Prague Journal

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Exactly fifty years after he recorded his first single for the legendary Sun Records in Memphis, Jerry Lee Lewis came to Prague to celebrate his 69th birthday at Lucerna, which has, in the past, hosted Ray Charles, Count Basie and Louis Armstrong. The large hall was packed to the rafters with folks of all ages, including Prague’s Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus. Jerry Lee is not the brazen whipper-snapper he used to be, but the old guy can still move his fingers and draw cheers from the crowd. The first hour of the “Fifty Years of Rock and Roll” program had wonderful rock n roll by old, well-known Czech rockers (all with white hair or no hair now), singing classic American rock n roll with various shades of Czech accents. I think we heard all the Buddy Holly, Elvis, Big Bopper, Little Richard classics from the 50s: Jailhouse Rock, Peggy Sue, Blue Suede Shoes, Chantilly Lace, Kansas city… too many to name. “The Killer” was not happy playing on the Czech-made Petrof piano (a very fine concert grand) and even grumbled during the concert about the “piece of junk.” But his band carried him on and he wooed the crowd, closing with Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On and Great Balls of Fire. He obviously doesn’t understand Czech audiences, though. Despite lots of applause, he did not make any curtain calls or offer an encore. Instead, he promptly left as soon as his set was over.

posted by JWinn @ 7:55 PM