Cat. No. DVD 1004: JERRY LEE LEWIS ~ THE JERRY LEE LEWIS SHOW. MRA D0323

COLOUR                 RUNNING TIME: 50 MINS.

REVIEW: Jerry Lee Lewis recorded this pilot for his own television variety show in 1971. It was intended to tempt networks into a weekly show, but it was neither picked up nor ever shown probably fortunately for Jerry Lee Lewis as the production is very amateurish to say the least. The program is made up of live performances and some video clips. There are at least two versions of this DVD available, this version opens with Jerry singing “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” over the opening credits then welcomes viewers to the program, introduces the artists to appear and then breaks into a version of “When You Wore A Tulip” with his sister, Linda Gail Lewis. The other version by Payless Entertainment goes straight into “When You Wore A Tulip”.

The program consists of a mix of rock’n’roll, country, gospel, folk and pop music. Some of the downers in the program are Jerry Lee standing unmoved and terribly uncomfortable without his piano singing “Autumn Leaves”, Jackie Wilson dressed in an atrocious wine coloured jumpsuit with what looks like pilot’s boots on his feet in a hopelessly over choreographed performance, Carl Perkins trying to sing “Honey Don’t” whilst almost being drowned out by a chorus of trumpets from the backing band and Jerry Lee proving he is a better piano player than a guitarist singing, “I‘ll Follow Him”. Having said that, there are some good performances. Jerry is in fine voice on most of his performances. In spite of his jumpsuit Jackie Wilson gives a fine vocal performance and Carl Perkins voice seems to have become better with age. Visually the DVD is only fair to good. There is a little flairing on the long shots but the close up’s are not too bad. It would appear that someone got hold of the tape of the show and dubbed it onto video and then bandied it around to see if someone would release it. The audio is a little rough in places. In spite of the downsides of this DVD, this is an important part of the career of Jerry and would appeal to his fans as well as fans of Carl Perkins and Jackie Wilson.

PERFORMANCES: Jerry Lee Lewis – Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On / Autumn Leaves / Things That Matter Most / MEDLEY: Once More With Feeling / Another Place Another Time / What Made Milwaukee Famous / One Minute Past Eternity / I’ll Follow Him (with The Rust College Quintet) / Jerry Lee Lewis & Linda Gail Lewis – When You Wore A Tulip / Jackie Wilson – Higher And Higher / Lonely Teardrops / I’ll Fly Way / Linda Gail Lewis – Bad Motorcycle / Strangers In The Night / Carl Perkins – Honey Don’t / Carl Perkins & Jerry Lee Lewis – Mean Woman Blues / Blue Suede Shoes / Carl Perkins & Linda Gail Lewis – Daddy Sang Bass / Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Jackie Wilson & Linda Gail Lewis – Down The Old Sawdust Trail / This Land / Bill Strom – Delilah / The Sound Generation – God Bless America / Up, Up And Away / The Rust College Quintet – Joy Down In My Heart.

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