted by Danf at 9:04 AM on August 4, 2010
I was trying to figure out who "Jerry" is. . .
Me to but I was thinking someone unearthed a version by the Grateful Dead with Jerry on keyboards.
posted by Sailormom at 9:41 AM on August 4, 2010 [3 favorites]
Me to but I was thinking someone unearthed a version by the Grateful Dead with Jerry on keyboards.
posted by Sailormom at 9:41 AM on August 4, 2010 [3 favorites]
I love the Janis Joplin version best, I love it so much that the CD is such a permanent fixture in my car 6 CD holder that I never swap it for another CD. That song touches something inside me, so much that I'm near tears every time I listen to it.
Jerry's version did not move me at all.
posted by francesca too at 11:11 AM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Jerry's version did not move me at all.
posted by francesca too at 11:11 AM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Me and Bobby McGee This is worth watching if only to observe Jerry's guitar solo starting at 1:50.
posted by koeselitz at 11:28 AM on August 4, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by koeselitz at 11:28 AM on August 4, 2010 [3 favorites]
Also, Jerry Lee Lewis sucks, and this version is awful. I could play like that, and I'm not even a very good piano player. He's just pounding various variations of a simplified blues scale and doing little tricks like runs that any hack could do given a few minutes. If Jerry hadn't danced like his hair was on fire and freaked out the establishment by marrying a toddler, somebody else would've come along and supplanted him – and pop culture would've been better off for it.
But wow – that Grateful Dead version of this tune is a good one! I like it very much.
posted by koeselitz at 11:32 AM on August 4, 2010
But wow – that Grateful Dead version of this tune is a good one! I like it very much.
posted by koeselitz at 11:32 AM on August 4, 2010
Wow, the Dead version sucks even more than Jerry Lee's.
posted by unSane at 12:35 PM on August 4, 2010
posted by unSane at 12:35 PM on August 4, 2010
i wasn't quite convinced by either jerry's solo on that one. think there's a slightly better version on 'the grateful dead'). a friend of mine detests that song with a passion i used to find surprising, but having listened to it twice in a row i now find it less so.
posted by peterkins at 12:46 PM on August 4, 2010
posted by peterkins at 12:46 PM on August 4, 2010
So the consensus seems to be that Jerry Lee was a self-aggrandizing arrogant braggart who substituted bombast for technique and who was a little bit stupid and maybe dangerous.
Sounds like rock and roll to me!
posted by BitterOldPunk at 1:01 PM on August 4, 2010 [8 favorites]
Sounds like rock and roll to me!
posted by BitterOldPunk at 1:01 PM on August 4, 2010 [8 favorites]
What a pro! It's in his body.
posted by laneXplace at 2:06 PM on August 4, 2010
posted by laneXplace at 2:06 PM on August 4, 2010
Oscar Peterson does a great version of this song on his album Motions & Emotions, but it doesn't appear to be on YT.
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:12 PM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:12 PM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
he delivered amazing long, well-constructed solos of this type each time
Yeah - this isn't "a great Jerry Lee performance", this is every Jerry Lee performance. People call Live at the Star Club the definitive performance, but I don't think it's all THAT much of a peak above just about everything else he's done starting about a month after the Million Dollar Quartet.
Sure, any Jerry Lee song sounds much like any other. Likewise AC/DC, or Slayer. You want variety, you should go somewhere else. If you want to see a bad man playing dangerous music, though... well, actually Jerry Lee probably still beats most of the world's hard-rockers in that department. (Satan ain't called Chuck Berry home yet, either.)
Jerry Lee may still be this good, at the piano-playin' at least. The sheer accumulation of scar tissue might eventually stop him. Arthritis is probably AFRAID of him.
I can play the piano. I can play rock and roll. I only even contemplate attempting Jerry's two-hand karate-knuckle glissandos when I'm playing a weightless organ/synth keyboard.
"Sometimes you have to bleed to rock properly."
All I saw when I watched JLL playing was someone with terrible technique, working way too hard
Your brother plays a keyboard instrument.
Jerry Lee plays a percussion instrument.
posted by dansdata at 5:42 AM on August 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Yeah - this isn't "a great Jerry Lee performance", this is every Jerry Lee performance. People call Live at the Star Club the definitive performance, but I don't think it's all THAT much of a peak above just about everything else he's done starting about a month after the Million Dollar Quartet.
Sure, any Jerry Lee song sounds much like any other. Likewise AC/DC, or Slayer. You want variety, you should go somewhere else. If you want to see a bad man playing dangerous music, though... well, actually Jerry Lee probably still beats most of the world's hard-rockers in that department. (Satan ain't called Chuck Berry home yet, either.)
Jerry Lee may still be this good, at the piano-playin' at least. The sheer accumulation of scar tissue might eventually stop him. Arthritis is probably AFRAID of him.
I can play the piano. I can play rock and roll. I only even contemplate attempting Jerry's two-hand karate-knuckle glissandos when I'm playing a weightless organ/synth keyboard.
"Sometimes you have to bleed to rock properly."
All I saw when I watched JLL playing was someone with terrible technique, working way too hard
Your brother plays a keyboard instrument.
Jerry Lee plays a percussion instrument.
posted by dansdata at 5:42 AM on August 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
dansdata: “Jerry Lee plays a percussion instrument.”
Yeah. Just not very well.
posted by koeselitz at 9:47 AM on August 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Yeah. Just not very well.
posted by koeselitz at 9:47 AM on August 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
The Card Cheat: “Oscar Peterson does a great version of this song on his album Motions & Emotions, but it doesn't appear to be on YT.”
Ah, I'll have to find a copy of that. Oscar Peterson – now there was a guy who could play piano.
posted by koeselitz at 9:50 AM on August 5, 2010
Ah, I'll have to find a copy of that. Oscar Peterson – now there was a guy who could play piano.
posted by koeselitz at 9:50 AM on August 5, 2010
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posted by The Card Cheat at 10:11 PM on August 3, 2010